UVALDE, Texas: A teenage gunman murdered at least 19 children and two teachers after storming into a Texas elementary school on Tuesday, the latest bout of gun-fueled mass killing in the United States and the nation's worst school shooting in nearly a decade.
The suspected shooter, who might have had a handgun and a rifle, was also killed when law enforcement confronted him at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, about 83 miles west of San Antonio, Gov. Greg Abbott said at a news conference.
“It is believed that he abandoned his vehicle, then entered into the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde with a handgun, and he may have also had a rifle,” Abbott said.
“He shot and killed, horrifically and incomprehensibly, 14 students and killed a teacher,” the governor said before additional deaths were confirmed.
The Texas Department of Public Safety said later that 19 children and two teachers were killed, in addition to the suspected shooter.
Multiple survivors — the exact number was not released — were being treated at regional hospitals.
It was yet another mass shooting targeting children and educators at an American school campus.
Tuesday’s attack recalls the deadly shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, in 1999; Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018; and Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, later in 2018.
It might have particular resonance for those shaken by the Dec. 14, 2012, attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, when a 20-year-old man killed 20 children and six adults.
Suspect acted alone, shot grandmother, authorities say
Lt. Chris Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety said the suspect shot his grandmother, who was hospitalized in critical condition, before he drove toward the school.
After he apparently crashed nearby, he went to the campus and opened fire, Olivarez said in a news conference at the scene.
“He started shooting every single person that was in front of him,” the lieutenant said.
Olivarez said Wednesday on NBC's "TODAY" show that the gunman barricaded himself in a classroom. Officers outside could hear gunshots but couldn't get in as they were met with a barrage of gunfire. Some were wounded.
They eventually resorted to breaking windows to evacuate the children and staffers that they could.
The Texas Department of Public safety said the shooter was wearing body armor and carried a rifle. But Olivarez said on MSNBC that they believe the shooter wore a type of vest that tactical teams use. It's not clear if the shooter added ballistic protection to the vest.
Olivarez also said the shooter did not have any criminal history and “was unemployed" with "no friends, no girlfriend, we can identify.”
The attack was reported as a mass casualty incident shortly after 11:30 a.m., authorities said.
The suspected shooter was identified as Salvador Rolando Ramos, 18, multiple senior law enforcement sources said.
Olivarez called the suspect an “evil person.” He had attended one of the high schools in the community, Olivarez said.
"The investigation is leading to tell us the suspect did act alone during this heinous crime," Pete Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, said at a news conference.
State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a Democrat, said the shooter purchased two semiautomatic rifles on his 18th birthday at an Uvalde-area gun store. It was not clear whether either of those weapons was used in the attack.
FBI agents and U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel were assisting local law enforcement with the investigation into the suspect's motives and background, authorities said.
Teacher identified among victims; families still wait for answers
Meanwhile, families of the deceased were being notified, the governor said.
At least six victims had been publicly identified by family members.
Third grade student Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez, 10; and fourth graders Uziyah Garcia; Xavier Lopez, 10; and Amerie Jo Garza, 9; were among the 19 students killed, relatives confirmed to news outlets.
Family members also identified the two teachers as Eva Mireles, a 17-year educator who taught fourth grade, and Irma Garcia, who taught at the school for 23 years.
“I’m furious that these shootings continue. These children are innocent. Rifles should not be easily available to all,” Mireles' aunt, Lydia Martinez Delgado, told KSAT-TV of San Antonio.
Source: Reuters
