Updated 1 a.m. ET 5/25/22
UVALDE, TEXAS — Nineteen children and two adults were killed in a shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde County on Tuesday, making the massacre the deadliest school shooting in Texas’ history.
Gov. Greg Abbott said the shooter was killed. The shooter is believed to have acted alone, said Pete Arredondo, Uvalde CISD chief of police.
“What happened in Uvalde is a horrific tragedy that cannot be tolerated in the state of Texas,” Abbott said.
“Tonight, I ask the nation to pray for them. Give the parents and siblings the strength in the darkness they feel right now,” Biden said at a press briefing Tuesday evening.
Biden also made a renewed call to reform gun laws.
“As a nation, we have to ask — when in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?” he said.
One of the two adult victims was identified as a schoolteacher, Eva Mireles, by her aunt and by a parent of a student on social media. The other adult and the 19 children have not been identified. State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, told CNN there might be a third adult dead, but authorities have not confirmed it.
Authorities and hospital officials have said others were injured but have not confirmed how many.
Abbott identified the shooter as Salvador Ramos, an 18-year-old Uvalde resident. The man abandoned his vehicle and entered Robb Elementary with a handgun and possibly a rifle, the governor said.
The shooting started around 11:32 a.m., Arredondo said. The Uvalde school district reported an active shooter on Twitter at 12:17 p.m.
U.S. Border Patrol agents responded to a law enforcement request for assistance, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said. Law enforcement officers entered the school building and were met with gunfire from the shooter, who was barricaded inside. A Border Patrol agent shot the gunman before waiting for backup, a law enforcement official told the Associated Press.
The gunman shot his grandmother before the shooting at the school, Gutierrez told CNN. The grandmother was airlifted to San Antonio and was “still holding on” Tuesday evening, according to information given to Gutierrez by the Texas Rangers.
The Daily Dot reported the shooter had bought a rifle online recently. He posted images of two rifles in his most recent post on Instagram before the social media platform deleted the account, according to the outlet.
Robb Elementary teaches second, third and fourth grade students. The students were scheduled to celebrate their last day of the school year on Thursday.
The school had 535 students in the 2020-2021 school year, most of them Hispanic and considered economically disadvantaged. Uvalde is a relatively small city about 85 miles west of San Antonio. Its population of roughly 15,200 is predominantly Hispanic.
Earlier Tuesday, the Uvalde CISD had placed all campuses under lockdown after gunshots were fired in the area. Harrell said the school will be closed for the remainder of the academic year, though grief counseling will be offered to students.
U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, a Republican whose district includes Robb Elementary School, wrote on Twitter, “My heart breaks for the city of Uvalde. Pray for our families.” and cited a Bible verse.
