19 CHILDREN SLAUGHTERED
Shooting spree at elementary school 2 adults also slain as cops kill gunman Grim reminder of Sandy Hook horror
A teen gunman opened fire at a Texas elementary school Tuesday, killing at least 19 children and a teacher before he was fatally shot by police in one of the deadliest school slaughters in US history, officials said.
The shooter, identified as Salvador Ramos, 18, also shot and killed his grandmother before storming Robb Elementary School in Uvalde with two assault rifles around 11:32 a.m., according to officials.
The shooting rampage — eerily evocative of the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting that left 26 dead — took place just two days before the start of summer break and sent parents scrambling in a desperate search for their children.
“This is just evil,” Rey Chapa, whose nephew attends the school that hosts second-, third- and fourth-graders, told The New York Times. “I’m afraid I’m going to know a lot of these kids that were killed.”
Brandon Elrod told ABC 13 he was searching for his 10-year-old daughter.
“She may not be alive,” he said. Choking back tears, he then asked a journalist at the scene where the nearest funeral home was, “’cause we can’t find my daughter.”
“Pretty sad, really sad, what this world’s coming to,” he added.
Police officials from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), US Customs and Border Protection and a slew of local agencies descended on the tiny town located about 60 miles east of the Mexico border to respond to the shooting. It’s the state’s second school attack since 2018, when a gunman killed 10 people at Santa Fe High School in the Houston area.
“Texans across the state are grieving for the victims of this senseless crime and for the community of Uvalde,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement.
“[Wife] Cecilia and I mourn this horrific loss and we urge all Texans to come together to show our unwavering support to all who are suffering. We thank the courageous first responders who worked to finally secure Robb Elementary School.”
Abbott said Ramos abandoned his vehicle and entered the school before “horrifically” and “incomprehensibly” slaughtering the students and one teacher before he was killed by responding officers.
He said Ramos was a student at Uvalde High School and a US citizen.
Officials said at least 19 children and two adults, including Ramos’ grandmother, were killed.
Two assault rifles, which the gunman had purchased on his 18th birthday, were used in the massacre.
At 11:43 a.m., about 11 minutes after cops say the shooting began, Robb Elementary School officials wrote on Facebook the building was placed on lockdown “due to gunshots in the area” — but insisted that the children inside were safe.
School locked down
“The students and staff are safe in the building. The building is secure in a Lockdown Status. Your cooperation is needed at this time by not visiting the campus,” the Facebook post reads.
“As soon as the Lockdown Status is lifted you will be notified. Thank you for your cooperation!”
But approximately 30 minutes later, school officials wrote on Facebook that an “active shooter”
was in the building, where some 600 students are enrolled. It wasn’t immediately clear Tuesday night how Ramos got inside amid the lockdown.
At 1:06 p.m., Ramos was fatally shot by a Border Patrol agent who rushed into the school without waiting for backup, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The agent was wounded but able to walk out of the school.
Texas Department of Safety Lt. Christopher Olivarez said once the gunman — who was wearing body armor — got into the school, “he was shooting everybody.”
“As soon as he made entry to the school, he started shooting children, teachers, whoever’s in his way,” Olivarez told KENS 5.
Police officers rushed into the school to get their own children out of danger, he added.
“There was some police officers, families, trying to get their children out of the school because it was an active shooter situation right now, it’s a terrible situation right now,” Olivarez said.
At least another 15 kids, two adults and two officers who responded to the shooting were wounded in the melee, according to hospital officials and Abbott.
By evening, some of those wounded were already being discharged and three had been transferred to hospitals in San Antonio, hospital officials said.
A 10-year-old girl and 66-yearold woman, both in critical condition, were taken to University Health San Antonio.
Tuesday’s massacre was reminiscent of the shooting in Newtown, Conn., that left 20 first-graders and six educators dead. Addressing the nation Tuesday night, President Biden mentioned the Sandy Hook slaughter as he blamed the “gun lobby” for mass shootings.
“As a nation, we have to ask when in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God’s name will we do what we all know in our gut needs to be done?”
Biden added, “The list grows when you include mass shootings at places like movie theaters, houses of worship and as we saw just 10 days ago, at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.
“It’s just sick. And the gun manufacturers have spent two decades aggressively marketing assault, which make them the most and largest profit. For God’s sake, we have to have the courage to stand up to the industry.”