UVALDE, TX—Nineteen children and two teachers were killed during a school shooting that transpired at Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday, May 24. The shooter has been identified as Salvador Ramos, 18, was shot and killed by police, Texas Governor Gregg Abbot announced during a press conference.
Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Erick Estrada explained that the gunman wrecked a vehicle while driving near the school after shooting his grandmother.
“The suspect did crash near a ditch nearby the school. That’s where he exited his vehicle with what I believe was a rifle and that’s when he attempted to enter the school where he was engaged by law enforcement,” said Sgt. Estrada.
Uvalde CISD Police Chief Pedro Arredondo said the shooting transpired at 11:32 a.m.
Uvalde is 85 miles west of San Antonio. Robb Elementary teaches second, third and fourth grade students. The school had a total of 535 students in the 2020-2021 school year, a vast majority of the Hispanic community.
Students were transported to the city’s civic center, and parents have been cleared to pick up their children. The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District placed all campuses under lockdown after gunshots were fired.
Ramos had a handgun as well as an AR-15 assault rifle and high-capacity magazines. He was wearing body armor, with a rifle and a backpack, Estrada noted. Ramos made it into several classrooms during the incident, after police reported he shot and killed his grandmother earlier in the day.
In 2012, 26 people, including 20 children were killed during the school shooting in Sandy Hook Connecticut.
“I had hoped when I became president I would not have to do this — again,” said President Joe Biden while addressing the nation Tuesday night, with lifelong teacher First Lady Jill Biden by his side. “Another massacre. Uvalde, Texas. An elementary school. Beautiful, innocent second, third and fourth graders. And how many scores of little children who witnessed what happened — see their friends die, as if they’re in a battlefield, for God’s sake. They’ll live with it the rest of their lives.”
Less than two weeks ago, a white supremacist killed 10 people outside a grocery store in Buffalo New York. Authorities said the attack was a hate crime with the suspect targeting Black people.
President Joe Biden ordered US flags on federal grounds to be flown at half-staff until sunset on Saturday to honor the victims of this “senseless acts of violence.”
