At least 21 people were killed and a dozen wounded after a gunman opened fire at an elementary school in Texas, US.
The shooter, later identified as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, was wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a pistol and possibly a rifle when he got off his vehicle to enter Robb Elementary around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. Ramos opened fire on people inside the school, killing two teachers.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott earlier said the man had entered the elementary school and “horribly and incomprehensibly shot and killed 14 students,” but the death toll was later revised to 19 children.
According to Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Department’s chief Pete Arredondo, the victims and injured students were in their second, third and fourth grades, meaning they are between seven and 11 years old.
Several families reported that their children are still missing since the shooting occurred, but they have been called in to take DNA samples and assist in investigations.
Eva Mireles, an educator for 17 years, was named the attack’s first victim. She was a fourth-grade teacher at Robb Elementary.
Governor Abbott also revealed that the attacker shot his grandmother before driving to the school. The woman was airlifted to a nearby hospital, but no details about her condition were released.
Ramos was born in North Dakota but moved to Uvalde and was a student at Uvalde High School. Texas State Senator Roland Gutierrez said police investigations showed Ramos had bought the two guns used in the shooting as soon as he turned 18.
Governor Abbott also revealed that Ramos had been killed by officers responding to the shooting. US media reported that a Border Patrol agent had rushed into the school with a tactical support team to stop the attacker, who barricaded himself inside the school.
Ramos died while holed up in a barricade where he hid to shoot Texas law enforcement officers.
Tuesday’s shooting was the deadliest school attack since the 2018 incident in Parkland, Florida, where 14 students and three employees were killed after a man opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
It was also the worst incident at an elementary school since the shooting in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, which killed 20 children and six adults.
US President Joe Biden addressed the country from the White House last night, saying the idea that an 18-year-old could buy assault weapons is “just wrong.”
“As a nation, we have to ask: When in God’s name will we stand up to the gun lobby? Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep on letting this happen? Where in God’s name is our backbone?” he added.
