As the gun control debate amplifies, the overwhelming emotion in Uvalde is grief : NPR
Jae C. Hong / AP
UVALDE, Texas – It seems that everyone in this small town of about 15,000 has a personal connection to the people who were killed in one of the deadliest school shootings in US history – and the man allegedly made it.
In the corner around the scene of the Robb Elementary School shooting, Sarah Zapata, who works for the local court system, was playing with her nieces.
“It’s sad for all the families, because we all know each other. Everyone knows everyone,” she told NPR as the children ran around her front yard. “It was impossible to imagine.”
While one side loudly calls for gun control and the other destroys it with equal force on the national stage, emotions abound in this small, tight-knit community. sadness.
“We all go to Robb. My children go to Robb,” Zapata said.
Merrit Kennedy / NPR
The town is located about 80 miles outside of San Antonio and about 70 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. It’s a place where are the friday night football rulesand affirming popularity as the actor’s hometown Matthew McConaughey.
According to data from the United States Census Bureau.
The slow process of injury control begins
A day after a lone gunman killed 21 people, most of them children, the area around the school was quiet. On a nearby street, two horses hopped on black roofs as a man in a car slowly led them.
ATF officers went door-to-door to talk to neighbors about what they might have seen the day before. Law enforcement officers patrol the area, some wearing large cowboy hats.
Patricia Lim / KUT
Zapata’s children are between the ages of 17 and 24, and one of them has known the suspect since elementary school.
“He just said he’s always been a different kid, just one of those kids you know is different. I guess not with the crowd,” she said.
Nearby, at Uvalde High School, Ariana Diaz and Jaime Cruz were expecting to graduate this week but now the ceremony is happening and they say it’s far from their minds.
“We’re just trying to make sure our community stays together and good,” Cruz said.
They said they had known the gunman all his life. Salvador Ramos is said to have dropped out of this high school.
Diaz told NPR: “We’re not his friends but we know him. “It was crazy, whenever he dropped out of school, we didn’t know where he went. I knew he was in a dark place, but I’m not sure what happened.”
Jae C. Hong / AP
She said the tragedy affected almost everyone she knew.
“Many of our classmates and friends have lost their brothers, sisters, relatives, mothers,” says Diaz. “It’s heartbreaking to see them. It’s painful for our community and especially painful for those families, when they’re going through pain like this.”
High school students came down to watch a news conference from the Republican Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, and they wanted to see stricter gun laws in place.
“We really need to start raising awareness and better gun control in place,” Diaz added.
Counselors from other nearby communities will come to help, such as Iveth Pacheco, who works at a high school and drives about 85 miles from San Antonio to the small town surrounded by grasslands and pastures. cow crop fields.
“We are here to be a presence for every family grieving this tragic loss,” she told NPR. “We listen. I don’t think there’s anything we can say to them other than to listen and be ready for whatever thoughts and feelings they’re bringing.”