At least 18 people killed by active shooter in Uvalde
A gunman killed 19 children at a Texas elementary school on Tuesday in the deadliest mass shooting at an elementary school in the US. since the 2012 attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
Wearing body armor and firing hundreds of rounds, the 18-year-old gunman killed 19 children and two teachers, said Lt Chris Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety. A U.S. Border Protection agent, one of several responders at the scene, fatally shot the gunman, a senior Department of Homeland Security official told USA TODAY on Tuesday night.
Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Erick Estrada said the gunman also shot his grandmother before driving to Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where he was armed with a rifle and overpowered a school officer. Estrada said the woman was taken to the hospital and is in critical condition.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said earlier Tuesday that the woman was dead.
Federal law enforcement officials told the AP news agency that the death toll is expected to rise. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose details of the investigation.
BACKGROUND:Uvalde school shooting among deadliest school attacks in last 10 years
‘WHAT ARE WE DOING?’:Senator Chris Murphy Gives Emotional Speech About Texas Elementary School Shooting
“This is a tragic and senseless event today, and my heart is broken today,” Hal Harrell, the school system’s superintendent, said at a news conference that grieving counselors will was present and classes were canceled for the year. “We are a small community and we will need your prayers to help us through this.”
Abbott said two responders were hit by bullets but were not seriously injured.
Officials did not disclose a motive for the shooting, but said the shooter was a resident of the community. Abbott identified the gunman as Salvador Ramos.
Uvalde Independent School District Sheriff Pete Arredondo said the gunman appeared to have acted alone.
Uvalde is a city of about 16,000 people about 85 miles west of San Antonio. The shooting comes four years after a gunman shot dead 10 people at Santa Fe High School in the Houston area.
President Joe Biden at a news conference Tuesday night criticized “another massacre” that has left parents in excruciating pain: “Losing a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped out, ” he said.
Biden also called for a new way of gun control, lamenting the lack of progress despite repeated shootings.
“Why are we willing to live with this carnage?” he say. “It’s time to turn this pain into action.”
A US homeland security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation, said that the agent who killed the gunman was assigned to a local team in the Customs and Border Protection special operations team. Border, BORTAC or Tactical Border Control Unit. The agent was shot in the leg or leg during an encounter with the gunman and was treated at a local hospital for his injuries, DHS officials said.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus released a statement following the shooting late Tuesday.
“CBP responded immediately to the incident with local law enforcement. Many of our local CBP officers live in Uvalde; they call it community home and they work to protect families. , their friends and neighbors every day,” the statement read.
In Uvalde Tuesday, worried parents were reunited with their surviving children all afternoon, with some seen in pictures crying near the school.
It remains unclear how many people, other than those killed, were injured in the shooting. Arredondo said there were some “injuries.”
The school consists of second, third and fourth graders, he said.
“Families are being notified and we are providing services for them,” he said of those who have lost children. “We want to keep all of our families in prayers.”
Many law enforcement agencies including Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and The Federal Bureau of Investigation was on the scene Tuesday afternoon.
Outside the school, news video showed police in armor, FBI agents in vests, ambulances and yellow tape strung around the compound.
“We are aware of this tragic incident,” FBI Special Agent Carmen Portillo said in a statement. “At this point, it’s too early to determine our level of involvement.”
Earlier, the county said all schools in the county were locked because of gunfire in the area.
Robb Elementary School has just under 600 students.
David Riedman, research lead at the K-12 Rifle Shooting Database at the Naval Graduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense, said there were 249 school field shootings last year – more than any other. any other year since 1970 – and 137 cases to date. and security.
Vice President Kamala Harris said on Tuesday that American leaders need to take action to ensure another incident like the Uvalde school shooting does not happen again.
First lady Jill Biden said on Twitter: “My God, that’s enough. Little kids and their teachers. Stunned. Angry. Heartbroken.”
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg asked people on Twitter to join the city to raise the flag at a height of half a foot in memory of the lives lost. “Praying for the lost, their families, and Uvalde,” he wrote.
Contributors: Kevin Johnson, Josh Meyer and Grace Hauck, USA TODAY, The Austin-American Statesman; Relevant press;
Contact Breaking News Reporter N’dea Yancey-Bragg at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @NdeaYanceyBragg