Robb Elementary is a school that teaches second, third, and fourth grades in Uvalde. It is located about 85 miles west from San Antonio. Gov. Greg Abbott stated that the shooter was believed to be killed by responding police officers. The shooting began at 11:32 a.m.
On Tuesday, Robb Elementary School in Uvalde County was gunned down. The massacre was the worst school shooting in Texas history.
Hal Harrell, Superintendent of Uvalde Consolidated Independent Schools District, said that “my heart is broken today” during Tuesday’s press conference. We are a small community, and we need prayers to get through this.
Gov. Greg Abbott stated that the shooter was shot and killed. Pete Arredondo is the Uvalde CISD chief police officer and believes that the shooter acted alone.
Abbott stated, “What happened to Uvalde was a terrible tragedy that cannot tolerated in Texas.”
White House officials confirmed that President Joe Biden had spoken to Abbott to offer his support. Biden also directed flags at all U.S. embassies and public property to be flown at 50% in honor of the victims.
“Tonight, I request the nation to pray with them. Biden spoke at a press conference Tuesday evening, asking for parents’ and siblings’ strength in this time of darkness.
Biden made an additional appeal to reform gun laws.
He said, “As a nation we must ask — when in God’s name will we stand up to the guns lobby?”
One of the victims, Eva Mireles (a schoolteacher), was identified by her aunt, and by a parent to a student on Social Media. The identities of the other adult and 19 children are not known. D-San Antonio State Senator Roland Gutierrez suggested to CNN that there may be another adult who has died, but authorities have yet to confirm this.
Officials from hospitals and authorities have confirmed that others were hurt, but they have not confirmed the exact number.
Abbott identified the shooter to be Salvador Ramos (18-year-old Uvalde resident). According to the governor, the man entered Robb Elementary carrying a gun and possibly a rifle.
Arredondo stated that the shooting began at 11:32 a.m. At 12:17 p.m., the Uvalde school district reported a active shooter via Twitter.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security stated that agents from the U.S. Border Patrol responded to a request by law enforcement for assistance. The gunfire came from the shooter who was also barricaded in the school’s building. Law enforcement officers entered the building. According to a law enforcement official, a Border Patrol agent shot and killed the gunman while waiting for backup.
Gutierrez said that the gunman killed his grandmother just before shooting at the school. According to Gutierrez’s information, the Texas Rangers said that the grandmother was still alive Tuesday evening after being airlifted to San Antonio.
The Daily Dot reported that the shooter had recently purchased a rifle online. According to the outlet, he posted photos of two rifles in the most recent Instagram post before the social media platform removed the account.
Robb Elementary is home to second, third, and fourth graders. On Thursday, the students were to celebrate their final day of school.
In the 2020-2021 schoolyear, 535 students attended the school. Most of these students were Hispanic and economically disadvantaged. Uvalde, located 85 miles west from San Antonio, is a small town. The city’s 15,200 inhabitants are mainly Hispanic.
After gunshots in the area, Uvalde CISD placed all campuses under lockdown Tuesday morning. Harrell stated that the school would be closed for the remainder the academic year. However, grief counseling will still be available to students.
U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales wrote on Twitter: “My heart breaks in Uvalde. Pray for our families” and quoted a Bible verse.
According to The New York Times, the Uvalde massacre was the second-deadliest shooting at an elementary or middle school in America. Uvalde’s massacre is the eighth mass shooting at a Texas public place since an Army psychiatrist opened fire on Fort Hood Army Base in November 2009. 13 people were killed in what was later ruled to be religious extremism. In April 2014, five years later, another Fort Hood soldier shot and killed three more people on the base. He also wounded 12 others before he died in a fight with military police.
The number of deaths has increased in Texas since then.
- Five Dallas police officers were killed in July 2016 by a 25 year-old gunman who attacked them at a Black Lives Matter demonstration. The gunman also wounded two civilians, before he was shot dead by a remote-controlled bomb after a confrontation with police.
- A 26-year old man opened fire on Sunday morning services at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs in November 2017. He killed 26 people and injured 20 others. After a shooting incident, the gunman fled from the scene and was shot by a nearby man.
- Six months later, a 17 year old student shot eight students and 2 teachers to death at Santa Fe High School in Houston. The shooting ended approximately 25 minutes later, and he was arrested.
- A 21-year old man drove from suburban Dallas, Texas to El Paso in August 2019. He posted a racist manifesto and then started shooting at people at Walmart. The target was Latinos. After killing 23 people and injuring 25, he fled the store and surrendered to Texas Rangers.
- A 36-year old man opened fire in the Midland-Odessa region, killing seven and wounding 25 others. This man had been fired that morning and was then shot by officers at an Odessa cinema.
Over the past decade, Texas state legislators have responded to mass shootings elsewhere in Texas with a series of laws that prioritize Second Amendment rights and increase Texans’ access to firearms in areas where they are prohibited.
Newtown’s Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in 2012 prompted a Texas law that created a school marshal Program which allows certain employees to possess firearms in Texas schools.
Four years later, Texans were allowed to openly carry guns rather than concealing them. Public universities were required to allow anyone with the right license to carry concealed weapons in dorms and classrooms.
Frankie Miranda, Hispanic Federation’s CEO, demanded that lawmakers take concrete steps to ensure safety for Latino communities, including funding mental health services and gun control. In a joint statement, both the Texas State Teachers Association and the National Education Association called for lawmakers to address gun violence. “Tragedies like this continue while elected officials do not do anything, except in Texas, to make firearms more readily available.”
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz stated in a Tuesday statement that he was “lifting up the entire Uvalde community in prayer during this devastating time.” He also indicated to reporters, that he doesn’t believe gun control measures are effective in preventing crime.
Along with Cruz, Abbott and former President Donald Trump will speak Friday at the 2022 Annual Meeting of National Rifle Association in Houston. Beto O’Rourke (Democratic gubernatorial Candidat Against Abbott) called on Abbott late Tuesday to withdraw from this meeting.
O’Rourke tweeted, “Governor Abbott. If you have any decency. You will immediately withdraw from the weekend’s NRA Convention and urge them not to hold it in Texas.”
Politico reported that John Cornyn , the spokesperson for U.S. Senator, said that he would not attend the meeting due to an unanticipated change in his schedule that happened before the Uvalde shooting.
Get More Updates