Shooter barricaded himself in classroom, killing 19 children and 2 teachers, official says
UVALDE, Texas - New information is coming out about the mass school shooting at a Uvalde elementary school on Tuesday.
According to CNN, all fatalities and injuries took place inside one classroom at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, according to Lt. Chris Olivarez, spokesperson for the Texas Department for Public Safety.
The shooter barricaded himself in one room, killing two teachers and 19 children, he said.
"Just goes to show you the complete evil from this shooter," Lt. Olivarez told CNN.
We had local law enforcement from Uvalde Police Department, one of the school police officers as well as state troopers that arrived on scene. They were the initial officers on scene. They heard the gunfire, they were met with gunfire as they encountered this gunman who was able to shoot two police officers, nonlife threatening injuries, they are stable, they are out of the hospital, but at that point they were at a disadvantage because the gunman was able to make entry into a classroom, barricade himself inside that classroom and then that's when he just -- he started shooting children and the teachers that we talked about, two teachers were killed inside that classroom.
A total of 22 people are dead. 19 innocent children and three adults were killed by a 18-year-old gunman at an elementary school in Uvalde.
All the victims have been removed, identified and their families have been notified, the lieutenant told CNN. Multiple children were wounded inside the classroom, according to Olivarez, but there is no exact number as to how many at this time.
Gov. Greg Abbott said the man opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, about 85 miles west of San Antonio. It was the deadliest school shooting in Texas history. The children killed are second, third, and fourth graders between ages of seven and 10. Two of the adult dead victims are teachers.
The governor said two officers were shot and wounded but were expected to survive.
The deadly shooting began 11:43 a.m. Tuesday at Robb Elementary off Old Carrizo Road near U.S. Highway 83. Robb Elementary has an enrollment of just under 600 students.
“My heart is broken today,” Uvalde School Superintendent Hal Harrell said while holding back tears during a press conference Tuesday evening. “We’re a small community and we need your prayers to get through this.”
Abbott identified the shooter as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos. He was killed by officers. Ramos also shot his grandmother before driving to the school. She was airlifted to University Hospital in San Antonio and is critical condition.
Ramos crashed his pickup in a ditch before running into the school. Chris Olivarez from the Texas Department of Public Safety says Ramos was wearing body armor, so officers were forced to go for a head shot.
Texans across the state are grieving for the victims of this senseless crime and for the community of Uvalde. Cecilia and I mourn this horrific loss and we urge all Texans to come together to show our unwavering support to all who are suffering. We thank the courageous first responders who worked to finally secure Robb Elementary School. I have instructed the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Rangers to work with local law enforcement to fully investigate this crime. The Texas Division of Emergency Management is charged with providing local officials all resources necessary to respond to this tragedy as the State of Texas works to ensure the community has what it needs to heal.
The attack began about 11:30 a.m., when the gunman crashed his car outside the school and ran into the building, according to Travis Considine, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety. A resident who heard the crash called 911, and two local police officers exchanged gunfire with the shooter.
Both officers were shot. It was not immediately clear where on the campus that confrontation occurred or how much time elapsed before more authorities arrived on the scene.
One Border Patrol agent who was working nearby when the shooting began rushed into the school without waiting for backup and shot and killed the gunman, who was behind a barricade, according to a law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about it, according to the Associated Press.
The agent was wounded but able to walk out of the school, the law enforcement official said.
“What happened in Uvalde is a horrific tragedy that cannot be tolerated in the state of Texas,” Abbott said. “He shot and killed — horrifically, incomprehensibly — 14 students, and killed a teacher. Mr. Romas, the shooter, he himself is deceased and is believed that responding officers killed him.”
“When parents drop their kids off at school, they have every expectation to know that they’ll be able to pick their child up when that school day ends," Abbott added. “There are families that are in mourning right now, and the state of Texas are in mourning with them.”
Two people are confirmed to have arrived at University Hospital in critical condition, a 66-year-old woman and 10-year-old girl. Both are listed in critical condition.
All extracurricular activities for Uvalde ISD has been cancelled on Tuesday.
South Texas Blood & Tissue confirmed they sent out 15 units of low O whole blood to Uvalde. They are seeking more blood donors to schedule an appt to help rebuild the emergency blood supply by calling 210-731-5590.
Condolences poured in from leaders around the world. Pope Francis pleaded that it was time say "'enough’ to the indiscriminate trade of weapons!” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba of Ukraine, which is at war with Russia after Moscow invaded, said that his nation also knows “the pain of losing innocent young lives.”
The tragedy in Uvalde was the deadliest school shooting in Texas history, and it added to a grim tally in the state, which has been the site of some of the deadliest shootings in the U.S.
According to the Texas Tribune, the massacre in Uvalde is the eighth mass shooting in a Texas public space since an Army psychiatrist opened fire at Fort Hood Army base in November 2009, killing 13 people in what was later determined to be an act of religious extremism. Five years later in April 2014, another Fort Hood soldier killed three people and wounded a dozen more on the base before he killed himself during a firefight with military police.
Since then, the pace of mass shootings in Texas has increased, along with the list of the dead:
- In July 2016, five Dallas police officers were slain by a 25-year-old who targeted officers at a Black Lives Matter protest; the gunman wounded nine other police officers and two civilians before he was killed by a remote-controlled bomb following a standoff with police.
- In November 2017, a 26-year-old man opened fire during Sunday morning services at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, killing 26 people and wounding 20 others. The gunman fled the area when a local man began shooting at him, then fatally shot himself after a vehicle pursuit.
- Six months later, in May 2018, a 17-year-old student shot eight students and two teachers to death and injured 13 at Santa Fe High School near Houston. He was arrested about 25 minutes after the shooting began.
- In August 2019, a 21-year-old man drove from suburban Dallas to El Paso, posted a racist manifesto, then began shooting people at a Walmart, targeting Latinos. He killed 23 people and injured 25 before leaving the store and surrendering to Texas Rangers nearby.
- Later that month, a 36-year-old man went on a shooting rampage in the Midland-Odessa area, leaving seven people dead and 25 wounded. The man, who had been fired from his job that morning, was shot to death by police officers outside an Odessa movie theater.
The shooting came days before the National Rifle Association annual convention was set to begin in Houston. Abbott and both of Texas’ U.S. senators were among elected Republican officials who were the scheduled speakers at a Friday leadership forum sponsored by the NRA’s lobbying arm.
Refresh this story often for the latest information on this developing story.