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Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Lt. Chris Olivarez joins 'Fox News at Night' to piece together a timeline of events, after a press conference Thursday appeared to contradict previous statements made by officials.
UVALDE, Texas – A mass shooting at a Texas elementary school Tuesday left at least 19 children and two teachers dead after an armed 18-year-old entered the campus, barricaded himself in a classroom and opened fire.
The suspected gunman has been identified by authorities as 18-year-old Uvalde, Texas, resident Salvador Ramos.
TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING: LIVE UPDATES
TUESDAY, MAY 24, 2022
11:32 a.m. CT – ‘Gunshots in the area’
A state trooper walks past the Robb Elementary School sign in Uvalde, Texas, Tuesday, May 24, 2022, following a deadly shooting at the school. (William Luther/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)
A mass casualty incident, later discovered to be the shooting, takes place at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that serves second through fourth graders. The school says it has locked down because of "gunshots in the area."
Local police received a call about "a crashed vehicle and an individual armed with a rifle making his way into the school," DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez told "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday.
12:17 p.m. CT – Active shooter reported
Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. (Fox News Digital)
The school posts messages to social media, writing, "There is an active shooter at Robb Elementary. Law enforcement is on site. Your cooperation is needed at this time by not visiting the campus. As soon as more information is gathered it will be shared. The rest of the district is under a Secure Status. "
12:38 p.m. CT – Reunification site set up
A reunification site is set up at the Willie DeLeon Civic Center in Uvalde, so parents can pick up their children.
PHOTOS: FAMILIES, VICTIMS OF TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING
1:06 p.m. CT – Suspect is reported to be "in custody"
The Uvalde Police Department reports the suspect is "in police custody."
Families hug outside the Willie de Leon Civic Center where grief counseling will be offered in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022. (ALLISON DINNER/AFP via Getty Images)
2:47 p.m. CT - Uvalde Memorial Hospital gives update on injured children
The Uvalde Memorial Hospital posts an update to Facebook that said it had "received 13 children via ambulance or buses for treatment. Two children have been transferred to San Antonio and one child is pending transfer. Two individuals that arrived at UMH were deceased. No details are available. Please refrain from coming to the hospital at this time."
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3 p.m. CT – Gov. Greg Abbott gives press conference
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott identifies the suspected gunman as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos. He says Ramos abandoned his vehicle and entered Robb Elementary School with a handgun and possibly a rifle. Abbott then confirms that at least 14 students and one teacher were killed. He said two responding officers were hit by rounds, but were not seriously injured.
Image of suspected Uvalde, Texas school shooter Salvador Ramos. (Uvalde Police Department)
3:15 p.m. CT - Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is briefed on the shooting
FORMER FBI INVESTIGATOR DETAILS FORTIFYING AMERICA'S SCHOOLS AFTER TEXAS SHOOTING
3:56 p.m. CT - University Health San Antonio gives an update
Law enforcement personnel stand outside Robb Elementary School following a shooting, Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
The hospital says it received a 66-year-old woman and a 10-year-old girl who are both in critical condition.
4 p.m. CT – Gov. Abbott releases a statement about shooting
Gov. Abbott releases a statement hours after the shooting, writing that Texans are "grieving for the victims of this senseless crime and for the community of Uvalde."
He said he and Texas first lady Cecilia Abbott "mourn this horrific loss, and we urge all Texans to come together to show our unwavering support to all who are suffering."
He thanked first responders and said he has instructed the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Rangers to work with local law enforcement to fully investigate the shooting.
"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."
4:16 p.m. CT – President Biden has been briefed
President Biden has been briefed on the shooting, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirms on Twitter.
4:17 p.m. CT – Uvalde police hold a press conference
The Uvalde Police Department, in an afternoon press conference, confirm the suspected shooter is dead and that he is believed to have acted alone.
5:45 p.m. CST - President Biden speaks with Gov. Abbott
Law enforcement personnel stand outside Robb Elementary School following a shooting, Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
White House Communication Director Kate Bedingfield confirms that President Biden "spoke with Governor Greg Abbott to offer any and all assistance he needs…"
6:06 p.m. CT - Vice President Kamala Harris addresses shooting
Vice President Kamala Harris addresses the shooting while speaking at an Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies awards banquet, saying, "Every time a tragedy like this happens, our hearts break, and our broken hearts are nothing compared to the broken hearts of those families. And yet, it keeps happening."
She calls for "reasonable and sensible public policy to ensure something like this never happens again."
6:25 p.m. CT - Death toll increases
Texas DPS has updated the number of children killed in the massacre to 18. Authorities also confirm that the shooter was killed and the shooter's grandmother is in critical condition after being shot.
7:12 p.m. CT - Authorities say shooter was wearing body armor
Lt. Chris Olivarez with Texas DPS, says the suspect was wearing body armor at the time of the shooting and confirms that the suspect used a long rifle in the shooting. Officials later change course, saying the suspect was wearing a vest without metal plates, and was not wearing body armor.
7:13 p.m. CT - Teacher killed in attack is identified
Fourth-grade teacher Eva Mireles was identified as a victim in a school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas on May 24, 2022. (Courtesy of Mireles Family and Lydia Martinez Delgado / Local News X / TMX)
One of the teachers killed in the attack has been identified as Eva Mireles. She was a fourth-grade teacher. A relative of Mireles said she will be remembered as a loving mother and wife.
7:43 p.m. CT - Biden gives remarks on shooting
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks from the Roosevelt Room of the White House on the mass shooting at a Texas elementary school on May 24, 2022 in Washington, DC. 18 people are dead after a gunman today opened fire at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, according to published reports. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The president gives televised remarks on the shooting, saying, "There are parents who will never see their child again … To lose a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped away. There’s a hollowness in your chest, and you feel like you’re being sucked into it and never going to be able to get out. It’s suffocating. And it’s never quite the same."
BIDEN DEMANDS GUN CONTROL FOLLOWING UVALDE, TEXAS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SHOOTING
He asks the nation to pray for the victims and their families and says the nation has to ask "When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God’s name will we do what we all know in our gut needs to be done?"
He says Congress needs to act on "common-sense gun laws."
"The idea that an 18-year-old kid can walk into a gun store and buy two assault weapons is just wrong," he says. "What in God’s name do you need an assault weapon for except to kill someone?"
He adds, "May God bless the loss of innocent life on this sad day. And may the Lord be near the brokenhearted and save those crushed in spirit, because they’re going to need a lot of help and a lot of our prayers."
7:50 p.m. CT - New details about shooter's last moments revealed
Fox News' Bill Melugin reports that an agent with the Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC), a specialized unit within the U.S. Border Patrol, is believed to have shot and killed suspected gunman Salvador Ramos.
The agent entered the school with a team while other law enforcement officers engaged with the suspect who was barricaded, Border Patrol sources told Fox News.
The agent was struck in the leg by either a bullet or shrapnel.
BORTAC provides immediate response to high-risk incidents requiring special skills and tactics, according to the Border Patrol. The team has full-time members based in El Paso, Texas and non-full-time members throughout the United States.
8:57 p.m. CT - Death toll increases
Texas officials confirm at least 19 children and two teachers were killed in the attack.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022
State and federal officials release new details regarding how Tuesday's horrifying events unfolded before and during the Uvalde school shooting.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ramos was involved in a domestic disturbance with his grandmother at his grandparents’ Uvalde home, where he had been living, when he shot the woman in the face and seriously injured her, authorities say.
Officials say that approximately 30 minutes before the events unfolded, Ramos wrote in a series of Facebook messages, "I’m going to shoot my grandmother," "I’ve shot my grandmother," and then: "I’m going to shoot an elementary school."
He then fled and crashed his vehicle near Robb Elementary School, authorities say.
Local police received a call about "a crashed vehicle and an individual armed with a rifle making his way into the school," DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez tells "Fox & Friends."
He then entered the school and encountered a school police officer who confronted him at the front door, officials tell Fox News. The pair exchanged gunfire and Ramos allegedly dropped his bag of ammunition, which authorities predict saved lives. The officer was wounded during the exchange.
He then entered the school and barricaded himself inside a fourth-grade classroom – the first classroom "that he was able to gain access to," Olivarez said. He then opened fire on the students and teachers inside, Olivarez said.
According to law enforcement sources, local police tried to breach the classroom doors, and officers were shot at and injured. A team with the Border Patrol Tactical Unit was then able to enter the classroom, and one of the agents was able to fatally shoot the gunman, sources say.
Twenty-two people, including 19 children and the gunman, were killed. At least 17 others suffered non-life-threatening injuries, officials say. Ramos’s grandmother and a 10-year-old girl remain hospitalized in serious condition, and multiple agents suffered non-life-threatening injuries. One of the deceased victims was the child of a law enforcement officer.
Rolando Reyes, Ramos' grandfather, tells Fox News Digital his wife – Ramos' grandmother – is expected to undergo surgery. He says he "didn't know" his grandson had weapons in the home.
"I feel for all the victims and the families,' Reyes said. He would not speak about his grandson beyond saying,"I'm not happy about it."
Officials describe Ramos as a loner with no immediately known criminal history and no known gang affiliation.
DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez tells "Fox & Friends" the suspect had attended a local high school and lived with his grandparents.
"We haven't able to identify any friends, a girlfriend, no gang affiliation, no criminal history. So, a lot of unanswered questions," Olivarez says. "But that's why we're trying to put all those pieces together, gather as much evidence as possible to try to bring some type of closure to those victims, to the families and also the community here and to all of Texas."
Texas Sen. John Whitmire cites a briefing from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in telling Fox affiliate KCPQ-TV that Ramos legally purchased two AR-platform rifles on May 17 and May 20, and bought 375 rounds of ammunition on May 18.
FBI Director Christopher Wray writes in a statement that his "heart goes out to the families of the victims and to the entire community of Uvalde."
"I know you're experiencing unimaginable pain and trauma. The entire FBI family feels your heartbreak and stands with you," he writes. Wray adds that the FBI is dedicating the full resources of San Antonio Field Office, among other divisions, to aiding in the investigation.
An employee at a Wendy’s location on East Main Street in Uvalde tells Fox News Digital the suspect quit his job there two weeks prior to the attack, but would not elaborate further.
Maria Alvarez, whose son is dating Salvador Ramos' mother, Adriana Reyes, tells Fox News Digital she saw Adriana on Tuesday night, when the woman appeared to be in shock over the day’s events.
Salvador Ramos' Grandparent's home (Fox News Digital/Paul Best)
Earlier on Tuesday, Adriana had traveled to a San Antonio hospital with her wounded mother, Alvarez says. She showed up to Alvarez’s Uvalde home hours later.
"She just said, ‘I came back because I have to find my son. I don’t know where he’s at,'" Maria Alvarez recalls.
"She said, ‘I don’t believe that my son would do that. He loved my mom,'" Alvarez says.
Adriana Reyes tells ABC News that Salvador is "not a monster."
THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2022
Investigators change the timeline of events in Tuesday attack after several reports describe how authorities waiting for several minutes before entering the school.
Texas officials reveal Ramos was inside Robb Elementary School for one hour before being taken down by a U.S. Border Patrol tactical team member and is believed to have entered the school unobstructed without confronting a school resource officer, as previous statements suggested.
Victor Escalon, Texas Department of Public Safety regional director for South Texas says the officers who first arrived on the scene did not make entry initially because of the "gunfire they're receiving," adding that the U.S. Border Patrol tactical teams arrived one hour later.
"Approximately an hour later, U.S. Border Patrol tactical teams arrive. They make entry, shoot and kill the suspect," Escalon says.
DPS says Ramos entered the school "undisrupted" without being confronted by a school district police officer after crashing his vehicle, and also entered through a door that appears to have been unlocked.
"It was reported that a school district police officer confronted the suspect who was making entry, not accurate. He walked in undisrupted initially. So from the grandmother's house to… the school into the school, he was not confronted by anybody," Escalon says. "Right now it appears [the door] was unlocked."
He adds that there was not a school resource officer readily available on-campus that was armed.
Escalon says that the door appears to have been unlocked, but signaled that he isn't certain of that yet.
Ramos also fired several shots at the school while he was in the parking lot walking toward the school, according to Escalon, who adds that Ramos engaged in gunfire toward witnesses at a funeral home.
The alleged shooter then walked into the school at 11:40 a.m. and took a right after walking down a hallway, entering a classroom with doors open, Escalon says.
Local police officers were in the school four minutes later, according to Escalon, where they took rounds of gunfire and took cover.
Escalon says the "majority of the gunfire" was in the beginning of the incident.
His comments come amid new video being released showing witnesses outside the elementary school on Tuesday begging police officers to enter the school.
"Go in there! Go in there!" one woman yelled at police officers, according to Juan Carranza, 24.
Meanwhile, Ramos' grandfather, Rolando Reyes, tells Fox News Digital his wife – whom Ramos' allegedly shot in the face – was recovering after surgery but was still unable to speak.
University Health hospital in San Antonio lists a 66-year-old female victim, who is presumed to be Ramos's grandmother, and a 10-year-old girl as still in serious condition. Two other patients, girls ages 9 and 10, are listed as being in good condition.
Reyes says his daughter, the gunman's mother, is "feeling bad for everybody, all the families."
Adriana Reyes, the mother of Salvador Ramos, seen praying and holding Rosary beads outside of her home (Fox News Digital)
He adds: "She lost her son too."
Later in the day, Fox News Digital captures a photograph of Adriana Reyes, Ramos' mother, mumbling prayers while holding Rosary beads in front of her home.
FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022
The U.S. Marshal Service releases a statement regarding the agencies' response to Tuesday's events, amid reports that Marshals handcuffed a woman who tried to enter the school to get her child.
"Additional Deputy U.S. Marshals were asked to expand and secure the official law enforcement perimeter around the school. Deputy marshals never arrested or placed anyone in handcuffs while securing the crime scene perimeter," the statement reads, in part. "Our deputy marshals maintained order and peace in the midst of the grief-stricken community that was gathering around the school. Our hearts are heavy with sorrow and sadness at this horrific crime. We send our condolences to all the victims and families affected by this tragedy."
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Meanwhile, University Health hospital says one of the juvenile patients, a 10-year-old girl, was discharged from the hospital. The 66-year-old patient, presumed to be Ramos' grandmother, and a 10-year-old girl remain in serious condition. A 9-year-old girl is in good condition.
Fox News' Matteo Cina, Lorraine Taylor and Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
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