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School massacre in Texas: Student kills 19 children

Families search for their children after school shooting

People react outside the Ssgt. Willie de Leon Civic Center in Uvalde, where students were transported from Robb Elementary School after a mass shooting on May 24, 2022. (Reuters/Marco Bello, Reuters/Marco Bello)

An 18-year-old man shot his grandmother on Tuesday at an apartment in Texas. He crashed a truck in a ditch in Uvalde, west of San Antonio. He was heavily armed and wearing body armor when he walked into a school and started shooting.

Salvador Rolando Ramos, a Uvalde High School student who turned 18 years old on May 16, killed at least 19 children at Robb Elementary School, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Texas Sen. Roland Gutierrez said Ramos used two rifles he had purchased.

“That was the first thing he did on his 18th birthday,” Gutierrez said.

Salvador Ramos was identified as the 18-year-old shooter at Robb Elementary School on Tuesday in Texas. (.)

Relatives identified two of the victims at Robb Elementary School as fourth-grade teacher Eva Mireles and 10-year-old Xavier Lopez, a fourth-grade student.

Mireles’s biography on the school’s site reported she had 17 years of experience in education and she was a mother who was married to a Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District officer.

Relatives identified fourth-grade teacher Eva Mireles as one of the victims of the Texas school massacre. (.)

Before the Tuesday night update, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told reporters that two officers were injured. He announced the shooter, 14 elementary school students, and a teacher had died. The death toll increased shortly after.

“There are families who are in mourning right now. The state of Texas is in mourning with them for the reality that these parents are not going to be able to pick up their children,” Abbott said.

Ryan Ramirez said he was searching for his daughter. Adolfo Cruz said he and his family members were searching for his 10-year-old great-granddaughter, Elijah Cruz Torres.

“I hope she is alive,” Cruz said. “They are waiting for an update.”

Relatives identified 10-year-old Xavier Lopez, a fourth-grade student, as one of the victims of the Texas school massacre. (.)

The death toll in the city, east of the US-Mexico border, could have been higher.

Marsha Espinosa, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said U.S. Border Patrol agents who were on and off duty faced Ramos, while he was barricaded inside the school.

“Risking their own lives, these Border Patrol Agents and other officers put themselves between the shooter and children on the scene to draw the shooter’s attention away from potential victims and save lives,” Espinosa wrote on Twitter. “At least one Border Patrol Agent was wounded by the shooter during the exchange of gunfire.”

Photograph of truck suspect in Uvalde school shooting is said to have crashed prior to entering the elementary school building (Eduardo Trinidad)

UCISD Chief of Police Pete Arredondo said the shooting was at about 11:30 a.m. The Uvalde Police Department announced the suspect was in custody shortly after 1 p.m.

Arrendondo said Ramos worked alone. Meta removed an Instagram account that appeared to belong to Ramos. The @salv8dor_ account showed photos of two rifles and a magazine.

Law enforcement personnel stand next to an armored vehicle outside Robb Elementary School following a shooting, Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills) (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The district’s school year was scheduled to conclude on Thursday. Uvalde CISD Superintendent Hal Harrell said now the district will be focused on providing grief counseling.

“My heart is broken today,” Harrell said.

Emergency personnel gather near Robb Elementary School following a shooting, Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills) (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Officials didn’t report the number of injured. Authorities were still counting when patients arrived at The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio. Uvalde Memorial Hospital reported receiving two dead and 13 children injured.

University Health in San Antonio also reported receiving two patients, a 66-year-old woman, and a 10-year-old girl. UH later received two more girls ages 9 and 10.

Law enforcement personnel, including the FBI, arrive at Robb Elementary School following a shooting, Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills) (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The San Antonio Police Department, the Houston Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the FBI, and other state and federal agencies were assisting local authorities.

On Tuesday night, President Joe Biden delivered remarks about the school shooting from the White House, after a 17-hour flight returning from Asia.

“When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?”

A Texas State Police officer walks outside Robb Elementary School following a shooting, Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills) (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

CALLS FOR GUN CONTROL

The shooting at Robb Elementary School hit close to home for U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, who represents the survivors of the Dec. 14, 2012, massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown, Connecticut.

“Our heart is breaking for these families. Every ounce of love and thoughts and prayers we can send, we are sending, but I’m here on this floor to beg to literally get down on my hands and knees and beg my colleagues. Find a path forward here. Work with us to find a way to pass laws that make this less likely.”

Law enforcement personnel stand outside Robb Elementary School following a shooting, Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills) (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

At Sandy Hook, Adam Lanza, 20, killed 20 first-grade students and six teachers. Like Nikolas Cruz at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Lanza used an AR-15 rifle.

“I just don’t understand why people here think we’re powerless — we aren’t,” Murphy told reporters on Capitol Hill.

The Archbishop of San Antonio, Gustavo Garcia Seller, comforts families outside of the Civic Center following a deadly school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas Tuesday, May 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills) (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

UCISD news conference

6 p.m. report

5 p.m. report

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ABC News and its affiliates in San Antonio and in Houston and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Torres contributed to this report from Miami. Checkol contributed to this report from Pembroke Park.


About the Authors
Andrea Torres headshot

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.

Eden Checkol headshot

Eden Checkol co-anchors Local 10's 10 p.m. weeknight newscast on WSFL and also reports on WPLG newscasts. She’s a Minnesota native who is thrilled to leave the snow behind and call South Florida home.

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