• Estrada told CNN’s Anderson Cooper the gunman wrecked a vehicle while driving near the school after shooting his grandmother. “The suspect did crash near a ditch nearby the school. That’s where he exited his vehicle with what I believe was a rifle and that’s when he attempted to enter the school where he was engaged by law enforcement.”
• The gunman had body armor, the rifle and a backpack, Estrada said. The shooter made it into several classrooms, Estrada added.
A child gets on a school bus Tuesday under the watch of law enforcement. Robb Elementary teaches second through fourth grades and had 535 students in the 2020-21 school year, according to state data. About 90% of students are Hispanic and about 81% are economically disadvantaged, the data shows. Thursday was set to be the last day of school before the summer break.
People react outside the Civic Center. This marks at least the 30th shooting at a K-12 school in 2022.
Law enforcement officials and other first responders gather outside the school following Tuesday’s shooting.
A woman cries and hugs a young girl while on the phone outside the Civic Center in Uvalde.
People react outside the SSGT Willie de Leon Civic Center, where students were transported after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday, May 24.
A child gets on a school bus Tuesday under the watch of law enforcement. Robb Elementary teaches second through fourth grades and had 535 students in the 2020-21 school year, according to state data. About 90% of students are Hispanic and about 81% are economically disadvantaged, the data shows. Thursday was set to be the last day of school before the summer break.
People react outside the Civic Center. This marks at least the 30th shooting at a K-12 school in 2022.
Law enforcement officials and other first responders gather outside the school following Tuesday’s shooting.
Photos: Mass shooting at Texas elementary school
•US Customs and Border Protection, which is the largest law enforcement agency in the area due Uvalde’s proximity to Mexico, had more than 20 agents respond to the shooting, according to a law enforcement official. A CBP agent was shot in the head, but is in stable condition after the bullet did not penetrate, the official said.
30th shooting at a K-12 school this year
Tuesday’s incident marks at least the 30th shooting at a K-12 school in 2022. So far in 2022 there have been at least 39 shootings in K-12 schools, colleges and universities, resulting in at least 10 deaths and 51 injuries.
It is the deadliest shooting at a school since the Sandy Hook massacre in Connecticut in 2012 that left 26 people dead, including 20 children between 6 and 7 years old.
Biden calls for lawmakers to have a backbone
President Biden addressed the shooting in emotional remarks from the White House Tuesday evening, saying, “I had hoped when I became President I would not have to do this again.”
Texas AG puts out statement after elementary school shooting 03:28
“There’s a lot we don’t know yet. There’s a lot we do know. Parents who will never see their child again, never have them jump in bed and cuddle with them. Parents who will never be the same. To lose a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped away,” said Biden, who has before spoken in deeply personal terms about the family tragedies he has endured.
“Why do we keep letting this happen? Where in God’s name our is backbone to have the courage to deal with and stand up to the lobbies?” he said.
School was two days from summer break
Robb Elementary teaches second through fourth grades and had 535 students in the 2020-21 school year, according to state data. About 90% of students are Hispanic and about 81% are economically disadvantaged, the data shows. Thursday was set to be the last day of school before the summer break.
The school district said it is canceling all school activities following the shooting.
Uvalde County, located about 85 miles west of San Antonio, had a population of about 25,000 as of the 2020 Census.
An 18-year-old gunman on Tuesday fatally shot 19 children and two adults at a Texas elementary school before he was killed by law enforcement officers, officials said.
The shooter — identified by Texas officials as Salvador Ramos, of Uvalde — also shot his grandmother before crashing a vehicle near the school, Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Erick Estrada said. She is in critical condition, he said.
The gunman is believed to have acted alone, Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo said.