School Children shot dead alongside Teachers in Texas Elementary School shooting

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, a gunman opened fire in a Texas elementary school on Tuesday, killing at least 19 students and 2 teachers.

Gov. Greg Abbott stated during a news conference that the accused shooter, who likely had a handgun and a rifle, was also shot when law officers met him at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, some 83 miles west of San Antonio.

Abbott said, “It is believed that he abandoned his vehicle, then entered into the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde with a handgun, and he may have also had a rifle”.

Before any further deaths were confirmed, the governor stated that “He shot and killed, horrifically and incomprehensibly, 14 students and killed a teacher”.

In relation to the alleged gunman, 19 students and two teachers were slain, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Multiple survivors were being examined at regional hospitals but the precise number was not announced.

This was another horrific shooting on an American school campus that targeted children and educators.

The tragic shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, in 1999, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018, and Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, later that year, are all remembered by Tuesday's attack.

It may have special significance for people affected by the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012, in which a 20-year-old man killed 20 children and six adults.

The suspect shot his grandmother, who was admitted in serious condition, before driving toward the school, according to Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Chris Olivarez.

After crashing nearby, he went to the school and opened fire, according to Olivarez, who spoke at a press conference at the scene.

“He started shooting every single person that was in front of him”. the lieutenant said.

The gunman was wearing a bulletproof vest and wielding a rifle, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Authorities said the incident was described as a mass casualty situation shortly after 11:30 a.m.

Salvador Rolando Ramos, 18, has been identified as the alleged gunman, according to multiple senior law enforcement sources.

Pete Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, said at a news conference “The investigation is leading to tell us the suspect did act alone during this heinous crime”.

The shooter bought two semiautomatic guns on his 18th birthday, according to state Senator Roland Gutierrez, a Democrat. It's unclear if one of those weapons was utilized in the attack.

Local law enforcement was being assisted by FBI investigators and U.S Customs and Border Protection officials in the inquiry into the suspect's motives and background, authorities said.

ATF, which is the bureau for Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives was also called in to help.

However, the governor stated that the families of the victims were being notified. Family members had publicly identified at least six victims.

According to family members’ identification, third-grader Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez, 10, and fourth-graders Uziyah Garcia, Xavier Lopez, 10, and Amerie Jo Garza, 9, were among the 19 pupils killed.

Eva Mireles, a 17-year educator who taught fourth grade, and Irma Garcia, who taught at the school for 23 years, were also identified by family members.

“I’m furious that these shootings continue. These children are innocent. Rifles should not be easily available to all”. Mireles' aunt, Lydia Martinez Delgado, said to KSAT-TV of San Antonio.

In the midst of the chaos, parents looked for their missing children. Maria Garcia was close to the school shortly after noon questioning a police officer because she was still searching for her 10-year-old daughter.

Her voice trembled as she struggled to find answers to her stream of inquiries, implying that her daughter might be hiding in adjacent fields.

They claimed that Rosa and Roland Arizmendia's daughter was safe since they had picked her up early from school after an awards ceremony. However, they had no idea where their niece was.

When they picked up their daughter, they saw her, and Roland Arizmendia claimed he hollered out to her, “Hi, Mija!” However, he had not heard from her since the incident, and their entire family was looking for her.

“It’s like a horror movie”. Rosa Arizmendia said. “If it’s not our kid, someone we know. It’s our neighbors”.

Family and friends sat on concrete blocks outside the SSGT Willie De Leon Civic Center.

A man emerged from the center and relayed the news to one of the waiting groups; some sobbed, while others went away. One woman screamed as she got into her car.

President Joe Biden sounded heartbroken and agitated as he addressed the nation from the White House on Tuesday night.

After yet another school tragedy claimed the lives of “beautiful, innocent second, third, fourth graders”. He wondered when America as a whole will stand up and support limits on heavy weapons and buyers with bad intent.

The president, who lost a young daughter, Naomi, in a vehicle accident and an adult son, Beau, to a brain tumor, understands the anguish of Uvalde parents whose children will never return home. He said, “May God bless the loss of innocent life on this sad day”.

CEO Tom Nordwick said Tuesday evening that Uvalde Memorial Hospital received 14 patients, 11 of whom were classified as children aged 8 to 10.

There have been four patients discharged. Nordwick said two of the people, a male, and a female, were dead when they arrived.

Two adult casualties were in critical condition, according to Brooke Army Medical Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston.

In a tweet, University Health, based in San Antonio, said it was treating four patients: a 10-year-old girl in a critical state, a 66-year-old lady in fair health, and a 10-year-old child in fine shape.

Two officers were shot when they allegedly exchanged gunfire with the shooter, but their injuries were not considered life-threatening, according to Abbott.

Border Patrol agents, both on and off duty, were among the law enforcement officers who arrived. According to the Department of Homeland Security, at least one agent was injured in the gunfight.

Marsha Espinosa, DHS’s assistant secretary for public affairs, said in a tweet “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”.

According to her, the agents also assisted in the relocation of pupils to their families and provided medical assistance.

Superintendent of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, Hal Harrell, described the incident as “tragic and senseless”.

“My heart was broken today”. he remarked, his voice cracking, at a news conference Tuesday evening. “We’re a small community, and we’ll need your prayers to get through this”.

He claimed the school year is over, which was supposed to end on Thursday.

Uvalde, which was founded in 1888 as a ranch and crossroads hamlet, has a population of 8,921, according to the census.

According to the U.S Census Bureau, the school teaches students in grades two through four in a city where over half of the population does not speak English.

According to district records, nearly 90% of the 574 students at Robb Elementary School are Latino, while nearly 9% are Caucasian.

Approximately 87% are classified as economically challenged.

The shooting took place after new FBI numbers released Monday revealed that active shooter incidents increased by more than 50% from 2020 to last year, and by nearly 97% from 2017.