An 18-year-old man shot dozens of children at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday, in one of the deadliest school shootings in US history.
Updated at 0:09
Tuesday, 11:32 a.m. The 500 students at Robb Elementary School were attending their last week of classes before summer vacation when an 18-year-old man opened fire in several classrooms at the school, before be shot.
A total of 21 people, including 19 children and a teacher, lost their lives. A dozen children and two police officers were also injured. The shooter previously shot his grandmother, authorities said.
It is the deadliest shooting at a US elementary school since a shooter killed 20 children and 6 adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut nearly 10 years ago.
Following the tragedy, a Border Patrol agent who was near the school allegedly rushed into the school without waiting for reinforcements and shot the attacker, according to a police source speaking undercover of anonymity. The officer was reportedly injured, but was able to walk out of the school.
The little victims were rushed to Uvalde Memorial Hospital by ambulance or bus. At least 13 children were taken there, while a 66-year-old woman and a 10-year-old child were in critical condition at another hospital.
PHOTO MARCO BELLO, REUTERS
An employee of Robb Elementary School speaks to a parent through the window of a school bus.
Videos shared on social media showed children being evacuated in an emergency, shaking hands or running in small groups towards yellow school buses. A large deployment of police and FBI agents could be seen around the school, which accommodates children aged under 10, from the 2and at the 4and year.
A bereaved president
“Losing a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped out. There is a hollow in your chest. You have the impression of being sucked inside and never being able to get out again, ”said US President Joe Biden on Tuesday evening, with the pain of a twice bereaved father.
Shortly after returning from a five-day trip to Asia on Tuesday, the president made a moving call for new gun restrictions. “When in the name of God are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? »
Just two days before he left, Mr Biden met with the families of the victims after a hate-motivated gunman killed around 10 people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. These two back-to-back tragedies were a reminder of the frequency and brutality of America’s epidemic of mass gun violence.
“These types of mass shootings rarely happen anywhere else in the world,” Biden said. ” Why ? He ordered American flags flown at half-mast until sunset Saturday in tribute to the Texas victims.
“We must have the courage to act… to ensure that something like this never happens again,” Vice President Kamala Harris said.
A broken community
The shooting shook the municipality of Uvalde, a small town of 15,000 inhabitants located about a hundred kilometers from the Mexican border. On social networks, the anxiety was felt. Several hours after the tragedy, families were still without news of their children and were desperately trying to find them by posting their photo on the web.
“My heart is broken today,” school district superintendent Hal Harrell said, announcing that Robb Elementary School would be closed and all school activities would be canceled until further notice. Mr Harrell also said bereavement counselors would be available from Wednesday morning.
We are a small community and we are going to need your prayers to get through this.
Hal Harrell, Uvalde School District Principal
“Only in America are parents not sure their children will be safe in school,” said American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, calling the gun violence of “cancer”. “None of us should tolerate it for a single moment longer,” she added.
The identified shooter
During the massacre, the shooter allegedly used a handgun and possibly a rifle, Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott told a news conference, calling the attack “excruciating and senseless.”
PHOTO JOEL MARTINEZ, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Greg Abbott, Republican Governor of Texas
The killer allegedly bought his two military-style rifles for his birthday, Texas Sen. Roland Gutierrez said. “It was the first thing he did on his 18th birthday.and anniversary,” he said.
The shooter, an 18-year-old identified as Salvador Ramos, was a resident of the community. On what appeared to be his Instagram account, deleted after the killings, there were two black-and-white self-portraits and a photo of a rifle magazine. Another shot also showed two semi-automatic rifles.
It is the deadliest school shooting in Texas history, four years after a gunman fatally shot 10 people at Santa Fe High School in the Houston area.
With Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press