19 Elementary School Students, 2 Adults Dead in Texas Shooting

18-year-old shooter was killed by police, Texas governor says
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted May 24, 2022 4:36 PM CDT
Updated May 24, 2022 10:08 PM CDT
Gunman at Elementary School Kills 14 Students, Teacher
A law enforcement officer speaks with people outside Uvalde High School after a shooting earlier in the day at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.   (William Luther/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)

Update: This file has been updated with the most up-to-date death toll and the shooter's identity.
Nineteen children and two adults were killed when a gunman walked up to an elementary school in the Texas town of Uvalde and started shooting on Tuesday, officials said. Gov. Greg Abbott identified the killer as an 18-year-old student at Uvalde High School, KTRK reports. "He shot and killed horrifically and incomprehensibly," Abbott said. Fifteen Robb Elementary School students were being treated at a Uvalde hospital, and others, including adults, were taken to hospitals in San Antonio. The gunman died after being shot by law enforcement officers, Abbott said. State police raised the death toll Tuesday evening after four more children died, per the New York Times; later Tuesday, it was raised to 19 children, one teacher, and another school employee, per ABC 13. It was unclear how many victims remained in critical condition.

The gunman drove up to the school and walked in with a handgun and possibly a rifle, Abbott said. The governor said he reportedly had shot his grandmother before going to the school; it's not clear whether she survived. Robb Elementary has almost 600 students in second through fourth grades, per USA Today. Nearly half of Uvalde, which is about 80 miles west of San Antonio, is non-English speaking, census data show. Students were being taken to the high school to be reunited with their parents, but the parents were being asked to wait until they're notified to go there, so the staff can try to account for all the children. Thursday was scheduled to be the last day of school in the district, per CNBC. This was the 27th school shooting this year, per NPR.

For a time, the school was keeping parents outside Hillcrest Memorial Funeral Home on Tuesday afternoon while teachers and staff members tried to calm the traumatized survivors, per the Washington Post. Marcela Cabralez, a pastor, said she arrived to find the children rocking and holding each other, with some holding their hands over their ears and screaming. Others stared ahead in silence. A boy who has epilepsy appeared to be in and out of consciousness, she said. When some of them began to speak, they described shots coming through the windows, breaking glass, and classmates bleeding. The shooter has been identified as Salvador Ramos. (More school shooting stories.)

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