Texas Elementary School Shooting Left 19 Children and 2 Adults Dead

In the city of Uvalde in Texas, a gunman aged 18 opened fire at Robb Elementary School, teaching children aged seven to 10; he killed 19 children and 2 adults within the premises before he was shot by law enforcements. This tragic event happened only 10 days after the last mass shooting in New York at the Buffalo supermarket, which was described as a “racist attack”. According to investigators, the suspect “had a handgun, an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and high-capacity magazines”. He is also suspected of shooting his grandmother before “the rampage”.

Pete Arredondo, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Chief of Police, said the shooting began at 11:32 local time on Tuesday, and that the investigators believe the attacker acted “alone during this heinous crime”. According to local media reports, the 18-year-old suspect may have been a high school student in the area.

The Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, said that the shooter, whom he named Salvador Ramos, had abandoned a vehicle before entering the school to “horrifically, incomprehensibly” open fire in classrooms. 

19 children sadly died during this tragic incident, alongside two adults. One of the two adults was a fourth-grade teacher named in the US media as Eva Mireles. According to the BBC News, “her page on the school district’s website said she has a daughter in college and loved running and hiking”.

Before the shooting began, the 18-year-old suspect shot his grandmother, says the authorities, and “she remains hospitalised in critical condition”.

Following from these events, President Biden “called on the US to turn its collective pain into political action following the deadliest elementary shooting since Sandy Hook” in 2012. Watch the address below:

The BBC News reports, “The Associated Press news agency reports that a US Border Patrol official who was nearby when the shooting began rushed into the school and shot and killed the gunman, who was behind a barricade. Border Patrol is a federal agency that guards US ports of entry. Uvalde, which is fewer than 80 miles from the border with Mexico, is home to a Border Patrol station. Two border agents were reportedly shot in an exchange with the gunman. One agent was shot in the head, officials say, adding that both were now in a stable condition in hospital.”

According to CBS News, “the attacker was wearing body armour as he carried out the attack. Another 18-year-old who is suspected of attacking a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, on 14 May was also wearing body armour and carrying a semi-automatic rifle – both of which are commercially available in the US.” 

This news on the shooting has everyone shocked, though the next step after the emotions should be to take action and to prevent from this happening. Everyone in power should put their energy into this, as not only have the US already had over 20 shooting this year alone of 2022, but a lot of lives have been lost within each terrible incident.