On Tuesday, a shooter opened fire at a Texas elementary school, killing at least 18 children and a teacher, authorities said, making it the deadliest school shooting since the Sandy Hook massacre ten years ago.
In Uvalde, a small community west of San Antonio, students in the second through fourth grades of Robb Elementary School were getting ready for summer break when the shootings occurred shortly before noon. The shooter, an 18-year-old student from a local high school, was also found dead at the site, according to investigators, who confirmed him as the gunman.
Gov. Greg Abbott described the shooting as “horrifically, incomprehensibly” at a media briefing.
On Tuesday night, while worried Uvalde parents anxiously awaited news on their children’s safety and law enforcement authorities worked feverishly to piece together how the atrocity occurred, the mass shooting reopened a national political discussion over gun restrictions and the ubiquity of guns. An expletive was used by a citizen of Uvalde named Rey Chapa as he spoke about the deaths that occurred on Tuesday. He remarked, “This is just evil.” According to Chapa, his nephew was at the school when there was a gunshot, but he was unharmed. He awaited word from family and friends on the health of the other children. The father of a fourth-grader at Robb Elementary School in San Antonio said he couldn’t locate his daughter when he went to the school or a reunification facility in the municipal center. No one has told him anything, and “I’m trying to find out where my baby’s at.”
“Any and all assistance” has been extended to the governor “in the wake of the horrific shooting in Uvalde” by President Joe Biden, according to a White House official. After he returned to the White House late on Tuesday, Biden was set to speak about the shootings.
