At least 19 children and two adults were killed when a gunman opened fire at an elementary school in Texas, authorities said Tuesday. Authorities said the shooter was killed on the scene by law enforcement officials.
After barricading himself inside a classroom, the gunman “started shooting children and teachers inside the classroom, having no regard for human life,” Lt. Christopher Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety told CBS News.
“Just a complete tragedy. An evil person going into the school and killing children for no reason whatsoever,” he said.
Authorities said the shooter entered Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, at approximately 11:32 a.m. local time, after shooting his grandmother and crashing his vehicle near the school. An official from the Texas Department of Public Safety said that upon entering the school, the shooter fired at “children, teachers, whoever was in his way.”
“He was shooting everybody,” the official said.
Olivarez told CBS News that the shooter’s grandmother was in critical condition as of Wednesday morning.
The suspect, who was wearing body armor, exchanged fire with law enforcement officials and multiple officers were shot, the official said. The suspect was eventually fatally shot on the scene.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the shooter was an 18-year-old male who resided in Uvalde, which is about an hour and a half west of San Antonio. He said the suspect, who he named as Salvador Ramos, abandoned his vehicle, then entered the school with a handgun and possibly a rifle and “horrifically, incomprehensibly” opened fire.
Two law enforcement sources told CBS News that the suspect had a handgun, an AR-15 assault weapon and high capacity magazines.
The school teaches 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade students, according to Uvalde CISD Police Chief Pedro Arredondo.
Arredondo confirmed the suspect is dead and said investigators believe he acted alone.
President Biden condemned the shooting in an address Tuesday night.
“I had hoped when I became president I would not have to do this — again,” the president said. “Another massacre. Uvalde, Texas. An elementary school. Beautiful, innocent second, third and fourth graders. And how many scores of little children who witnessed what happened — see their friends die, as if they’re in a battlefield, for God’s sake. They’ll live with it the rest of their lives.”
CBS News has learned that Customs and Border Protection agents were among the members of law enforcement that exchanged gunfire with the shooter. One CBP agent was shot in the head. That agent has been hospitalized and is in stable condition.
“U.S. Border Patrol Agents responded to a law enforcement request for assistance regarding an active shooter situation inside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. Upon entering the building, agents and other law enforcement officers faced gunfire from the subject, who was barricaded inside,” Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Marsha Catron Espinosa told CBS News in a statement.
The Uvalde Memorial Hospital previously said it received 13 children from ambulance and buses for treatment, and that two people who arrived at the hospital were deceased. A second hospital said it is caring for a 66-year-old woman and a 10-year-old girl, both in critical condition, a 10-year-old girl in good condition, and a 9-year-old girl in fair condition. Another hospital said it was caring for two adults, also both in critical condition.
South Texas Blood and Tissue said it sent 15 units of blood to Uvalde on Tuesday.
At approximately 2:00 p.m. local time, the district said parents were cleared to pick up their children at the local civic center.
Pat Milton contributed reporting.
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