After rushing into an elementary school in Texas on Tuesday, a teenage shooter murdered at least 19 children and two adults, making this the most recent instance of gun-fueled mass murder in the United States as well as the worst school shooting in the country in almost a decade. A number of individuals, including children, have been hurt in the incident. Some are in critical condition.
In an official statement, the office of the state attorney general clarified the death toll, which had been reported inconsistently at first, as 18 children and two adults, including the perpetrator of the shooting, had been killed in the incident. Later on, a representative for the Texas Department of Public Safety informed CNN that there had been a shooting at a school and that 20 people had been murdered, including the gunman. There was a professional educator among the grownups.
According to Pete Arredondo, head of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Department, who also addressed media, the majority of the students at the school are in the second, third, and fourth grades. The ages of the students in those grades most likely varied from seven to ten years old.
In a speech delivered hours later from the White House, a visibly shaken US President Joe Biden urged Americans to stand up to the politically powerful US gun lobby, which he blamed for blocking the enactment of stricter “common-sense” firearms safety laws. Biden was visibly shaken after the shooting in Orlando, Florida, which left 49 people dead and 53 others injured.
The University Hospital in San Antonio said on Twitter that it had received four patients as a result of the shooting in Uvalde. Among those patients, a lady in her 66th year and a youngster of ten years old are both reported as being in serious condition.
It was reported that 15 pupils from Robb Elementary School were treated in the emergency department of the Uvalde Memorial Hospital. Of those patients, two were sent to San Antonio for further medical treatment, while a third patient transfer was pending. There was an initial lack of clarity on who of those pupils managed to live.
According to Uvalde Memorial Hospital, another victim, a 45-year-old man who was grazed by a gunshot, was sent there for treatment.
An appeal to the general public for blood donations was made by the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center. They have already delivered 15 units of blood, but they are becoming dangerously low on supplies. According to reports from PTI, there is now a scarcity of blood at the local hospitals where the injured are being treated for their injuries. Appointments to give blood in the event of an emergency are being conducted on Wednesday.
According to Governor Greg Abbott, the suspect, who has been named as Salvador Ramos, was presumably killed by police officers. Additionally, Governor Abbott said that two policemen were injured by gunfire, although he stated that their injuries were not significant.
The 18-year-old also shot his own grandmother before fleeing the scene, crashing his getaway car, and then going on a bloody rampage at Robb Elementary School in the town of Uvalde, Texas, which is about 80 miles west of San Antonio. Robb Elementary School is located about 130 kilometres from San Antonio.
