HOUSTON — A gunman killed 15 people, including more than a dozen children, in a shooting Tuesday at an elementary school in a predominantly Latino Texas town.
“He shot and killed — horrifically, incomprehensibly — 14 students and killed a teacher,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said.
Abbott said the shooter — whom he identified as Salvador Ramos, 18 — had a handgun and possibly a rifle Tuesday morning when he entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, a city of about 16,000 people approximately 85 miles west of San Antonio.
“The suspect did act alone during this heinous crime,” Uvalde Police Chief Pete Arredondo said.
At least two officers were struck by the shooter’s gunfire and one has a wound, according to a law enforcement source.
Uvalde Memorial Hospital received 17 injured children via ambulance or school bus, two of them dead on arrival, hospital Chief Executive Tom Nordwick said.
Nordwick said the hospital also treated a man in his mid-40s who had suffered minor injuries in the shooting.
“He just said, ‘Treat the kids,’” Nordwick said, adding that 12 children were still being treated in the ER. He couldn’t say what their conditions were.
Two children were transported to a hospital in San Antonio, and another was awaiting transport, hospital officials said. University Hospital in San Antonio said in a statement that a 66-year-old woman and a 10-year-old girl at the hospital were in critical condition.
President Joe Biden, who is set to deliver remarks on the shooting this evening, issued a proclamation ordering flags to be flown at half-staff until sunset Saturday in honor of those killed in the attack.
Robb Elementary has an enrollment of just under 600 students. Earlier Tuesday, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District had said that all schools in the district were in lockdown due to gunshots in the area.
The school district instructed parents of children at the elementary school to stay away from the school and gather at the Uvalde Civic Center for “reunification.”
“Please do not pick up students at this time,” a message on the district website said. “Students need to be accounted for before they are released to your care.”
“Texans across the state are grieving for the victims of this senseless crime and for the community of Uvalde,” Abbott said in a statement.
“Cecilia and I mourn this horrific loss,” he added, referring to his wife. “And we urge all Texans to come together to show our unwavering support to all who are suffering.”
Abbott, who is scheduled to address the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting in Houston later this week along with former President Donald Trump, said he had instructed the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Rangers to work with local law enforcement to investigate the shooting.
Los Angeles Times staff writers Richard Winton in Los Angeles and Courtney Subramanian in Washington contributed to this report.
