Texas Senator Roland Gutierrez announced Tuesday that the death toll from the shooting in the state’s elementary school has risen to 18 children, and three adults, while three injured were taken to hospital in serious condition, according to REUTERS news agency.
And the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, announced that at least 14 students and teachers were killed when a gunman opened fire on an elementary school in the state, according to US media CBS News .
Also Read: Â Witness to Robb Elementary Shooting: Children ran away from school, shot from a window
Abbott said the shooter also died, and is believed to have been killed by law enforcement officers who responded to the attack.
He added that the shooter is an 18-year-old and that preliminary information indicates that he was studying at Ovaldi High School.
Abbott’s comments came after the district reported an active shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, about an hour and a half west of San Antonio.
RT @ABC: BREAKING: "At this point, the investigation is leading to tell us that the suspect did act alone," authorities say in update on Uvalde, Texas, elementary school shooting.
LATEST: https://t.co/8mbJhOLCuV pic.twitter.com/QcJ88JWw7k
— RJâ„¢ (@dickyjames) May 24, 2022
Abbott said he believed the suspect, who he gave his name, Salvador Ramos, got out of his car and then entered the school with a pistol and possibly a shotgun.
Abbott explained that the young man “shot and killed – in a horrific and incomprehensible way – 14 students and killed a teacher.”
Also Read: Robb Elementary Shooting: Salvador Ramos is suspected of the massacre of children
American media, NPR reported that preliminary information indicated that the young man, the suspect, had “shot his grandmother before he entered the school” and carried out his attack, but the official authorities have not confirmed this yet.
Uvalde Hospital had announced on Facebook that 13 children had been transferred to the medical institution for treatment, and an appeal had been published for citizens to donate blood.
A 66-year-old woman and a 10-year-old girl were also taken to the University Hospital in San Antonio, according to local news stations.
The hospital confirmed that the 66-year-old woman is in critical condition.
The White House announced that President Joe Biden was informed of the shooting incident, and will continue to monitor developments from aboard Air Force One.
White House spokeswoman Karen Jean-Pierre said Biden “will speak this evening about the Texas shooting.”
President Biden has been briefed on the horrific news of the elementary school shooting in Texas and will continue to be briefed regularly as information becomes available.
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) May 24, 2022
“His (Biden) prayers are with the families affected by this terrible event,” she added.
President Biden has been briefed on the horrific news of the elementary school shooting in Texas and will continue to be briefed regularly as information becomes available.
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) May 24, 2022
Local police had initially reported the arrest of a suspect after the shooting at Robb Elementary School in the small town of Uvalde, about 130 km east of San Antonio.
A gunman walked into an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday afternoon and killed 14 children and a teacher, Gov. Greg Abbott said on Tuesday. The last day of school was to be this Thursday. https://t.co/hiGgECcKLa pic.twitter.com/L5bMvEhyUg
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 24, 2022
The shooting began at the school, which attends 600 students, at about 11:45 am local time. Uvalde School District officials said all local schools were closed as news of the shooting spread.
Students and teachers have been evacuated to the city’s civic center, where parents have been told they can now bring their children.
