BREAKING UPDATE: More victims named in deadly Texas school shooting

TEXAS suffered one of the deadliest school shootings in US history on Tuesday, May 24, after 18-year-old Salvador Romas went to Robb Elementary School in Uvalde and killed 21 people, including 19 children.

UPDATE  3 pm (May 25) – More victims have been identified in the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. 19 children and two adults were killed by Uvalde High School student Salvador Romas on Tuesday, May 24.

Jose Flores, Navaeh Brown, Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez and Ellie Lugo, all aged 10, are the latest children to be named as the victim of Romas’ rampage at the Robb Elementary School.

They tragically join Amerie Jo Garza, Makenna Lee Elrod, Eliahana Cruz Torres and Xavier Javier Lopez, all aged 10 and eight-year-old Uziyah Garcia. The two teachers, Eva Mireles and Irma Garcia, have also been named.

According to Lt. Chris Olivarez, spokesperson for the Texas Department for Public Safety, all the victims died inside one classroom.

“It’s a small classroom, you can have anywhere from 25 to 30 students in there, plus there were two teachers in there. … So don’t have an exact number of how many students were in that classroom, but it could vary … It was a classroom setting, a typical classroom setting where you have mass groups of children inside that classroom altogether, with nowhere to go,” Olivarez said.

Mr Olivarez said Romas barricaded himself in the room and shot at everyone inside it.

“Just goes to show you the complete evil from this shooter,” Olivarez told CNN’s John Berman and Shimon Prokupecz.

He told CNN: “We’re trying to determine [whether the school was a target], that’s why we’re working with FBI right now to kind of look back to see if there were any indicators, any red flags, looking at social media.

“What we know about the shooter is that he is a resident here in Uvalde, he did attend one of the local high schools, he lived with his grandparents, was unemployed, no friends, no girlfriend that we can identify at this time, no criminal history, no gang affiliation as well,” he said.

UPDATE 12.12 pm (May 25) – More tributes for the deceased and expressions of shock and anger have continued to flood social media following the deaths of 19 children and two adults in the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday, May 25: “Children and teachers were murdered in a cowardly attack in their Texas school. We share the shock and grief of the American people, and the rage of those who are fighting to end the violence.”

Pope Francis said: “My heart is broken over the mass shooting at the elementary school in Texas.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said: “Shocked at this new massacre in a Texas school. I share this heartbreaking speech by Steve Kerr. We must stop this daily horror in the US. Our solidarity and affection for the families and friends of the victims.”

Conmocionado ante esta nueva masacre en una escuela de Texas. Comparto este desgarrador discurso de Steve Kerr, entrenador de los @warriors. Hay que parar este horror cotidiano en EE.UU.

Our solidarity and affection for the families and friends of the victims. https://t.co/ybleL20fX1

— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) May 25, 2022

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “I would like to express my condolences to all of the relatives and family members of the children who were killed in an awful shooting in Texas.”

Hollywood actor Matthew McConaughey, who is a Uvalde, Texas native, said: “Once again, we have tragically proven that we are failing to be responsible for the rights our freedoms grant us.

“The true call to action now is for every American to take a longer and deeper look in the mirror, and ask ourselves, ‘What is it that we truly value? How do we repair the problem? What small sacrifices can we individually take today, to preserve a healthier and safer nation, state, and neighbourhood tomorrow?’ We cannot exhale once again, make excuses, and accept these tragic realities as the status quo,” he said.

“This is an epidemic we can control, and whichever side of the aisle we may stand on, we all know we can do better. We must do better. Action must be taken so that no parent has to experience what the parents in Uvalde and the others before them have endured.

“To those who dropped their loved ones off to school not knowing that today was goodbye, no words can comprehend or heal your loss, but if prayers can provide comfort, we will keep them coming.”

 

 

 

 

 

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UPDATE 9.30 am (May 25) – The first victims of the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas have been named. 19 children and two adults were killed by Uvalde High School student Salvador Romas on Tuesday, May 24.

Five children have so far been identified; Amerie Jo Garza, Makenna Lee Elrod, Eliahana Cruz Torres and Xavier Javier Lopez, all aged 10 and Uziyah Garcia (9). The two teachers, Eva Mireles and Irma Garcia, have also been named.

https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1529258894215852032

Former US President Barack Obama said about the horrific incident: “Across the country, parents are putting their children to bed, reading stories, singing lullabies—and in the back of their minds, they’re worried about what might happen tomorrow after they drop their kids off at school, or take them to a grocery store or any other public space.

“Michelle and I grieve with the families in Uvalde, who are experiencing pain no one should have to bear,” he said.

He added: “We’re also angry for them. Nearly ten years after Sandy Hook—and ten days after Buffalo—our country is paralysed, not by fear, but by a gun lobby and a political party that have shown no willingness to act in any way that might help prevent these tragedies.

“It’s long past time for action, any kind of action. And it’s another tragedy—a quieter but no less tragic one—for families to wait another day.

“May God bless the memory of the victims, and in the words of Scripture, heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds.”

As noted by Mr Obama, the Robb Elementary School massacre comes after ‘racially motived’ killer spree in Buffalo, New York, in which 18-year-old Payton Gendron took the lives of ten people and injured three others during a live-streamed shooting spree at the Tops Friendly Market on Saturday, May 14.

ORGINAL 6.16 am (May 25) – US President Joe Biden has led calls for tighter gun laws and paid tribute to those that lost their lives during the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday, May 24.

Ramos killed 19 children and two adults, however, the death has continued to rise since the tragic event. Two officers were struck by gunfire, though Texas’s governor said their injuries were not serious.

Authorities in #Uvalde, Texas say Salvador Raimondo Ramos, 18, is the gunman who killed his grandmother before murdering 14 young children at a school & a teacher. Two officers were also shot but survived. He was reportedly killed by responding police. https://t.co/5RAfTmRBJq pic.twitter.com/ji6wQfR1Qr

— Andy Ngô 🏳️‍🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) May 24, 2022

Joe Biden said: “These kinds of mass shootings rarely happen elsewhere in the world. Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen? Where in God’s name is our backbone to have the courage to deal with it? It’s time to turn this pain into action.”

“Tonight, there are parents who will never see their child again. Parents who will never be the same. To lose a child is to have a piece of your soul ripped away forever. I ask the nation to pray for them — to give them strength in the darkness,” he said.

He added: “As a nation we must ask: When in God’s name will we stand up to the gun lobby? When in God’s name will we do what needs to be done? I’m sick and tired of it. We have to act.

“For every parent, for every citizen, we have to make it clear to every elected official: It’s time for action. We can do more. We must do more.”

Indiana Senator Todd Young said: “I am deeply saddened by the horrific shooting today at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. Our nation mourns the innocent lives taken in this senseless tragedy.”

Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said prior to the death toll rising: “The 14 kids dead in an elementary school in Texas right now. What are we doing? What are we doing? Just days after a shooter walked into a grocery store to gun down African American patrons we have another Sandy Hook on our hands.”

Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr said: “Since we left shootaround, 14 children were killed, 400 miles from here. And a teacher.

As noted, the death toll has since risen to 19 children and two adults, according to a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety. Ramos was a student at Uvalde High School and was shot dead by a Border Patrol agent, as reported by Texas Govenor, Greg Abbott.

Kerr continued: “When are we going to do something?”

“I’m tired. I am so tired of getting up here and offering condolences to the devastated families that are out there. I am so tired of the, excuse, I am sorry, I am tired of the moments of silence. Enough!”

Steve Kerr on today's tragic shooting in Uvalde, Texas. pic.twitter.com/lsJ8RzPcmC

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) May 24, 2022

US Vice President Kamala Harris said: “So while we don’t know all the details yet, we do know that there are parents who have lost children – families that have lost children – and their loved ones of course, and many others who may have been injured,’ the vice president said.

“So, I would normally say in a moment like this, we would also say, naturally, that our hearts break. But our hearts keep getting broken. You know, I think so many – there’s so many elected leaders in this room, you know what I’m talking about. Every time a tragedy like this happens, our hearts break. And our broken hearts are nothing compared to the broken hearts of those families.”

She added, “And yet it keeps happening.”

“Enough is enough. As a nation, we have to have the courage to take action and understand the nexus between what makes for reasonable and sensible public policy to ensure something like this never happens again.”

The shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas is now the second-deadliest school shooting in US history. It ranks just ahead of the Parkland shooting but is currently behind the shootings at Sandy Hook.

The Sandy Hook Foundation wrote on Twitter: “We are devastated about reports that multiple people are dead, including children.

“Our hearts are with the families and community as this tragic story unfolds.”