Uvalde, Texas, school shooting: What do we know about the gunman?
The man who opened fire Tuesday at an elementary school in Uvalde is dead, likely killed by law enforcement, according to Gov. Greg Abbott.
The 18-year-old, identified as student Salvador Rolando Ramos, killed at least 18 children and two adults, the Department of Public Safety told media including the Texas Tribune and CNN as of about 6:45 p.m.
University Health San Antonio said around 4 p.m. Tuesday that a 66-year-old woman and a 10-year-old girl were in critical condition.
Ramos may have also shot his grandmother before going to the school, according to Abbott. He had a handgun and may have had a rifle.
The shooting is “a horrific tragedy that cannot be tolerated in the State of Texas,” Abbott said at a news conference earlier Tuesday before the updated death toll was announced. “He shot and killed horrifically, incomprehensibly, 14 students and killed a teacher.”
Two responding police officers were also shot but have no evidently serious injuries, Abbott said.
Ramos was a United States citizen and a student at Uvalde High School, according to Abbott.
What may have been the shooter’s Instagram account, but has not been verified by authorities, was taken down. It had photos of guns on the account and the account followed other students at the high school.
One screenshot published by online news site Heavy from the account shows two rifles and another shows someone, possibly Ramos, holding a rifle magazine.
The shooting is the deadliest at a K-12 school in Texas and the second deadliest attack on a K-12 school in America.
Officials have not released a motive, but have said the gunman was a resident of the community about an hour and a half drive west of San Antonio, according to the Associated Press.
The Uvalde school district police chief Pete Arredondo said the gunman acted alone.
“When parents drop their kids off at school, they have every expectation to know they’re going to be able to pick their child up when that school day ends,” Abbott said. “There are families who are in mourning right now, and the State of Texas is in mourning with them for the reality that these parents are not going to be able to pick up their children.”
