Texas Shooting Tragedy: Robb Elementary’s Nightmare

Police stand outside Robb Elementary School, Texas after the shooting happened on May 24 – Photo: AP

According to CNN, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has updated the death toll in the United States’ latest bloody shooting, according to which 19 students and 2 adults were killed.

The gunman was shot by law enforcement.

Earlier information said 18 students and 3 adults were killed, including the gunman.

Texas officials say 18-year-old Salvador Ramos shot his grandmother before killing him at Robb School. According to CNN, Ramos’ grandmother was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

According to Reuters news agency, University Hospital in the city of San Antonio, Texas said it received two patients from the Uvalde shooting, a 66-year-old woman and a 10-year-old girl. Both are in critical condition.

Meanwhile, Uvalde Memorial Hospital said it was treating 15 Robb School students, with two students being transferred to San Antonio for further care. It is not yet clear whether all of these students survived.

Uvalde Memorial Hospital also received a 45-year-old victim of a gunshot wound.

A police car is parked near a car believed to be the suspect in the Robb Elementary School shooting, Texas, USA – Photo: REUTERS

Hours after the shooting, police cordoned off Robb School with yellow ribbons. Several patrol cars and ambulances were parked near the scene. Police stood in small groups on campus, some carrying semi-automatic weapons.

According to Reuters, the massacre happened just two days before the summer vacation for Robb Elementary School.

According to information and photos recently posted on Robb School’s Facebook page, the school’s students, ages 7 to 10, recently visited the zoo and participated in a quiz program with prizes. According to the school calendar, May 24 is the award day, and students are required to dress well to school.

However, at 11:43pm on May 24, a post appeared on Robb’s Facebook page with the content “Please note that at this time Robb Elementary School is on lockdown due to shooting in the area. Students and staff are safe inside the school.”

Robb School asks parents not to pick up their children so that the school can count all 570 students from grades 2 to 4 of the school.

The announcement later by Texas officials was devastating, when up to 19 students were killed.

People comfort each other outside the Ssgt Willie de Leon administrative center, where students were transferred from Robb School after the shooting – Photo: REUTERS

It was the deadliest school shooting in Texas history. The incident comes about four years after a gunman shot dead 10 people at Santa Fe High School in Houston.

The Uvalde shooting comes just 10 days after 10 people were killed in Buffalo, New York. New York authorities have charged an 18-year-old man who traveled hundreds of kilometers to Buffalo and opened fire at a grocery store.

The Texas shooting is also one of the deadliest school shootings in the United States.

In December 2012, a man opened fire and killed 26 people, including 20 children, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. In 2018, a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida also killed 17 students and teachers.