UVALDE, Texas –
Fourteen children and a teacher were killed Tuesday in a shooting at a Texas elementary school, and the 18-year-old gunman was killed, Gov. Greg Abbott said Abbott said a local man opened fire on the school Robb d’Uvalde primary school, approx. 85 miles (136 kilometers) west of San Antonio
“He shot and killed, horribly, incomprehensibly, 14 students and killed a teacher,” the governor said.
The gunman was a resident of the community and entered the school with a gun, and possibly a rifle, and opened fire, Abbott said. He said the shooter was probably killed by responding officers, but that the facts were still being investigated.
Uvalde Memorial Hospital previously said 13 children were taken by ambulance or bus and another hospital reported that a 66-year-old woman was in critical condition. It was not immediately known how many people, in addition to the dead, were injured in the shooting
The consolidated independent school district of Uvalde said an active shooter was reported at the school, which has an enrollment of just under 600 students. Earlier, the district had said that all schools in the district were closed due to gunfire in the area.
A heavy police presence surrounded the school on Tuesday afternoon, with heavy-duty vests diverting traffic and FBI agents coming and going from the building. School and city officials did not immediately return messages asking for comments.
The district said the city’s civic center was used as a reunification center.
The shooting in Texas took place less than two weeks after a gunman opened fire on a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, killing 10 shoppers and black workers in what authorities have described as a hate crime.
Uvalde is home to about 16,000 people and is the seat of the government of the county of Uvalde. The city is about 75 miles from the Mexican border. Robb Elementary is located in a mostly residential neighborhood of modest homes. There is a funeral home next to the school.