UVALDE, Texas (AP) – Fourteen children and a teacher were killed Tuesday in a shooting at a Texas elementary school, the governor said, and the 18-year-old gunman was killed.
Governor Greg Abbott said a local man opened fire on Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, about 85 miles west of San Antonio. It was the deadliest school shooting in Texas history and came four years after a gunman killed 10 people at Santa Fe High School in the Houston area.
“He shot and killed, horribly, incomprehensibly, 14 students and killed a teacher,” the governor said, adding that two officers were shot dead but were expected to survive.
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 Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo told a news conference that the gunman acted alone.
It was not immediately known how many people, other than the dead, were injured, but Arredondo said there were “several injuries.” Earlier, Uvalde Memorial Hospital said 13 children were taken there. Another hospital reported that a 66-year-old woman was in critical condition.
Robb Elementary School has an enrollment of just under 600 students and Arredondo said it serves second, third and fourth graders. He did not say to what degree the children who were shot are.
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.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden had been informed of the school shooting at Air Force One on his return from a five-day trip to Asia and would continue receiving updates. Jean-Pierre said Biden will make statements Tuesday evening at the White House.
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 (120 kilometers) 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.