WWALDE, Texas – The gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers at a rural Texas primary school on Tuesday entered the building despite colliding with a school security officer, then wounded two police officers and involved a clash at the school. for more than an hour, state police officials said.
With gaps in the schedule of events, details emerged on Wednesday about a lengthy carnage scene at Rob’s primary school in Uwalde. What began around 11:30 a.m., with the first signal of an armed man approaching the school, ended when special services stormed a pair of adjoining classrooms and killed the shooter, who was barricaded inside shortly after 1 p.m., state police said.
It is unknown how many were killed in the first minutes of the massacre, the deadliest in an American school since 20 children and six teachers were shot dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012. But officials said officers successfully have detained the shooter, identified as Salvador Ramos, until more specially trained officers arrive.
Pray in front of Rob Elementary School in Uwalde, Texas, on Wednesday. Credit … Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The New York Times
Yet, even as the details of the attack became clearer, the motivation behind the outbreak remained disappointingly opaque. For lack of explanation, there was only deep grief in a community unaccustomed to outside attention and a harsh resumption of the national debate on firearms legislation and the staggering number of gun violence in America.
By Wednesday, all the victims had been identified by officials, who had not yet released their names, but the tragedy was just beginning.
Among those killed were Eva Mireles, a schoolteacher who ran marathons in her spare time, and 10-year-old Jaila Silgero, at least four children. “I can’t believe this happened to my daughter,” said her father, Jacob Silgero, crying during an interview. “I’ve always been afraid of losing a child.”
President Biden said he would travel to Uwalde in the coming days to try to reassure residents. He did not call on Congress to pass gun safety legislation, but said in notes Wednesday that the “Second Amendment is not absolute” and that previous gun safety laws did not violate its constitutional protections. “These actions we have taken before are saving lives,” he said. “They can do it again.”
Yet, with little visible opening at the federal level, Democrat-controlled states have begun to make their own changes. In New York, Gov. Katie Hochul said she would work to raise the age of 21 to buying AR-15 weapons, such as the one used by the Texas shooter, to 21. In California, the U.S. Senate proposed a party-led bill proposed by Gov. Gussen News and a model restrictive Texas abortion law that would allow private citizens to prosecute those who make or sell illegal ghost weapons, ghost gun kits and style. of assault weapons.
“This situation is on the rise,” Mr Newsham said. “We’re leaning forward.”
A U.S. soldier received mourning flowers as the investigation into the shooting continued. Credit … Callahan O’Hare for the New York Times
In Uwalde, senior Texas officials gathered for an emotional press conference that began with calls for unity after the murder. “It is intolerable and unacceptable to have someone in this state who would kill young children in our schools,” said Abbott, who celebrated the relaxation of gun regulations in Texas and called for a new law last year that allows most Texas to carry a weapon without permission.
But the grim tone Mr Abbott sought to strike was changed by Beto O’Rourke, the Democrat who challenged Mr Abbott’s re-election, who blamed the governor for the state’s repeated massacres. “The time to stop the next shooting is right now and you are not doing anything,” Mr O’Rourke said.
“Sit down, you’re not in line and you’re ashamed,” said Vice Governor Dan Patrick.
The interruption and the resulting assassination of the scene, carried out almost entirely by Republican officials, revealed for a moment the well-established battle lines for gun ownership and mass murder in the United States.
“I hate to say that, but there are more people who shoot themselves every weekend in Chicago than in schools in Texas,” Mr Abbott later said. He criticized “people who think, ‘Maybe we’re just enforcing tougher gun laws – that’ll solve it,'” saying Chicago, LA and New York disprove that.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker responded, citing evidence that “most of the weapons used in the Chicago shootings come from states with weak gun laws.”
Mr Patrick said limiting entrances to only one in smaller schools could be a solution to keeping students safe. He also offered to arm teachers. Mr Abbott emphasized the need for better mental health care, although he did not suggest how to improve access to it in the country.
Bobby Kramer, left, and Charlie Galvan donated blood the morning after the shooting. Credit … Meredith Kohut for The New York Times
However, in the case of Mr Ramos, there was nothing to raise official concerns before the shooting, officials said. There is no history of mental illness. No visible criminal record. “We don’t see a motive or a catalyst right now,” said Stephen McCrow, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
But those who knew the shooter said he had slipped away: he seemed to have dropped out of high school and often scared colleagues at a fast food restaurant where he worked. When he is caught, he will retaliate. Acquaintances said that he often missed classes and had few friends.
“He would curse customers, managers, even me,” said Jocelyn Rodriguez, 19, a Wendy’s restaurant employee. She remembers him once telling her, “I’m going to shoot Wendy,” but she never took his threats seriously. “I thought he was joking.”
Two weeks ago, she said, he stopped showing up for work.
He bought an AR-style rifle from a local retailer on May 17, the day after his 18th birthday. He then bought another on May 20, officials said. Meanwhile, he bought 375 rounds.
He shared oblique messages about his plans with a 15-year-old girl in Germany, whom he recently met online. The girl, who asked to be identified only by her nickname, Cece, said he called her on video in the days around her birthday from a gun shop, where he told her he was buying a rifle. Mr Ramos also showed her a black bag during the video call, which appeared to have many ammunition stores and at least one pistol.
On Tuesday morning, parents left their children at Rob Elementary School, a cheerful brick school house near the end of Uwalde, where everyone was preparing for summer vacation.
Orelia Barker with her sister Clarice Suchi after a mass on Wednesday for the victims of the shooting. Credit … Ivan Pierre Aguirre for the New York Times
Narsedalia Luna and her 8-year-old grandson, a third-grader, attended an end-of-year awards program in the school canteen. But her grandson told her he wanted to get home early. That’s what they did. “I gave up and I’m glad I did,” she said.
They returned to their home on Diaz Street.
On the same short street, less than half a mile from the school, Mr. Ramos lived in a modest home with his grandmother. On Tuesday morning, Mr Ramos sent an SMS to the girl in Germany shortly after 11 am, apparently annoyed that his grandmother was calling AT&T for his mobile phone. “I have to do something with her rn,” he wrote. The screenshots do not show Cece responding, but at 11:21 Mr. Ramos sent another text: “I just shot my grandmother in the head,” followed immediately by another: “I have to shoot in elementary school.
Mr Ramos, officials said, took one of the weapons he had bought and shot his 66-year-old grandmother in the face.
The wounded woman rushed to a neighbor’s house for help as Mr. Ramos fled in her pickup truck, carrying a bag of ammunition and both weapons. Ms. Luna said another neighbor noticed the grandmother with “blood on her face running down the street.”
Mr Ramos’s truck, officials said, crashed at high speed to the school around 11:30 a.m.
As he approached the school, officials said, he came across an employee from the Uwalde school district. There have been conflicting reports, state police officials said, on whether there was an exchange of shootings at the time.
As the shooter approached, Juan Paulo Ibara Jr. said his younger sister, a 10-year-old student at Rob Elementary School, was in her fourth grade class watching a movie. He said she looked out the classroom window and saw a man outside with a gun, then warned her teacher. Soon there was gunfire in the classroom, aimed at nearby windows, she told him.
By Wednesday, all the victims had been identified by officials, who had not yet released their names, but the tragedy was just beginning. Credit … Callahan O’Hare for the New York Times
Mr Ibara said his sister described how she and her classmates jumped out of the window one by one and ran to a funeral home across the street, seeking refuge.
The attacker entered the school. Once he was inside, two Uwalde police officers arrived, clashed with the shooter and were immediately met with gunfire, officials said. Both were shot.
Dozens of police officers soon responded to the scene, but the shooter had barricaded himself in what Mr. Abbott described as internally connected classrooms. A tactical team, including specialized border patrol agents, will be needed to finally break through the room.
When they entered, one of the agents raised a shield so that the other agents could move behind, an officer informed …
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