At least 18 children and at least two adults are dead after a gunman opened fire at a Texas elementary school on Tuesday, Texas officials said.
The latest horrific tragedy sparked outrage, particularly from gun reform advocates who said the nation could no longer hide behind old excuses for these horrific killing sprees.
The gunman, an 18-year-old man, was a resident of the community. He entered the school with a handgun and possibly a rifle, Abbott said.
The shooting, the deadliest school shooting in Texas history, occurred in the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, about 85 miles west of San Antonio, WOAI reported.
Gov. Greg Abbott said that the shooter abandoned his car and entered the school with a handgun and possibly a rifle, The Associated Press reported, noting that the rampage marks the deadliest at a U.S. grade school since the attack at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut.
The death toll from the shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas rose to 18 children and three adults, a state senator said.
Sen. Roland Gutierrez told @AP that three people wounded in the attack are hospitalized in serious condition. https://t.co/4YKgmogq9t
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 25, 2022
President Biden will address the nation about the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, at 8:15 p.m. EDT Tuesday from the White House.
President Biden has been briefed on the horrific news of the elementary school shooting in Texas and will continue to be briefed regularly as information becomes available.
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) May 24, 2022