The number of victims from Texas shooting increases

An 18-year-old attacker opened fire at the Robb Initire School in the town of Uvalde before being killed by security forces, officials said.

Investigators said the attacker had been armed with a pistol, with a semi-automatic rifle of the type AR-15 and had high-powered cartoons.

The teenager is suspected to have initially shot his grandmother and then continued the attack.

Local media reported that he may have been a high school student in the area.

Police chief for the independent district of the Uvalde school, Pete Arredondo, said the shooting had begun at 11:32 local times during Tuesday, and investigators believe the attacker has “acting alone during this terrible act”.

Texas Governor Greg Abbbott said the assailant, whom he identified as Salvador Ramos, abandoned his car before entering school and setting fire to “in a terrible and incomprehensible manner”.

One of the adults killed was a teacher. American media identified the victim as Eva Michelle.

Almost 500 students attend school school where shooting occurred and are mostly hispanic. The school is located some 135 miles [135 km] west of San Antonio City.

At the Robb school, second, third and card classes and students are between seven and ten years of age.

The Associated Press agency reported that US border patrol officials were near when the shooting began and immediately went to school killing the assailant, who was behind a barricade.

Uvalde, located about 6 miles [126 km] from the border with Mexico, is home to a border patrol station.

Two border officials reportedly have exchanged fire with the assailant. One of the officials has been shot in the head, authorities said, adding that both are currently stable and are receiving hospital treatment.

Uvalde Memorial Hospital reported earlier that 13 children were taken to hospital through ambulances or buses. Meanwhile, another hospital in the area said that a 66-year-old woman and a ten-year-old girl were in serious health.

During a speech from the White House, US President Joe Biden said it was “shaken from response to mass shootings, calling for gun control.

Even as many young children who saw what happened must see their friends dying as if it were a battlefield. They should live with this all their life”, Biden said.

American President Joe Biden, speaking from the White House after the shooting in Texas.
He ordered that the American flag sit on the semi-mandage at the White House and other federal buildings in honour of the Uvalde victims.

School shootings have increased in the US, and 26 such cases have been recorded last year, said EdWeek, an organisation dealing with education.

In 2012, the shooting at Sandy Hook School in Connecticut was the deadliest. Twenty of the 26 victims were between the ages of five and six.