At least 14 students and a teacher were killed on Tuesday in a mass shooting at an elementary school in southwest Texas. The suspect, identified as an 18-year-old man, was also reported dead. All details about the killing were not immediately available.
Officials suspect the gunman acted alone. There were no immediate reports of a motive.
It was also reported that the gunman may have shot and killed his grandmother before driving to the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde County to carry out the carnage.
The New York Times reported that Texas Gov. Greg Abbot, a major proponent of gun rights, said the suspect “abandoned his vehicle and entered the school with a handgun and possibly a rifle.”
The shooting came as the school year in Texas was set to end soon.
Census data shows that Uvalde County is more than 95% white and has a population of just under 25,000 people.
The shooting comes less than two weeks after a gunman launched a racist attack at a supermarket that killed 10 Black people.
There have been more mass shootings this year than there have been days.
According to Public Citizen, Tuesday made the 212th mass shooting of the year. It came on the 144th day of the year.
Texas is among the states with the loosest gun laws in the nation.
It was only last year when Abbot signed a law allowing Texans to carry handguns without a license or training.
“Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and other Republicans who were initially noncommittal about the bill were under immense political pressure this session from conservatives and gun rights advocates, who have long lobbied the Texas Legislature for permitless carry but historically struggled to win support,” the Texas Tribune reported at the time.
It was not immediately clear what type of gun, or guns, was used in the Uvalde school shooting.
While details were still scarce, it was impossible not to at least draw an immediate comparison to the Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut in 2012. In that instance, 20-year-old Adam Lanza stormed the elementary school in Newtown and killed 26 people, with 20 of them being either 6 or 7 years old.
This is a developing story that will be updated as additional information becomes available.
SEE ALSO:
‘White Supremacist’ Safely Arrested After Buffalo Supermarket Massacre
Elderly Black Women Among Victims Of Racist Mass Shooting At Buffalo Supermarket
14 Students, Teacher Dead In Texas School Shooting was originally published on newsone.com
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