Anniversary of Uvalde shooting nears, America's deadliest school shooting in a decade

Record ID: 1725529

  • Title: Anniversary of Uvalde shooting nears, America's deadliest school shooting in a decade
  • Date: 19th May 2023
  • Summary: UVALDE, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (FILE - MAY 24, 2022) (REUTERS) FAMILY GRIEVING IN THE AFTERMATH OF SHOOTING POLICE VEHICLE NEXT TO CRIME SCENE MEDIA AT THE SCENE UVALDE, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (FILE - MAY 24, 2022) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE EMBRACING OUTSIDE CIVIC CENTER TWO WOMEN WEEPING AND HUGGING EACH OTHER AS THEY WALK AWAY FROM CIVIC CENTER MAN HUGGING WOMAN WOMAN CRYI
  • Embargoed: 2nd June 2023 15:10
  • Keywords: File Joe Biden Salvador Ramos Texas United States Uvalde a look back assault weapons ban gun control gun legislation mass shooting shooting
  • Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
  • City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
  • Country: US
  • Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Crime,North America
  • Reuters ID: LVA003330917052023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: contains profane language
    May 24 will mark the one-year anniversary since the Robb Elementary School shooting where a teenage gunman killed 19 children and two teachers.
    The gunman, identified as Salvador Ramos, 18, posted an online message warning that he was going to shoot up an elementary school minutes before he attacked, according to Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
    Ramos, whose rampage ended when police killed him, also had sent a message saying he was going to shoot his grandmother, followed by another internet post confirming he had done so.
    The suspect's grandmother, shot in the face before her grandson left the home they shared and attacked the school, survived and called police.
    Fleeing the shooting of his grandmother, he crashed his car near Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, about 80 miles (130 km) west of San Antonio, then managed to evade a school police officer who approached him before running inside.
    Ramos then entered the school through a back door carrying an AR-15-style rifle and made his way to a fourth-grade classroom where he shot all of the people who were slain. Authorities said he had legally purchased two rifles and 375 rounds of ammunition days before the shooting.
    Meanwhile, police surrounded the building, breaking windows to help children and staff escape. U.S. Border Patrol agents also responded and entered the building to confront the shooter, with one agent wounded "in the crossfire," homeland security officials said.
    A Texas legislators' probe of the shooting blamed "systemic failures" and poor leadership for contributing to the death toll.
    The bottom line, the report found, is that "law enforcement responders failed to adhere to their active shooter training, and they failed to prioritize saving the lives of innocent victims over their own safety."
    The 77-page report said 376 law enforcement officers rushed to the school in a chaotic scene marked by a lack of clear leadership and sufficient urgency.
    The report found multiple failures at the school, noting the five-foot tall exterior fence around the school that could not impede the gunman.
    There was also a "regrettable culture of noncompliance by school personnel" when it came to leaving exterior and interior doors unlocked or propped open. The gunman easily entered the school through an unlocked door.
    The report also found that of the approximately 142 rounds the attacker fired inside the building, it was "almost certain" that around 100 of those shots were fired before any officer entered the school.
    The city's mayor said that Robb Elementary School would be demolished following the tragic incident.
    (Production: Gerardo Gomez)
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