Texas shooting – latest: Officials read harrowing 911 calls from massacre

The 18-year-old gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Texas this week entered through a door that was propped open, then fired multiple rounds as 911 calls from students and people inside asked police for help, according to local law enforcement.

Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said officers did not breach a classroom door and kill Salvador Ramos until after 12:50pm on Tuesday. Between the hour that officers arrived and the gunman was killed, there were 19 officers in a hallway, he said.

At 12.16pm, a caller told a 911 dispatcher who was in a classroom that there were eight to nine children still alive. In another call after 12.36pm, a student asked “please send the police now.”

The latest details from Texas officials in the wake of the mass shooting follow a contradictory timeline and uncertain police accounts of the hour after Ramos arrived at the school, raising questions about security at Robb Eleemntary School and the police response, as parents pleaded with officers outside the school to save their children.

Key points

• Officials read harrowing 911 calls from massacre

• Officers ‘betrayed role they signed up for’, parent claims

• Fury as police admit waiting an hour for backup

• Gunman’s father apologises to town of Uvalde

• Biden to travel to Uvalde on Sunday

Hundreds gather to protest NRA conference in wake of Texas massacre

19:29 , Alex Woodward

Hundreds of demonstrators have gathered outside the George R Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas to protest the NRA’s annual conference, going on as scheduled despite a massacre in Uvalde just days earlier.

AOC skewers Manchin for repeating quotes in response to Parkland and Uvalde

19:19 , Alex Woodward

New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appeared to skewer her Democratic colleague Joe Manchin over his response to the Ulvade massacre – which sounded very similar to his reactions to the Parkland killings in 2018.

AOC skewers Manchin for repeating quotes in response to Parkland and Uvalde

More than one hour lapsed between police refusing to engage the gunman and his death. Students called 911 at least nine times

19:08 , Alex Woodward

Not only were parents outside the school pleading with officers to get inside and save their children, students inside Robb Elementary School made at least nine calls to 911 within the 78 minutes between the moment Salvador Ramos walked inside and when he was fatally shot by an officer.

At least 19 officers waited in a hallway before the first reported 911 call was placed at 12.03pm on Tuesday.

Officials claim they believed the gunman was “barricaded” and no longer a threat. But they did not enter the classroom until 12.50pm. The gunman walked into an unlocked door at the school just after at 11.30am.

The latest:

‘It was the wrong decision’: Police admit they delayed response in Texas shooting

Uvalde school district had extensive security plan in place to prevent attack

18:45 , Alex Woodward

Uvalde’s school district had more than doubled its security budget in recent years to prevent the massacre like the one at Robb Elementary.

Joe Sommerlad on the extensive security plan and tens of thousands of dollars in security investments that failed to stop the killings of 19 children and two teachers:

Texas school district had extensive safety plan in place to prevent mass shootings

Protesters scream ‘shame’ outside the 14 acres of guns and ammo at the NRA convention in Houston

18:36 , Alex Woodward

Several hundred protesters have gathered outside a convention center in Houston where the National Rifle Association is holding its annual conference.

One woman has brought a child-sized coffin, filled with images of the children killed in the Uvalde massacre.

A crowd started a chant of “shame” across the street from the conference, where Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are slated to speak.

The timeline of 911 calls from inside the classoom, according to police

18:16 , Alex Woodward

This is the timeline of calls placed to 911 from Robb Elementary School on Tuesday, according to Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety:

A student called 911 from room 112 at 12.03pm. The call lasted one minute and 23 seconds.

She called back at 12.10pm to report several people were killed, and again three minutes later to report that eight to nine students are still alive.

At 12.19pm, a person in room 111 called. The caller hung up when another student told her to hang up.

On a call placed at 12.21pm, “you could hear over the 911 call that three shots were fired,” according to McCraw.

At 12.36pm, a 911 call lasted 21 seconds.

“The initial caller called back ... and was told to stay on the line and be very quiet. She told 911 that he shot the door,” according to McCraw.

During a call at 12.43pm, the caller asked to “send the police now” according to McCraw.

More shots can be heard on another call at 12.50pm

At 12:51pm, a call got “very loud” and “sounds like officers are moving children out of the room,” McCraw said.

Family of girl, 10, killed in massacre refuses to appear with Abbott

18:26 , Alex Woodward

Kimberly and Felix Rubio have refused to meet Governor Greg Abbott after their 10-year-old daughter Lexi was among the 19 children killed in the massacre in Ulvade.

“My first thought was, ‘My Lexi doesn’t even like him,’” Ms Rubio told The New York Times. “She was really little, but we talked about this stuff at home.”

Family of girl, 10, killed in Uvalde school shooting refuse to appear with Gov Abbott

‘It was the wrong decision’: Police admit they mistakenly ruled gunman inactive as children called 911 for help

17:52 , Alex Woodward

As officers arrived at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday, they wrongly believed the mass shooting was over and had shifted to a “barricaded subject” scenario, electing to wait for backup before charging the classroom where gunman Salvador Ramos was locked inside with scores of terrified students.

Full story here:

‘It was the wrong decision’: Police admit they delayed response in Texas shooting

McGraw: ‘We are not here to defend what happened, we are here to report the facts so they have the facts'

17:37 , Alex Woodward

Asked how any students were killed within the time that officers initially refused to engage the gunman and the point that a tactical team fatally shot him, Director McCraw says he does not have an answer.

“I don’t have that answer. We’re looking at that now,” he said.

Director McGraw, who has admitted that police wrongly believed the gunman was “barricaded” in a classroom, said, “What do I say to the parents? I don’t have anything to say to the parents, other than what happened.”

“We are not here to defend what happened, we are here to report the facts so they have the facts,” he said. “If I thought it would help, I would apologize.”

McGraw: ‘There were children in that classroom that were still at risk'

17:28 , Alex Woodward

Director McCraw admitted that “obviously, based on the information we have, there were children in that classroom that were still at risk” despite police initially claiming that the gunman was “barricaded” by officers in a room, rather than an active shooter.

“From the benefit of hind sight where I’m sitting now, of course it was not the right decision,” he said. “It was the wrong decision. Period.”

GoFundMe for Uvalde teacher and husband who died two days later raises $2m

17:20 , Alex Woodward

Donations for the teacher who was killed during the Uvalde massacre and her husband, who died just two days later, have poured in over the last few days, raising more than $2m for the young family the pair leave behind.

GoFundMe for Uvalde victim and husband who died two days later raises $2m

Police: Gunman entered school through propped-open door, 19 officers entered hallway as victims called 911

17:19 , Alex Woodward

Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said the gunman entered the school through a door that was propped open. Officers entered minutes later, and there were 19 officers in the school hallway by 12.03pm.

Officers did not breach a classroom door and kill the gunman until 12:50pm.

At 12.16 p.m., about 45 minutes before the gunman was killed, a caller told a 911 dispatcher who was in a classroom said that there was eight to nine children still alive.

In another call after 12.36pm, a student asked “please send the police now.”

Texas law enforcement providing update

17:03 , Alex Woodward

Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, is giving a briefing from Uvalde on the state of investigations. Stay tuned.

Growing calls for FBI to investigate police response to Uvalde massacre

17:00 , Alex Woodward

A congressman’s letter to the FBI and growing demands for federal intervention in the Uvalde massacre follows conflicting and often wildly contradictory statements from Texas authorities, including a false statement that a school-assigned officer fired at the gunman before he entered the school, and a failure to fully account for the hour that followed.

Growing calls for FBI to investigate police response to Uvalde massacre

Sandy Hook survivor: ‘Schools are unsafe working conditions for students and educators'

16:55 , Alex Woodward

Abbey Clements, who was a teacher at Sandy Hook during the 2012 massacre that killed 20 young children and six others, said he bears “witness to what happens, what can happen, what did happen, and what comes in the aftermath” of the horror of school shootings in America.

“Schools are unsafe working conditions for students and educators,” she said during a press conference in Houston with teachers unions, survivors and gun control advocates.

“Teachers are walking in every day these days crying, having to field questions from students,” she said. “They come in and lock eyes with us, because they know, but they don’t know what to say, and we don’t know what to say. ... We need to help pave the way for them to tell their stories.”

She added that not only are children exposed to gun violence in schools, they are “bringing gun violence into their schools every day,” from shootings in their community to domestic violence in their homes.

“Woven into those stories, there’s poverty, there’s homelessness, there’s unfair immigration that weigh on parents, there’s racism – all of this now with easy access to guns,” she said. “This is not OK. We have too many guns in our country. But there are ways to make things safer for our students and our educators and in our communities.”

David Hogg: ‘I don’t want to hear that young people aren’t doing our jobs'

16:37 , Alex Woodward

David Hogg, a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School shootings in 2018 and co-founder of youth-led gun reform organisation March for Our Lives, said the momentum behind youth-led movements to end gun violence in the decades after the Columbine and Sandy Hook massacres has put Americans in a historic position to combat the proliferation of guns.

“I genuinely believe this time can be different,” he said, adding that the NRA is at its “weakest point” politically after lawsuits and political pressure.

On top of that, we have the most pro-gun sfety House, Senate and president ever in American history. I believe this time can be different,” he added.

Following the Parkland shootings, when he was 17 years old, he said young people participated in nationwide elections at historic rates after officials told them to get politcally engaged after years of legislative inaction.

“I don’t want to hear that young people aren’t doing our jobs,” he said. We need the adults to do their jobs too ... Right now we’re the adults, and we’re not going tot let the next generation take this on.”

He said gun owners need “to stand up and agree we need action … and let politicians know the NRA does not represent them.”

“We have to figure out what we can agree on for the sake of our children,” he said.

Texas teachers union president: ‘How many times do children have to be a role models for the adults?’

16:29 , Alex Woodward

Ovidia Molina, president of the Texas State Teachers Association, said pressuring lawmakers to advance gun reform legislation or policymakers to protect children in schools should not fall on the children who need protections.

“It should not be their burden to carry to make adults take action to save our children’s lives,” she said. “How many times do children have to be a role models for the adults? ... What’s it going to take for lawmakers to stop and value their lives? ... We are sick and tired of talking about this.”

The massacre in Uvalde is “an unimaginable loss. The children in Uvalde are going to carry this for the rest of their lives,” she said.

“That community is forever going to be remembered by this tragedy ... We can’t have one more.”

Teachers unions, school shooting survivors and gun control advocates demand reform in Houston

16:18 , Alex Woodward

The presidents of the nation’s two largest teachers unions, representing nearly 5 million educators and school staff, are joined by March for Our Lives co-founder David Hogg and school shooting survivors in Houston, Texas, near where the National Rifle Association is holding its annual conference.

Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, said the moment is not about “saying it’s enough but asking the question: what are we prepared to do?”

“We can’t leave it at, Here we are again. We can’t leave it at, We tried,” she said. “And say we aren’t able to make changes so that they can live.”

Juto Brown, national director of the Journey and Justice Alliance, said a sense of “hopelessness” in the US is “fuelled” by access to guns.

Sarah Lerner, a teacher and survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shootings in 2018, said she will “keep fighting this fight until I have no fight left.”

Update: Lawmaker demands probe into shooter’s connection to 2018 Uvalde school shooting threat

16:07 , Liam James

A Texas Republican is calling for a probe into whether or not the 18-year-old Uvalde shooter had previously been arrested for threatening to shoot up his school (Graig Graziosi writes).

Congressman Tony Gonzalez said he wanted confirmation on whether Salvador Ramos, the shooter, had been arrested while he was a minor for threatening a school shooting in 2018.

During a segment on Fox News, Mr Gonzalez claimed that the gunman was arrested in 2018 after telling others that he planned to carry out a shooting at a school when he was a senior in 2018.

The shooter’s juvenile record has not been confirmed by police.

The Independent earlier reported Mr Gonzalez’s comments from last night before he said his claim needed confirmation.

Lawmaker demands probe into Salvador Ramos’s links to previous Uvalde school threat

Texas father stands guard outside his daughter’s school in wake of Uvalde shooting: ‘I’m watching’

15:35 , Liam James

A Texas father has begun standing guard outside his daughter’s elementary school in the wake of the shooting in Uvalde.

Ed Chelby said he asked the school superintendent in Killeen for permission to provide himself and other parents “relief” of fears that they could face a similar tragedy.

He told KWTX on Thursday that his wife also works at the school, and he has 11 years experience in the US Army and security.

“I said I would just be out there unarmed to let people know that I’m watching. Let the parents have a little bit of relief,” Mr Chelby said in an interview with the local news station.

Texas father stands guard outside his daughter’s school in wake of Uvalde shooting

Texas gunman 'arrested as minor for threatening mass shooting in 2022’

15:16 , Liam James

A Texas Republican claims that the 18-year-old Uvalde shooter had previously been arrested for threatening to shoot up his school (Graig Graziosi writes).

Tony Gonzalez said Salvador Ramos, the shooter, had been arrested while he was a minor after he told people he intended to attack a school when he turned 18.

“This wasn’t hearsay. I got this late last night: ‘The shooter was arrested years ago, four years ago, for having this plan for basically saying, for saying, you know, when I’m a senior in 2022, I am going to shoot up a school,’” Mr Gonzalez said.

The shooter’s juvenile record has not been confirmed by police.

Salvador Ramos arrested four years ago for school shooting threat, lawmaker says

‘Makers of Uvalde shooter’s rifle fund anti-gun control Republicans’ – Report

15:01 , Liam James

The owners of the manufacturer of the rifle apparently used in the Uvalde elementary school shooting have donated large amounts of money to Republicans opposed to gun control, The Washington Post reports.

The Post said the owners of Daniel Defense, a Georgie-based arms manufacturer, give to Republican candidates and committees at federal and state level who are aligned against limits on access to assault rifles and other semiautomatic weapons.

They have given more than $70,000 (£55,000) to Republican candidates for federal office this election cycle, the Post said.

Yesterday, The Independent’s Eric Garcia looked into how the Republican senators most open to gun control measures have been attemptedly wooed by the gun lobby. You can read his piece here.

10-year-old shooting survivor discharged from hospital, others remain

14:45 , Liam James

A 10-year-old girl injured in the Uvalde shooting has been discharged from hospital.

University Hospital San Antonio, which received several persons injured in the massacre at Robb Elementary School, said this morning the girl had been discharged while other survivors remained under treatment.

A nine-year-old girl was in good condition and another 10-year-old girl was in serious condition, as was a 66-year-old woman believed to be the grandmother of shooter Salvador Ramos.

Ramos shot his grandmother in the face at her home before killing 21 people at the nearby school.

Trump and Cruz still set to speak at NRA convention

14:23 , Liam James

Several political figures are still set to address the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) annual convention in Houston despite some high-profile drop-outs after the shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz will address the convention’s main event, the NRA-ILA Annual Leadership Forum, this afternoon at 2pm central time. Also speaking will be Kristi Noem, governor of South Dakota, and Mark Robinson, Lt. Governor of North Carolina.

Texas governor Greg Abbott dropped out yesterday but still plans to address the group in recorded video remarks, while Senator John Cornyn of Texas will not appear at all as he will be in Washington DC for personal reasons, his office told Politico.

Video shows husband of killed teacher laying flowers for her hours before he dies ‘of grief’

13:55 , Chiara Giordano

Tragic footage shows the widower of a teacher killed in the Texas school shooting laying flowers at a memorial to the victims just hours before he died “of grief.”

Joe Garcia, 43, was filmed carrying a large vase of red roses to the memorial site at Uvalde, Texas, on Thursday morning, two days after his wife Irma's death. Mrs Garcia, 46, was one of the two staff members killed by 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos at Robb Elementary School.

Thomas Kingsley has the full story and footage here:

Husband of Texas school shooting victim laid flowers hours before dying ‘of grief’

Officers ‘betrayed role they signed up for’, parent claims

13:44 , Chiara Giordano

Parents have been left enraged after police confirmed officers waited for an hour before storming Robb Elementary School and killing gunman Salvador Ramos.

Victor Luna, whose nine-year-old son attends the school, suggested officers should have been willing to sacrifice their own lives to save children.

“That’s what they signed up for,” he told the New York Times. “It’s common sense: If they had shot him down, the kids could have come out through the door.”

Sean Burke, a recently retired Massachusetts school resource officer, who is president of the School Safety Advocacy Council, which trains districts in how to respond to shootings, told NBC: “Waiting an hour is disgusting. If that turns out to be true, then it is a disgusting fact.”

Senators talk expanded gun background checks and red flag laws

13:15 , Chiara Giordano

A bipartisan group of senators is considering how Congress should respond to the horrific shooting, restarting gun control talks that have broken down many times before.

Aware of the difficulty of their task, the Democrats and Republicans say they hope to find agreement on legislation that could help reduce the number of mass shootings in the United States. The Uvalde shooting came 10 days after a gunman opened fire in a racist attack killing Black people at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket.

Senators have narrowed the discussion to a few ideas, some of them based on legislation they have been working on for years, such as expanded background checks or red flag laws that keep guns away from people who could do harm.

Led by Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, the group of 10 is hoping to negotiate a proposal over the Senate's upcoming recess and have it ready for a vote at the beginning of June.

It is uncertain if the group can come to consensus, and even if they do, winning enough votes from Republicans could prove difficult, as most do not want to see changes in the nation's gun laws. Democrats would need 10 Republican votes to overcome a filibuster and get a bill through the 50-50 Senate.

"Odds are against us, but we owe it to parents and kids to try," tweeted Murphy, who has been a lead advocate for stricter gun control since 20 children and six educators were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012.

Lauren Boebert’s bizarre defence for no gun action: ‘After 9/11, we didn’t ban planes’

12:50 , Chiara Giordano

Republican representative Lauren Boebert rebuffed the idea of gun control after the deadly school shooting with a bizarre justification: the 9/11 terror attacks did not lead to a ban on planes.

The Colorado representative, a staunch supporter of firearms, said children can be protected “without trying to disarm law-abiding citizens”. Ms Boebert fought the 2020 elections with a campaign fiercely attacking the movement to introduce greater gun control.

Stuti Mishra has more on this here:

Lauren Boebert defends no gun action, says ‘we didn’t ban planes after 9/11’

Survivor claims one girl was shot by the gunman after police told her to yell for help

12:35 , Chiara Giordano

A Uvalde school shooting survivor has recalled hearing his classmate get shot by the 18-year-old gunman after she yelled to police for help.

Speaking with kens, the Robb Elementary School student said he was inside a classroom connected to another by a middle door when Salvador Ramos entered the room, crouched down and said: “It’s time to die.”

Gino Spocchia has more details:

Uvalde survivor claims one girl was shot after police told her to call for help

Salvador Ramos’ grandfather reveals blood-stained house after teen shot grandmother in face

12:10 , Chiara Giordano

Blood stains still mark the inside of the home where Texas gunman Salvador Ramos shot his grandmother in the face before killing 21 people at a nearby elementary school, according to new video footage.

Rolando Reyes, Ramos’ grandfather, said friends and family had helped him clean blood out of the house, but that drops still remained on door posts and even the ceiling of the Uvalde home, where Ramos had recently began living with his grandparents.

Josh Marcus has the full story:

Salvador Ramos’ grandfather shows blood-stained house after teen shot grandmother

Bidens to console families in Uvalde and honour victims

11:50 , Chiara Giordano

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will travel to Uvalde on Sunday to console families and honour victims of Tuesday's mass school shooting.

The White House said the Bidens would "grieve with the community that lost 21 lives in the horrific" shooting at Robb Elementary School. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president would meet with the community and religious leaders and victims' families.

Ms Jean-Pierre, the parent of an elementary school student, delivered an impassioned plea at the White House for lawmakers to come together to address gun violence.

"These were elementary school kids, they should be losing their first teeth not losing their lives," she said.

Asked about the propriety of the National Rifle Association going ahead with its planned conference in Houston this weekend, Ms Jean-Pierre, said: "What is inappropriate is that the leadership of the National Rifle Association has proven time and time again, that they are contributing to the problem of gun violence, not trying to solve it."

She echoed the president, who on Tuesday evening spoke from personal experience about the pain of losing a child as he called on the country to tighten gun laws in response to the shooting.

'"When in God's name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?" he said. "Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen?"

Family mistakenly told Texas shooting victim was still alive

11:20 , Chiara Giordano

The family of one of the victims of Tuesday’s shooting at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, has alleged that they were mistakenly told the child was alive.

Jose Flores, a fourth grader at the school, had received an award for making the honour roll just hours before the shooting.

Sravasti Dasgupta has more details here:

Family mistakenly told Texas shooting victim was still alive

Distraught mother ‘handcuffed’ in chaos outside school

11:00 , Chiara Giordano

Distraught parents say they were handcuffed by police and claim another was pepper sprayed in chaotic scenes outside the Texas school shooting that left 21 dead.

Uvalde Police is facing fresh criticism for its handling of the tragedy on Tuesday, after allegations they did not act fast enough to tackle the gunman inside Robb Elementary School.

Thomas Kingsley has the full story:

Distraught mother claims police handcuffed her in chaos outside school shooting

Toronto police shoot dead man walking near school with rifle

10:30 , Chiara Giordano

Toronto police shot dead a man who was carrying a firearm near an elementary school on Thursday.

The incident, which came two days after the Uvalde school shooting, prompted snap lockdowns for all schools in the vicinity and sparked fears among hundreds of students.

Shweta Sharma has the full story:

Toronto police shoot dead man walking near school with rifle

Company that made Uvalde AR-15 used toddlers in gun advert

10:10 , Chiara Giordano

Daniel Defense, the manufacturer of the rifle used in the mass school shooting in Texas on Tuesday, had used a toddler to advertise a similar weapon just eight days before the incident.

An advertisement posted by Daniel Defense on 16 May read: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Sravasti Dasgupta has more on this:

Company that made Uvalde AR-15 used toddlers in gun advert

Fury as police admit waiting an hour for backup

09:50 , Chiara Giordano

Parents have been left enraged after police confirmed officers waited for an hour before storming Robb Elementary School and killing gunman Salvador Ramos.

The 18-year-old barged unchallenged through an unlocked door, then killed 19 children and two teachers while holed up in their classroom for an hour before a tactical team stormed in and killed him, police revealed.

The latest official details from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) on Tuesday's mass shooting differed sharply from initial police accounts and raised questions about security measures at the elementary school and the response of law enforcement.

The school district in Uvalde, Texas, has a standing policy of locking all entrances, including classroom doors, as a safety precaution. But one student told Reuters some doors were left unlocked the day of the shooting to allow visiting parents to come and go for an awards day event.

The newly detailed chronology came hours after videos emerged showing desperate parents outside Robb Elementary School during the attack. They pleaded with officers to storm the building, and some fathers had to be restrained.

Sean Burke, a recently retired Massachusetts school resource officer, who is president of the School Safety Advocacy Council, which trains districts in how to respond to shootings, said the officers’ delay in entering the building was “disgusting”.

He told NBC: “Waiting an hour is disgusting. If that turns out to be true, then it is a disgusting fact.”

Meghan Markle lays ‘peace’ roses in tribute to victims

09:38 , Chiara Giordano

Meghan Markle has paid tribute to the victims of the Texas school shooting, laying flowers outside of a memorial site near the massacre.

The Duchess of Sussex attended the memorial site with her personal security at the Uvalde County Courthouse on Thursday, not far from where 18-year-old Salvador Ramos gunned down 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School.

Salvador Ramos’s father apologises to town of Uvalde

08:57 , Chiara Giordano

The father of the gunman who carried out the attack at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde has apologised for his son’s actions.

Salvador Ramos, 42, said he could have never believed his son would do something like this.

“I just want the people to know I’m sorry man, [for] what my son did,” he told the Daily Beast. “I never expected my son to do something like that. He should’ve just killed me, you know, instead of doing something like that to someone.”

Shweta Sharma has the full story:

Texas gunman’s father apologises to Uvalde: ‘He should’ve just killed me’

Republican Texas governor Greg Abbott to address NRA meeting via video

08:24 , Chiara Giordano

Texas' Republican governor Greg Abbott will not attend the National Rifle Association's (NRA) annual meeting in person as it starts today, just days after the elementary school shooting in Uvalde.

The NRA's convention starts in Houston, where Republicans including US senator Ted Cruz of Texas and former president Donald Trump are scheduled to address the gun-rights group.

Mr Abbott will now address the group with recorded video remarks and will make a return trip to Uvalde, NBC News reported, citing a statement from his spokesman.

He will hold a news conference there after a meeting with state and local officials, as well as town residents.

‘Crushing’ to treat mass shooting victims for second time, says Texas doctor

06:58 , Namita Singh

A trauma doctor tending to three children wounded in the school shooting in the Texas city of Uvalde said it is “crushing” to treat victims of the second mass shooting in the area within the last five years.

“It’s a little bit crushing that, you know, you’re talking about a trauma center that’s had two events in the last five years,” Dr Lillian Liao, the pediatric trauma medical director at University Hospital in San Antonio, told Reuters in a Zoom interview on Thursday.

Dr Liao said she is treating one nine-year-old and two 10-year-olds wounded in the Uvalde shooting at the trauma center. She said one child is in serious but stable condition, and the other two are in stable condition. It could be days or up to a month until they are able to leave the hospital.

Earlier in 2017, she had tended to mass casualties after a man thrown out of the US Air Force for beating his wife and stepson shot 26 people dead at a church in Sutherland Springs, before killing himself.

“Unfortunately or fortunately ... it’s really challenging because we had the experience of Sutherland Springs in 2017,” Dr Liao said.

“We had that mass casualty incident experience so we understand that there is not only dealing with injuries, but all the other psycho-social effects as a result of having been through a mass casualty incident.”

Greg Abbott to skip NRA convention

06:30 , Namita Singh

Texas governor Greg Abbott will not be attending the National Rifle Association (NRA) convention in Houston following the school shooting this week, his office said late on Thursday. He will instead visit Uvalde again.

Mr Abbott was set to speak at the NRA leadership forum on Friday alongside former president Donald Trump and senator Ted Cruz.

The National Rifle Association’s spokesperson has said that the governor will still pre-record remarks on video to be aired at the gun group’s event, according to the Dallas Morning News.

My colleague Stuti Mishra reports:

Texas governor Greg Abbott to skip NRA convention and visit Uvalde instead

Yankees, Rays use social media to raise awareness about gun violence

06:29 , Namita Singh

The New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays used their social media accounts to raise awareness about gun violence on Thursday instead of covering their Major League Baseball.

“In lieu of game coverage and in collaboration with the Tampa Bay Rays, we will be using our channels to offer facts about the impacts of gun violence,” the Yankees said in a statement.

“The devastating events that have taken place in Uvalde, Buffalo and countless other communities across our nation are tragedies that are intolerable.”

The Rays said that shootings “cannot become normal” and that they had made a $50,000 commitment to gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety.

Throughout their game on Thursday, both teams continued to post facts about gun violence on their social media profiles, along with links to sources and helpline numbers. Neither team posted the result of the game.

Shooter shared warning signs on social media handle

05:52 , Namita Singh

The 18-year-old gunman had left warning signs on his social media handle for days before he entered a Texas elementary school, slaughtering 19 children and two teachers.

There was the Instagram photo of a hand holding a gun magazine, a TikTok profile that warned, “Kids be scared,” and the image of two AR-style semi-automatic rifles displayed on a rug, pinned to the top of the killer’s Instagram profile.

Shooters are increasingly leaving digital trails on social media, hinting about what is to come long before executing.

“When somebody starts posting pictures of guns they started purchasing, they’re announcing to the world that they’re changing who they are,” said Katherine Schweit, a retired FBI agent who spearheaded the agency’s active shooter programme.

“It absolutely is a cry for help. It’s a tease: can you catch me?”

For law enforcement and social media companies, spotting a gun post from a potential mass shooter is like sifting through quicksand, Schweit said.

That’s why she tells people not to ignore those type of posts, especially from children or young adults. Report it, she advises, to a school counselor, the police or even the FBI tip line.

Before shooting 17 students and staff members dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018, Nikolas Cruz posted on YouTube that he wanted to be a “professional school shooter”, and shared photos of his face covered, posing with guns. The FBI took in a tip about Cruz’s YouTube comment, but never followed up with Cruz.

In November, 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley shared a photo of a semi-automatic handgun his dad had purchased with the caption, “Just got my new beauty today”, days before he went on to kill four students and injured seven others at his high school in Oxford Township, Michigan.

And days before entering a school classroom and killing 19 small children and two teachers, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos left similar clues across Instagram.

Police questioned over their delayed response to Texas school shooting

05:35 , Namita Singh

It was 11.28am when the Ford pickup slammed into a ditch behind the low-slung Texas school and the driver jumped out carrying an AR-15-style rifle.

Twelve minutes after that, authorities say, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos was in the hallways of Robb Elementary School. Soon he entered a fourth-grade classroom. And there, he killed 19 schoolchildren and two teachers in a still-unexplained spasm of violence.

At 12.58pm, law enforcement radio chatter said Ramos had been killed and the siege was over.

What happened in those 90 minutes, in a working-class neighbourhood near the edge of the little town of Uvalde, has fueled mounting public anger and scrutiny over law enforcement’s response to Tuesday’s rampage.

“They say they rushed in,” said Javier Cazares, whose fourth-grade daughter, Jacklyn Cazares, was killed in the attack, and who raced to the school as the massacre unfolded. “We didn’t see that.”

‘He probably would have shot me too,’ says gunman’s father

05:15 , Namita Singh

The gunman’s father, also named Salvador Ramos, 42, expressed remorse for his son’s actions in a first interview on Thursday.

“I just want the people to know I am sorry, man, what my son did,” he told the Daily Beast.

“I never expected my son to do something like that.

“He should have just killed me, you know, instead of doing something like that to someone.”

Ramos said he was at work on the day of the shooting and learned of it only when his mother told him on the phone. He began calling local jails to ask if the son was there and eventually, it sunk in.

“They killed my baby man,” he told the outlet.

Salvador Ramos

The father said his son was “a good person” and has no idea why he got so violent.

“My mom tells me he probably would have shot me too because he would always say I didn’t love him,” Mr Ramos said.

He said that his own mother was suffering from cancer and he could risk being exposed to coronavirus. His son grew frustrated with the Covid precautions about a month back and refused to speak with him.

The father also blamed the boy’s mother for not buying him more school supplies, adding that he was bullied at school for wearing the same jeans and that this is the reason why he dropped out.

Biden to travel to Uvalde on Sunday

05:07 , Namita Singh

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will travel to Uvalde on Sunday to console families and honour the victims of Tuesday’s mass shooting at the Texas school that left 19 children and two teachers dead.

The Bidens will “grieve with the community that lost 21 lives in the horrific” shooting at Robb Elementary School, said the White House.

The president will also meet with the community and religious leaders and victims’ families, added press secretary Karina Jean- Pierre.

Jean-Pierre, the parent of an elementary school student, delivered an impassioned plea at the White House for lawmakers to come together to address gun violence.

“These were elementary school kids, they should be losing their first teeth not losing their lives,” she said.

She slammed the NRA for “contributing the problem of gun violence, not trying to solve it”.

Karina Jean- Pierre

Grieving husband dies after wife is slain in Texas rampage

04:22 , Namita Singh

Irma Garcia’s husband died from a heart attack two days after her death in the Texas school shooting, a family member said.

Joe Garcia, 50, dropped off flowers at his wife’s memorial on Thursday morning in Uvalde and returned home, where he “pretty much just fell over” and died, his nephew John Martinez told The New York Times.

Married for 24 years, the couple had four children.

Martinez told The Detroit Free Press that the family was struggling to grasp that while the couple’s oldest son trained for combat in the Marine Corps, it was his mother who was shot to death.“Stuff like this should not be happening in schools,” he told the newspaper.

The Archdiocese of San Antonio and the Rushing-Estes-Knowles Mortuary confirmed his death to the Associated Press.

My colleague Graig Graziosi reports:

Husband of teacher killed in Texas shooting dies ‘due to grief’ two days later

Miami Heat urges fans to call their reps about gun control

04:00 , Nathan Place

Instead of just holding a moment of silence for the victims in Uvalde, Texas, the Miami Heat urged its fans to call their local representatives about gun control.

“The Heat urges you to contact your state senators by calling 202-224-3121 to leave a message demanding their support for common sense gun laws,” an announcer said at a Wednesday night NBA game.

Shooter was armed with 22 30-bullet magazines, report says

03:30 , Nathan Place

The gunman who killed 19 students and two teachers at a Texas elementary school on Tuesday may have been armed with as many as 660 rounds packed into high-capacity ammunition magazines during the massacre, ABC News reports.

Salvador Ramos had one 30-round magazine loaded into the AR-15-style assault rifle he used during the shooting, law enforcement sources said.

The 18-year-old had another six magazines loaded into a tactical vest he was wearing, as well as 15 more loaded magazines in a backpack later discovered by police.

Read more here:

Texas shooter Salvador Ramos armed with 22 30-bullet magazines during attack: report

Rep Joaquin Castro demands FBI investigation of police response

03:00 , Nathan Place

Rep Joaquin Castro of Texas has written to the director of the FBI, demanding an investigation of the shooting in Uvalde and the police response to it.

“State authorities have provided the public with conflicting accounts of how the tragedy in Uvalde unfolded,” the Democratic congressman tweeted on Thursday. “I’m calling on the FBI to use their maximum authority to investigate and provide a full report on the timeline, the law enforcement response and how 21 Texans were killed.”

Five things Congress is mulling on guns – and whether anything will come of them

02:30 , Nathan Place

In the wake of the Uvalde, Texas elementary school shooting massacre, calls are once again being made for the US government to address the issue that has plagued the country now for decades.

But enacting restrictions on guns is easier said than done. In the Senate, Democrats hold a tenuous 50-50 majority, and Republicans are almost unanimously opposed to any gun control legislation.

Here’s a look at the measures Congress is considering, and their chances (or lack thereof) of passing:

Five things Washington DC is mulling on guns – and whether anything will come of it

Salvador Ramos: Everything we know about the shooter

02:00 , Nathan Place

The gunman who killed at least 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday has been named as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos.

Governor Greg Abbott said Ramos, who was eventually shot dead by law enforcement officers, was “the sheer face of evil”.

Ramos was a student at Uvalde High School and lived in the small city 80 miles west of San Antonio.

The teen had hinted on social media that an attack could be coming, state senator Roland Gutierrez told reporters. “He suggested the kids should watch out,” the lawmaker said.

Read more here:

Salvador Ramos: Everything we know about 18-year-old Texas school mass shooter

‘If they’re crying, we can cry with them’: Support pours into Uvalde

01:45 , Nathan Place

They came to Uvalde from all over Texas and farther afield, offering everything from blood to food to comfort. And a simple message: You are not alone.

One white SUV on Thursday, parked near the makeshift memorial on the town plaza, had written on the rear windshield that they’d travelled from Edinburg, Texas – four and a half hours away – to show their support for the victims and the community.

People were still lining up to donate blood in the aftermath, with more blood drives scheduled for the coming days and appointments quickly filling up.

Read more here:

Support pours into Uvalde in form of money, blood, food and comfort dogs

As pressure for action builds, Senate adjourns for recess

01:30 , Nathan Place

Just two days after a school shooting took 21 lives, the US Senate has adjourned for its Memorial Day recess. It will be back in session on 6 June.

Following the massacre, pressure has mounted on Congress to pass some sort of meaningful legislation to combat gun violence. That pressure, evidently, was not enough for the Senate to cancel its vacation.

O’Rourke continues to hammer Abbott on gun control

01:15 , Nathan Place

Former congressman Beto O’Rourke has continued to blast Governor Greg Abbott on Twitter, bringing up previous shootings and laws Mr Abbott has signed making guns more widely available.

“The moment to stop Uvalde was right after Sandy Hook. After Santa Fe High. After El Paso,” Mr O’Rourke tweeted, echoing an impromptu speech he made during Mr Abbott’s press conference. “Instead, Abbott made it easier to carry guns in public. The moment to stop the next slaughter is right now.”

Updated: What happened and when in the Uvalde shooting

01:00 , Nathan Place

Police in Uvalde, Texas, are facing a number of unanswered questions about the handling of the mass shooting that left 21 dead at Robb Elementary School.

Local officers and Texas Governor Greg Abbott have spoken out about what unfolded on Tuesday in the horror attack that left 19 elementary students and two teachers dead.

But they have so far been unable to explain how Salvador Ramos was able to barricade himself in a classroom and open fire for more than an hour before being shot dead.

Here’s what we know so far about the timeline:

Timeline of what happened in the Texas school shooting

Shooter’s final text messages revealed

Friday 27 May 2022 00:30 , Nathan Place

The Uvalde, Texas mass shooter told a German girl he was chatting with online that he shot his grandmother in the face and planned to attack an elementary school just moments before the massacre.

Salvador Ramos, 18, sent the texts on Tuesday just before he barricaded himself in a classroom at Robb Elementary School, where he killed 19 students and two faculty members. The shooter was eventually killed by Border Patrol agents, but not before responding police ignored the cries of desperate parents asking them to enter the school.

In the text exchange the shooter mentions his grandmother, saying he was "waiting for this b****." He also said he had to wait until his grandfather left before he could act.

Read more here:

Salvador Ramos: Texas shooter’s final text messages revealed

Anderson Cooper consoles heartbroken dad who lost daughter in shooting

Friday 27 May 2022 00:00 , Nathan Place

CNN’s Anderson Cooper struggled to hold back his own tears as a heartbroken father explained how his 10-year-old daughter died trying to save her classmates.

“She was just trying to do the right thing. She was just trying to call the cops,” Angel Garza, the father of Amerie Jo, told Mr Cooper through tears. “This is literally like her worst fear. And she was just trying to help everyone.”

Read more here:

Anderson Cooper consoles father of girl killed beside best friend in Texas shooting

Uvalde local paper blacks out front page after shooting

Thursday 26 May 2022 23:45 , Nathan Place

The local newspaper in Uvalde, Texas, published a powerful front page image the day after an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 students and two faculty members in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School.

The image was striking not for what is showed, but for what it did not; the paper's front page was completely black, with the exception of the paper's banner and the date, 24 May, 2022.

Read more here:

Uvalde local paper publishes powerful front page in response to killings

Mitt Romney blasted for $13m NRA donation as he tweets about shooting

Thursday 26 May 2022 23:30 , Nathan Place

After Senator Mitt Romney offered his thoughts and prayers to victims’ families in Uvalde, Texas – but made no mention of guns – Twitter users quickly pointed out his cozy relationship with the National Rifle Association.

“Grief overwhelms the soul,” the Republican tweeted. “Children slaughtered. Lives extinguished. Parents’ hearts wrenched. Incomprehensible. I offer prayer and condolence but know that it is grossly inadequate. We must find answers.”

Mr Romney’s critics answered with a number: $13,647,67, the amount of money he has received in political donations from the NRA. The enormous sum makes him the Senate’s top recipient of NRA money.

Read more here:

Mitt Romney attacked for $13m NRA donation as he tweets about Uvalde attack

A brief history of the NRA

Thursday 26 May 2022 23:15 , Nathan Place

The National Rifle Association (NRA) was founded in 1871 by a group of ex-US Army officers who were aghast at the exceedingly poor marksmanship of soldiers who fought for the United States during the American Civil War.

The group chose as its first president a former US army general, Ambrose Burnside. Other ex-generals would also serve as president, including former president Ulysses Grant and General Philip Sheridan.

Learn more here:

What is the NRA and where is its annual meeting?

The biggest unanswered questions about the Uvalde shooting

Thursday 26 May 2022 23:00 , Nathan Place

What was Salvador Ramos’ motive?

Why didn’t police stop him sooner?

How was he able to enter the school and barricade himself inside?

These and other questions about the shooting in Uvalde, Texas remain unanswered. Here’s a look at what we know so far:

Six unanswered questions about the Uvalde shooting and investigation in Texas

Gunman’s grandfather reveals blood-stained house where teen shot grandmother in face

Thursday 26 May 2022 22:45 , Nathan Place

Blood stains still mark the inside of the home where Texas gunman Salvador Ramos shot his grandmother in the face before killing 21 people at a nearby elementary school, according to new video footage.

“There’s blood all over,” Rolando Reyes, Ramos’ grandfather, told independent journalist Ali Bradley as they toured the home.

Mr Reyes said friends and family had helped him clean blood out of the house, but that drops still remained on door posts and even the ceiling of the Uvalde, Texas, home, where Ramos had recently began living with his grandparents.

Read more here:

Salvador Ramos’ grandfather shows blood-stained house after teen shot grandmother

Meghan Markle makes surprise visit to Uvalde to lay flowers at memorial

Thursday 26 May 2022 22:30 , Nathan Place

Meghan Markle made a surprise visit to Uvalde, Texas on Thursday, honoring the 21 victims of Tuesday’s mass shooting.

She was pictured laying a bundle of flowers with a purple ribbon at a memorial outside the Uvalde County Courthouse.

She also knelt next to a cross marking the death of 10-year-old victim Uziyah Garcia, one of 19 students killed in the massacre.

Read more here:

Meghan Markle makes surprise visit to Uvalde memorial for Texas shooting victims

Biden will visit Uvalde victims’ families on Sunday

Thursday 26 May 2022 22:15 , Nathan Place

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will travel to Uvalde, Texas on Sunday.

The White House says the Bidens will “grieve with the community that lost 21 lives in the horrific” shooting at Robb Elementary School. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president would meet with the community and religious leaders and victims' families.

Read more here:

Biden to console families in Uvalde, press for action

Husband of teacher killed in shooting dies ‘due to grief’ two days later

Thursday 26 May 2022 22:00 , Nathan Place

The husband of a woman murdered in the Uvalde mass shooting has died of a heart attack two days after the attack.

Joe Garcia, the husband of Irma Garcia, 46, one of the two faculty members who was killed by an 18-year-old gunman at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, died from a heart attack just two days after losing his wife.

A family member confirmed his passing in a tweet, saying he “passed away due to grief.” The couple had been together since high school and had four children, according to the Dallas News.

Read more here:

Husband of teacher killed in Texas shooting dies ‘due to grief’ two days later

Ted Cruz storms out of post-shooting interview

Thursday 26 May 2022 21:45 , Nathan Place

Senator Ted Cruz stormed off in the middle of an interview after a Sky News journalist asked why school mass shootings seem to “only happen in America” during a vigil for the 21 people killed at Robb Elementary School.

Mark Stone, a US foreign correspondent for the news outlet, asked the Texas senator after the vigil attended by hundreds mourning the 19 children and two teachers murdered on Tuesday if now was the time to enact reform on gun laws in the US.

“You know, it’s easy to go to politics,” said Mr Cruz, who is scheduled to deliver a speech at the National Rifle Association convention being held in Texas on Friday alongside the state’s governor.

Read more here:

‘Why only in America?’: Ted Cruz storms out of Texas school shooting interview

Videos show parents screaming at police to take action during shooting

Thursday 26 May 2022 21:30 , Nathan Place

Disturbing videos show that desperate parents screamed at police officers to do something as the shooting was underway at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

“What are you doing – get inside the building!” one person can be heard yelling in the footage.

“Go protect the kids!” another shouts.

The gunman, Salvador Ramos, 18, was inside the school for up to an hour before being killed by authorities.

Read more here:

Videos show desperate parents asking officers to intervene in Uvalde school shooting

Abbott signed 2021 law letting Texans carry guns without license

Thursday 26 May 2022 21:15 , Nathan Place

Last year, Governor Greg Abbott of Texas signed one of the most lenient gun laws in the country, allowing Texans to publicly carry firearms without a permit or training.

At the time, Mr Abbott boasted about the new law on Twitter.

“Today, Constitutional carry goes into effect,” the governor trumpeted. “Texans who legally own a gun are now allowed to carry it in public. No license or training is needed.”

Pro-gun senator runs away from Texas shooting questions

Thursday 26 May 2022 21:00 , Nathan Place

A United States senator who has taken more than $1m in donations from the National Rifle Association ran into a locked door as he tried to dodge gun control questions.

Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin, has received $1,269,486 from the NRA, according to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Mr Johnson has an “A” rating from the group.

On Wednesday, when a CNN reporter asked him for his views on background checks, the senator briskly walked over to a door, which turned out to be locked, and then escaped through another one.

Read more here:

Senator given $1m by NRA runs into locked door to avoid Texas shooting questions

Oxford, Michigan students form giant ‘U’ on field to support Uvalde

Thursday 26 May 2022 20:45 , Nathan Place

Hundreds of students at a Michigan high school where a mass shooting took place last year walked out of class on Thursday as a way to show solidarity after the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday. Together, they formed a giant U-shape on the football field.

Pupils at Oxford High know the pain of a mass shooting well, after accused gunman Ethan R Crumbley allegedly shot four people at the school in November 2021.

Walkouts and protests are planned around the country following Tuesday’s shooting in Texas, the second deadliest school shooting in US history.

Read more here:

Kids at Michigan school where shooting occurred form giant ‘U’ in support of Texas

O’Rourke blasts Abbott for attending fundraiser hours after shooting

Thursday 26 May 2022 20:30 , Nathan Place

Former congressman Beto O’Rourke has lashed out at Governor Greg Abbott for attending a fundraiser just hours after the shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

“He was counting dollars while they were counting bodies,” tweeted Mr O’Rourke, who is running against Mr Abbott for governor.

On Tuesday night, Mr Abbott attended a fundraiser for his reelection campaign. The shooting had taken place that morning.

A spokesman for Mr Abbott says all other political activities on the governor’s schedule have been postponed until further notice. However, he is still currently scheduled to speak at a meeting of the National Rifle Association (NRA) in Houston tomorrow.

Governor Abbott says Uvalde ‘will not be ripped apart'

Thursday 26 May 2022 20:15 , Nathan Place

On Twitter, Governor Greg Abbott of Texas reflected on a vigil he and his wife attended last night for the victims of the Uvalde school shooting.

“Somber evening as Cecilia & I joined Uvalde to mourn the loss of innocent lives,” Mr Abbott tweeted. “We honored the beautiful children & teachers stolen from us. This horrific tragedy has torn the fabric of this community. Together, Texans will ensure it is not ripped apart.”

Gunman ‘walked in unobstructed’ into unlocked school, police say

Thursday 26 May 2022 20:05 , Nathan Place

The 18-year-old gunman who killed 19 children in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas “walked in unobstructed” and was not “confronted by anybody,” police said at a contentious press conference on Thursday.

The new version of events contradicts earlier police reports, which suggested an armed officer was on the campus at the time.

That information was “not accurate,” said Victor Escalon, a regional director with the Texas Department of Public Safety.

“He walked in unobstructed initially,” Mr Escalon revealed. “He was not confronted by anybody.”

Read more here:

Texas gunman ‘walked in unobstructed’ into Uvalde school, police say

Pro-gun senator calls how to stop shootings ‘one of the hardest in a democratic society’

Thursday 26 May 2022 20:00 , Nathan Place

Senator John Cornyn of Texas says when it comes to preventing shootings, he’s stumped.

“The problem of how to stop mass shootings by disturbed young men is one of the hardest in a democratic society that has a larger problem of mental illness and a loss of cultural guardrails,” the Republican tweeted on Wednesday.

Mr Cornyn made no mention of gun control, which he staunchly opposes. The senator has an A+ rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA), which has donated $340,000 to his campaigns, according to Axios.

On Thursday, two days after a school shooting in his state took 21 lives, Mr Cornyn continued to puzzle over what can be done.

“I'm not interested in a political statement, I'm interested in what we can do to make the tragic events that occurred less likely in the future,” he tweeted.

Ted Cruz blames shootings on ‘unlocked back doors'

Thursday 26 May 2022 19:45 , Nathan Place

According to Senator Ted Cruz, America doesn’t have a gun problem. It has an unlocked back door problem.

“Look, the killer entered here the same way the killer entered in Santa Fe: through a back door, an unlocked back door,” the Republican told reporter Simone De Alba on Wednesday. “I sat down at round tables with the families from Santa Fe. We talked about what we need to do to harden schools, including not having unlocked back doors.”

Watch here: Police give update on Uvalde shooting

Thursday 26 May 2022 19:36 , Nathan Place

Police are holding a press conference outlining what they know about the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Watch it live here: