Nineteen children are dead after a Tuesday morning shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, according to authorities.

The total death toll, as of Tuesday evening, had risen to 21, including two teachers. Eva Mireles, a fourth grade teacher at Robb Elementary School, was identified as one of the victims. The gunman, identified as Salvador Ramos, an 18-year-old high school student from Uvalde, was killed by law enforcement at the school.

TEACHER KILLED IN TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING IDENTIFIED

Several other people were injured and transported to hospitals for treatment.

Gov. Greg Abbott first identified Ramos as the suspected shooter and said it was believed he shot his grandmother before driving to Robb Elementary School, got out of the car, and opened fire. The shooter had a handgun and possibly a rifle, Abbott also noted, and was killed by law enforcement. A motive remains unknown at this time.

"Texans across the state are grieving for the victims of this senseless crime and for the community of Uvalde," Abbott said in a printed statement that followed. "Cecilia and I mourn this horrific loss and we urge all Texans to come together to show our unwavering support to all who are suffering. We thank the courageous first responders who worked to finally secure Robb Elementary School. I have instructed the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Rangers to work with local law enforcement to fully investigate this crime. The Texas Division of Emergency Management is charged with providing local officials all resources necessary to respond to this tragedy as the State of Texas works to ensure the community has what it needs to heal."


President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting and delivered remarks on it Tuesday evening. Biden also ordered the flag at the White House, as well as at other government and military buildings, to be lowered to half-staff as a "mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence."

Texas state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, citing a briefing with the Texas Rangers, told CNN he heard the grandmother is still alive, "holding on" to life, after being airlifted to a hospital in San Antonio. Earlier, Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber told the Washington Examiner he heard the grandmother had died.


"There was an active shooter. The active shooter was shot. A grandmother was killed and some other personnel in the school," he said before Abbott's press conference. The suspect was not a smuggler or migrant but a local, who had a girlfriend who resided in the town, Schmerber also said.

Uvalde is a town of roughly 15,000 people, situated between San Antonio and Del Rio. The town is also dozens of miles away from the U.S.-Mexico border and has a Border Patrol station.


Last month, Don McLaughlin, the mayor of Uvalde, said the Border Patrol walked back its plans to release migrants into the town after local officials vowed to take up Abbott's offer to bus them to Washington, D.C.

Earlier on Tuesday, before Abbott's statements, Uvalde Memorial Hospital reported 13 children arriving at the facility to receive treatment after the shooting at Robb Elementary School. Two individuals who were brought to the hospital were dead on arrival, according to the hospital's Facebook page.


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The hospital also had said in a prior post that the person believed to be the school shooter was in custody, stirring some early confusion about his condition.