Texas school shooting: 14 students and one teacher killed – latest updates

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Connecticut senator Chris Murphy makes emotional appeal for gun violence reform

Moments after learning that 14 students had been massacred at an elementary school in Texas, Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, delivered an emotional appeal for gun control on the Senate floor.

“What are we doing here?” Murphy asked, tears brimming in his eyes.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Murphy clasped his hands together and begged Republicans to work with his party to pass meaningful gun reform legislation.

“I am here on this floor to beg, to literally get down on my hands and knees to beg my colleagues: find a path forward here,” he said.

Few senators understand the horror mass shootings inflict on a community quite like Murphy, who spent the hours after the killing at Sandy Hook elementary school consoling families who had lost children and loved ones.

On the floor, he spoke about the lasting trauma these tragedies have on the students, schools and communities. Since that massacre 10 years ago, Murphy has made it his mission to enact gun control reform only to be disappointed again and again as the bills fail to overcome the Senate filibuster.

In his speech on Tuesday, Murphy asked Republicans: “Why do you go through all the hassle of getting this job, or putting yourself in a position of authority if your answer is that, as this slaughter increases, as our kids run for their lives, we do nothing.”

He asked again: “What are we doing?”

Police officials in Uvalde hold brief press conference

Police officials with the Uvalde Consolidated Independent school district (CISD) where Tuesday’s mass shooting occurred shared more details about the tragedy in a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

Pete Arredondo, Uvalde CISD chief of police, confirmed in a public statement that at 11.32 am on Tuesday a shooter opened fire at Robb elementary school, killing and injuring a number of victims.

The gunman was not named in the press conference but has been identified as Salvador Romas, an 18-year-old man from Uvalde. He is now dead, Arredondo confirmed, and he said it is believed Romas acted alone.

Robb elementary school has students in second, third and fourth grades, Arredondo said, and families of victims are now being notified. Law enforcement is working to safely evacuate remaining students in the school district.

“We do want to keep all their families in our prayers,” he said. “I hope you do as well.”

Police officials did not take any questions and said they would provide more details as they emerge.

Biden has been briefed on the incident

Joe Biden has not yet made a public statement about the mass shooting at an elementary school in Texas today, but White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president has been briefed on the situation and will address the nation from the White House this evening.

“His prayers are with the families impacted by this awful event,” she said, adding that he will return from his trip to Asia to address the country tonight.

The speech will reportedly be televised at 8.15 ET, 5.15 PT.

It is a horrific day for gun violence once again in the US, after an 18-year-old man in Texas opened fire in an elementary school, killing 14 students and one teacher. Here’s what we know now.

The shooting occurred in Uvalde, Texas, a town of about 15,000 people about 85 miles west of San Antonio in south-west Texas
The shooter opened fire at at Robb Elementary school. Its school district, Uvalde school district, has an enrollment of just under 600 students.

Texas governor Greg Abbott said on Tuesday that the suspected gunman was an 18-year-old man named Salvador Romas. Abbott said that shooter is “deceased and it is believed responding officers killed him”.
The man had a handgun and “may have also had a rifle”, the governor said.

More updates to come…

Hello readers, Kari Paul here in Oakland to keep you posted on the news in the aftermath of a tragic mass shooting that just occurred in Texas. More updates to come shortly.