Texas officials are clarifying the events leading up to Tuesday’s tragic mass shooting at a school in Uvalde, Texas, which claimed the lives of at least 19 students, a teacher and one other adult.
In an interview with CNN‘s Anderson Cooper on Tuesday, Sgt. Erick Estrada, Texas Dept. of Public Safety, said there were two separate shootings that took place.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott previously announced the shooter — identified as Uvalde resident Salvador Romas — is dead.
“The first incident was involving the suspect at their grandmother’s residence, where he shot the grandmother, and then the grandmother was airlifted,” Estrada said.
The second incident, which Estrada said was initially called in as a crash “and a man with a firearm outside [Robb Elementary] school premises,” resulted in the shooting deaths of at least 21 people.
“The suspect did crash near a ditch here nearby the school. That’s where he exited his vehicle with [what] I believe was as rifle,” Estrada said.
“What got reported was that a man with a gun had crashed nearby the Robb Elementary School,” he later added. “He was observed exiting the vehicle with his own rifle and a backpack. He also had body armor with him.” Estrada also confirmed that he was wearing the body armor.
“There were several law enforcement that engaged the suspect, but he was able to make entry into the school where he did go into several classrooms, and unfortunately he did fire his firearm inside the school premises,” the sergeant said.
“Then he was met with another tactical law enforcement agency, which ultimately were able to bring him down.”
The shooter opened fire at Robb Elementary School at about 11:30 a.m. after abandoning his vehicle, and it is believed police killed him.
Police said at a Tuesday press conference they believe the shooter, who according to Abbott had a handgun and possibly a rifle, acted alone. The children killed were in the second, third and fourth grades, police said.
Uvalde is a small city of about 16,000 residents, approximately 85 miles west of San Antonio.
