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Texas school shooting: Officials outline updated timeline of the attack
A Texas Republican has called on police to determine whether Uvalde shooter Salvador Ramos was linked to the historical arrest of two teens for threatening to shoot up their school.
Uvalde police arrested two boys aged 13 and 14 in 2018 for telling people they intended to attack their high school when in their senior year in 2022.
Representative Tony Gonzalez said: “If this was not the shooter, we need to find out who these kids are, where they are now, and if they were classmates of the shooter.”
Mr Gonzales earlier said he was told Ramos was arrested over the 2018 incident. The shooter’s juvenile record has not been confirmed by police.
Meanwhile, parents were left enraged after police confirmed officers waited for an hour before storming Robb Elementary School and killing the gunman.
The latest official details from the Texas Department of Public Safety on Tuesday’s mass shooting differed sharply from initial police accounts and raised questions about security at the elementary school and the law enforcement response.
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Show latest update 1653664046 Update: Lawmaker demands probe into shooter’s connection to 2018 Uvalde school shooting threat
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 Police have not confirmed the shooter’s juvenile record
Liam James 27 May 2022 16:07
1653662113 Texas father stands guard outside his daughter’s school in wake of Uvalde shooting: ‘I’m watching’
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 ‘Let the parents have a little bit of relief,’ Ed Chelby says
Liam James 27 May 2022 15:35
1653661006 Texas gunman 'arrested as minor for threatening mass shooting in 2022’
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 A Texas Republican claims that the 18-year-old Uvalde shooter had previously been arrested for threatening to shoot up his school.
Liam James 27 May 2022 15:16
1653660073 ‘Makers of Uvalde shooter’s rifle fund anti-gun control Republicans’ – Report
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.
Liam James 27 May 2022 15:01
1653659145 10-year-old shooting survivor discharged from hospital, others remain
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.
Liam James 27 May 2022 14:45
1653657816 Trump and Cruz still set to speak at NRA convention
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.
Liam James 27 May 2022 14:23
1653656153 Video shows husband of killed teacher laying flowers for her hours before he dies ‘of grief’
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’ Irma Garcia was killed in the Robb Elementary School massacre and her husband Joe died days after, leave behind four children
Chiara Giordano 27 May 2022 13:55
1653655445 Officers ‘betrayed role they signed up for’, parent claims
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.”
Chiara Giordano 27 May 2022 13:44
1653653753 Senators talk expanded gun background checks and red flag laws
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.
Chiara Giordano 27 May 2022 13:15
1653652253 Lauren Boebert’s bizarre defence for no gun action: ‘After 9/11, we didn’t ban planes’
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’ We can protect children ‘without trying to disarm law-abiding citizens’, says Republican
Chiara Giordano 27 May 2022 12:50
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