The names and pictures of some of the victims who were shot and killed in a deadly rampage at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas have started emerging.
This as new details are being released about the hours leading up to the mass shooting that killed 19 children and two adults on Tuesday.
Police say 18-year-old Salvador Ramos shot his grandmother in her home during an argument about graduation. A family friend told local media Ramos was upset that he was not going to graduate,
“He got into an argument with the grandmother and she was screaming, ‘He shot me! He shot me!'”
The family friend said Ramos got into his truck and raced down the street before crashing. That’s when, according to the family friend,
“The suspect got out, he had two weapons, and then started engaging gunfire.”
Dillon Silva, whose nephew was in a nearby classroom, said students were watching the Disney movie “Moana” when they heard several loud pops and a bullet shattered a window. Moments later, their teacher saw the attacker stride past the door.
“Oh, my God, he has a gun!” the teacher shouted twice, according to Silva. “The teacher didn’t even have time to lock the door,” he said.
A Texas Public Safety Officer said Ramos was ‘engaged’ by both a school-district police officer and two city police officers who were first to arrive at the scene.
However it was the heroic work of a Border Patrol officer from the Elite Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC) who raced into the building, got into a shoot-out with the gunman and ultimately shot and killed Ramos. The agent was reportedly grazed by a bullet.
A spokeswoman for Homeland Security, Marsha Espinosa, said that numerous Border Patrol agents ran into the building and were shot at by Ramos, who was behind a barricade,
“Risking their own lives, these Border Patrol Agents and other officers put themselves between the shooter and children on the scene to draw the shooter’s attention away from potential victims and save lives. At least one Border Patrol Agent was wounded by the shooter during the exchange of gunfire. On-and-off duty Border Patrol Agents arrived on the scene to assist with transferring students safely to their families and providing medical support.”
Police officers and others responding to the mass shooting went around the school breaking windows so students were able to escape.
Lt. Christopher Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety said that all of the victims were in the same fourth-grade classroom and that the killer,
“barricaded himself by locking the door and just started shooting children and teachers that were inside that classroom,” he said. “It just shows you the complete evil of the shooter.”
The attack is deadliest school mass shooting in almost a decade, the last happening in 2012 when a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary.
Joe Biden addressed the nation Tuesday evening and quickly politicized the horrific nightmare happening in Uvalde, Texas. Speaking from the Roosevelt room Biden pushed the Democrat agenda for restrictions on 2nd Amendment rights,
“As a nation, we have to ask when in God’s name we going to stand up to the gun lobby, when in God’s name will we do what we all know in our gut needs to be done. Dear aren’t running through the forest with Kevlar vests on, for God’s sake. It’s just sick. The gun manufacturers have spent two decades aggressively marketing assault weapons, which make them the most and largest profit. For God’s sake, we have to have the courage to stand up to the industry.”
This as some families desperately searched for their missing children, others wailing out in pain over the sudden loss of their own child or family member. By Tuesday evening some of the identities of the victims started to surface.
44-year-old Eva Mireles – A fourth grade teacher, a mother and a wife
My daughter’s beautiful teacher was the teacher who was killed in Uvalde, TX. Eva (Ms Mireles) taught Gabby in elementary school. She was a beautiful person & dedicated teacher. She believed in Gabby & went above & beyond to teach her as you can see below. There are no words. pic.twitter.com/qMlVoVEUrY
— Audrey (@audreymg0928) May 24, 2022
10-year-old Xavier Lopez – his cousin, Lisa Garza described him as a very bubbly kid who loved t dance,
“He was just a loving 10-year-old little boy, just enjoying life, not knowing that this tragedy was going to happen today,”
10-year-old Amerie Jo Garza had just celebrated her 10th birthday. According to her grandmother Berlinda Irene Arreola she was shot while trying to call 911.
8-year-old Uziyah Garcia, an 8-year-old whose grandfather, Manny Renfro, said was the “sweetest little boy that I’ve ever known”
Teacher Irma Garcia, who was married with four kids, died protecting children from the gunman, according to her nephew
10-year-old Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez – Third-grade student at Robb Elementary was killed in the same classroom as her cousin, according to family members
10-year-old Makenna Lee Elrod – Described as a ‘Sweet’ girl who was in tumbling. Her father searched for her for hours before heading to the funeral home. “It’s pretty sad what this world’s coming to,” he told TV station KTRK.
10-year-old Eliahana ‘Elijah Cruz’ Torres – According to her grandfather she did not want to go to school that day but her family told her she had to go. 69-year-old Adolfo Cruz waited outside the school for hours before learning she was killed.
Nevaeh Bravo – confirmed by her cousin, who said Nevaeh was “flying high” and asked for the family to be kept in people’s prayers
10-year-old Ellie Lugo was confirmed killed by her parents Steven Garcia and Jennifer Lugo. Her father posing to Facebook,
“It’s hard to issue out a statement on anything right now my mind is going at 1000 miles per hour… but I do wanna send our thoughts and prayers to those who also didn’t make it home tonight!!! Our Ellie was a doll and was the happiest ever. Mom and Dad love you never forget that and please try and stay by our side.”
More victims Per the BBC
- Ellie Garcia‘s father said his daughter, who was 10 was “a doll and the happiest ever”
- Jaliah Nicole Silguero‘s mother said in a Facebook post that she was heartbroken. “Fly high baby girl,” Veronica Luevanos wrote
- Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, who appears to be Jaliah’s cousin based on photographs shared by the family, was named as a victim by his aunt. “Still can’t believe that we’re never gonna see you again,” she wrote on Facebook
- Fourth-grader Tess Marie Mata was named by her sister, who described her younger sibling as a “precious angel”
- Family members of Alexandria Aniyah “Lexi” Rubio have confirmed her death on social media. Her cousin described her as a “bright light in everyone’s life”
- A cousin of Maite Rodriguez has confirmed her death on Facebook, calling Maite a “beautiful angel”
Aguayo News Previously Reported:
The 18-year-old gunman who allegedly shot and killed at least 18 children and a teacher at Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas is also believed to have shot his grandmother before driving to the school.
Also, in the hours before the shooting an account believed to belong to Salvador Ramos – who attended high school in Uvalde – appeared to admit his plans on social media just hours before walking into the school and opening fire.
On a now removed instagram account with the user name salv8dor_ and believed to belong to Ramos, were a pair of selfies, a person sitting with a magazine in their lap and a pair of rifles laying side by side.
The account tagged another user in picture of the rifles – @epnupues -However the owner of that account claims that Ramos is “a stranger,” adding “i know nothing about him he decided to tag me in his gun post. i’m so sorry for the victims and their families i really don’t know what to say.”
The account holder said it was ‘scary’ that Ramos tagged her in the photo of the rifles during a DM chat thread between the account @sal8dor_ and @epnupues
May 12:
“You gonna repost my gun pics”
She replied Friday saying,
“what your guns gotta do with me”
“Just wanted to tag you”
“I’m so confused,” she replied then posted
“But why”
He then said,
“idk, be grateful I tagged you”
She replied: ‘No it’s just scary,’ adding: ‘I barely know you and you tag me in a picture with guns?’
Then at 5:43 a.m. Tuesday @salv8dor_ messaged her “I’m about to”.
“about to what” she asked
“I’ll tell you before 11” he said.
He said he’d text her in an hour and said she had to respond, adding
“I got a lil secret I wanna tell u.”
He did not send a message revealing his secret. His last message at 9:16 a.m. was “Ima air out”.
About two and a half hours later school officials announced that Robb Elementary school was on lockdown after shots were fired.
Shortly after that an ‘active shooter’ was reported at the elementary school.
Another 15 kids and four adults were wounded.
Aguayo News Previously Reported:
The 18-year-old gunman who allegedly shot and killed at least 18 children and a teacher at Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas is also believed to have shot his grandmother before driving to the school.
Also, in the hours before the shooting an account believed to belong to Salvador Ramos – who attended high school in Uvalde – appeared to admit his plans on social media just hours before walking into the school and opening fire.
On a now removed instagram account with the user name salv8dor_ and believed to belong to Ramos, were a pair of selfies, a person sitting with a magazine in their lap and a pair of rifles laying side by side.
The account tagged another user in picture of the rifles – @epnupues -However the owner of that account claims that Ramos is “a stranger,” adding “i know nothing about him he decided to tag me in his gun post. i’m so sorry for the victims and their families i really don’t know what to say.”
The account holder said it was ‘scary’ that Ramos tagged her in the photo of the rifles during a DM chat thread between the account @sal8dor_ and @epnupues
May 12:
“You gonna repost my gun pics”
She replied Friday saying,
“what your guns gotta do with me”
“Just wanted to tag you”
“I’m so confused,” she replied then posted
“But why”
He then said,
“idk, be grateful I tagged you”
She replied: ‘No it’s just scary,’ adding: ‘I barely know you and you tag me in a picture with guns?’
Then at 5:43 a.m. Tuesday @salv8dor_ messaged her “I’m about to”.
“about to what” she asked
“I’ll tell you before 11” he said.
He said he’d text her in an hour and said she had to respond, adding
“I got a lil secret I wanna tell u.”
He did not send a message revealing his secret. His last message at 9:16 a.m. was “Ima air out”.
About two and a half hours later school officials announced that Robb Elementary school was on lockdown after shots were fired.
Shortly after that an ‘active shooter’ was reported at the elementary school.
