Instagram account linked to gunman posted images of weapons just days before school massacre
From CNN Investigates
A photo of two AR15-style rifles appeared on an Instagram account tied to the suspected Uvalde shooter just three days before Tuesday’s massacre at Robb Elementary school. Part of the image has been obscured by CNN to remove the user name of a third party. (From Instagram)
A photo of two AR15-style rifles appeared on an Instagram account tied to the suspected Uvalde shooter just three days before Tuesday’s massacre at Robb Elementary school.
The photo was posted as a story under the username “salv8dor_.” Multiple classmates confirmed the account belonged to suspected gunman Salvador Ramos, who was shot dead by officers responding to the school shooting.
Ramos’ TikTok page has only a single post – a clip of a Subway Surfers mobile game. The bio under his profile picture reads: “Kids be scared irl” or in real life.
10:27 p.m. ET, May 24, 2022
Death toll rises to 19 students and 2 adults, Texas official says
From CNN's Don Lemon
The death toll has risen following the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Department of Public Safety Sgt. Erick Estrada told CNN's Don Lemon on Tuesday.
The toll now stands at 21, with 19 students and two adults killed in the shooting, Estrada said.
The gunman was also killed in the shooting.
10:13 p.m. ET, May 24, 2022
Father of Parkland school shooting victim: "We know the next one is going to happen because we haven’t done anything to fix it"
From CNN's Amir Vera
Fred Guttenberg is the father of Jaime, who was killed in the Parkland school shooting in 2018. CNN
Fred Guttenberg's daughter, Jaime, was one of 17 people killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
He spoke with CNN's Anderson Cooper on Tuesday, just hours after 18 children and one adult were killed in Uvalde, Texas.
“This has been a horrific day. It doesn’t matter how much time passes, it brings you right back to that minute. I can’t stop thinking about these families today who need to figure out how they’re going to bury their children, who need to figure out how they’re going to console their other children, who need to figure out how they’re going to deal with the reality that they had other children likely in that school who are going to have PTSD, who need to figure out a eulogy,” Guttenberg said.
Guttenberg said news of another shooting is infuriating "because all of these instances we know the next one is going to happen because we haven’t done anything to fix it."
“I’m just so broken. What’s even worse, it’s not like this country doesn’t want to fix this,” he said.
When asked what message he'd give to families in Uvalde, Guttenberg quoted something his rabbi told him at his daughter's funeral: "We don't move on, we move forward."
“I want everyone to know that they are loved and that they are going to go forward. It's what I call a 'new normal,'" he said. "But the next few minutes, hours, days are going to be brutal."
9:54 p.m. ET, May 24, 2022
Border Patrol agents faced gunfire, "put themselves between the shooter and children," DHS says
From CNN's Priscilla Alvarez
Border Patrol agents who responded to the deadly school shooting in Texas entered the school building and “faced gun fire from the subject, who was barricaded inside,” according to a DHS spokesperson.
“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,” spokesperson Marsha Espinosa said in a tweet. “At least one Border Patrol Agent was wounded by the shooter during the exchange of gunfire,” she said. “On-and-off duty Border Patrol Agents arrived on the scene to assist with transferring students safely to their families and providing medical support.”
Read the full Twitter thread:
9:25 p.m. ET, May 24, 2022
Biden's speech was "essentially, thoughts and prayers," Parkland shooting survivor says
Cameron Kasky, survivor of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting (CNN)
Cameron Kasky, a survivor of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, criticized President Biden's response to Tuesday's shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
"I hear a lot of people talking about Joe Biden's personal life and the horrible personal loss he's endured that obviously makes him a compassionate leader. But what does Joe Biden's personal life have to do with the fact that there is currently a product that is being marketed to Americans by Republican senators and congressmen — and by Mr. Joe Manchin, who is a Democrat —You've got these guns that are being sold to Americans and sown into the American narrative as if they stand for freedom," Kasky said on CNN.
He added that he appreciates the empathy that Biden displays but said the address was a disappointment for Americans who advocate for gun safety.
"Joe Biden goes up there and talks about how it's horrible to lose a family member ... and says that it's bad that mass violence happens. It's great that he thinks it's bad. But I can tell you that gun control organizers, people who believe in gun safety, common-sense gun safety laws, around the country were waiting to hear the words 'executive order' and instead we heard the words, essentially, thoughts and prayers," Kasky added.
Kasky noted that mass shootings have become a common occurrence in the United States.
"There's a new one every single day. And that's on a good day, because on the bad days there's quite a few," he said. "These students are going to go back into school soon and they are going to live lives and have childhoods and early adulthoods that are completely informed by this tragedy. From what I've seen with Parkland and with all these other horrible shootings, it changes people forever," he added.
9:18 p.m. ET, May 24, 2022
US attorney general calls deadly Texas school shooting an "act of unspeakable violence"
From CNN's Evan Perez
Attorney General Merrick Garland called today's deadly school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, an “act of unspeakable violence” and said, “We join our fellow Americans in mourning this terrible loss and in their resolve to end this senseless violence.”
Read the full statement:
“Today, another mass shooting has taken the lives of innocent victims, including elementary school children and their teacher. This act of unspeakable violence has devastated an entire community and shaken our country. “FBI and ATF agents have responded to the scene, and the Justice Department is committed to providing our full support to our law enforcement partners on the ground in Texas and to the Uvalde community. “We join our fellow Americans in mourning this terrible loss and in their resolve to end this senseless violence.”
9:19 p.m. ET, May 24, 2022
Biden asks lawmakers to "turn this pain into action" in emotional White House remarks
From CNN's Paul LeBlanc
(Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
President Biden addressed the Texas school shooting in emotional remarks from the White House Tuesday evening, saying, “I had hoped when I became President I would not have to do this again.”
“There’s a lot we don’t know yet. There’s a lot we do know. Parents who will never see their child again, never have them jump in bed and cuddle with them. Parents who will never be the same. To lose a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped away,” said Biden, who has before spoken in deeply personal terms about the family tragedies he has endured.
Turning to the issue of gun control legislation, Biden implored lawmakers to “turn this pain into action" as he ticked through some of the mass shootings since the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, when he was vice president.
"I am sick and tired of it. We have to act. And don't tell me we can't have an impact on this carnage," the President said, asking: “Why do we keep letting this happen?"
"Where in God’s name is our backbone to have the courage to deal with and stand up to the lobbies?” he said.
9:11 p.m. ET, May 24, 2022
There have been more mass shootings than days in 2022
From CNN's Christina Maxouris
Tuesday, May 24, was the 144th day of the year.
There have so far been at least 212 mass shootings in 2022, according to the nonprofit organization Gun Violence Archive. This means there have been more mass shootings this year than there have been days in 2022.
CNN and the GVA define a mass shooting as a shooting that injured or killed four or more people, not including the shooter.
9:04 p.m. ET, May 24, 2022
Obama: "Our country is paralyzed, not by fear, but by a gun lobby and a political party"
From CNN's Dan Merica
Former President Barack Obama responded to the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, by saying the United States “is paralyzed, not by fear, but by a gun lobby and a political party that have shown no willingness to act in any way that might help prevent these tragedies.”
Read Obama's full statement:
“Across the country, parents are putting their children to bed, reading stories, singing lullabies—and in the back of their minds, they’re worried about what might happen tomorrow after they drop their kids off at school, or take them to a grocery store or any other public space.” “Michelle and I grieve with the families in Uvalde, who are experiencing pain no one should have to bear. We’re also angry for them. Nearly ten years after Sandy Hook—and ten days after Buffalo—our country is paralyzed, not by fear, but by a gun lobby and a political party that have shown no willingness to act in any way that might help prevent these tragedies.” “It’s long past time for action, any kind of action. And it’s another tragedy—a quieter but no less tragic one—for families to wait another day. May God bless the memory of the victims, and in the words of Scripture, heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds.”
