May 26 Texas shooting news

Jayce Luevanos has been identified as one of the victims in the Uvalde, Texas, shooting. CNN confirmed the information through a GoFundMe site set up to raise funds for funeral expenses and family needs.

Jayce's grandfather, Carmelo Quiroz, told USA Today that the 10-year-old and his mother lived with him. He said Jayce was happy and loved. "He was our baby," Quiroz said. 

Veronica Luevanos, Jayce's aunt and mother of shooting victim Jailah Nicole Silguero, posted a picture Wednesday on Facebook of her daughter and Jayce and wrote: "My baby you didn't deserve this neither did your classmates n cousin Jayce."

The New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays – who are currently playing a game against each other – each posted tweets saying that the two clubs are collaborating and will use their channels “to offer facts about the impacts of gun violence" instead of focusing on game coverage.

“The devastating events that took place in Uvalde, Buffalo and countless other communities across our nation are tragedies that are intolerable,” both teams said in tweets.

Additionally, the Rays said the organization “has made a $50,000 commitment to Everytown for Gun Safety’s Support Fund.”

See some of their tweets:

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), facing questions about how officers dealt with the gunman who killed 21 people at a school in Uvalde, Texas, Tuesday, says those officers saved lives, despite waiting before physically confronting the suspect who was holed up inside a classroom.

Olivarez said that officers did not have enough information on the exact location of the shooter to do an immediate takedown.

“They do not know where the gunman is. They are hearing gunshots, they are receiving gunshots,” said Olivarez. “At that point, if they proceeded any further not knowing where this suspect was at, they could have been shot. They could have been killed, and at that point, that gunman would have had the opportunity to kill other people inside that school.” 

Olivarez declined to explain the discrepancy between initial claims that a school resource officer “engaged” the gunman outside the school and Thursday’s statement saying Ramos was not confronted before entering the school.

"We’re conducting those investigations right now, speaking to witnesses, and those officers obviously are key to this investigation,” he told CNN.

The husband of Irma Garcia, one of the Robb Elementary teachers who was killed in Tuesday’s mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, has died, according to a GoFundMe post and a Twitter post from Garcia’s nephew.

On the school’s website, Irma Garcia's bio states that she and her husband had four children.

Irma Garcia’s nephew also acknowledged the death of his aunt's husband.

“Lord god please on our family, my tias husband passed away this morning due to a heart attack at home he’s with his wife now, these two will make anyone feel loved no matter what they have the purest hearts ever I love you sm tia and tio please be with me every step of the way,” the tweet said. 

CNN has reached out to the Garcia family for additional comment. 

Makenna Lee Elrod, 10, has been identified as one of the victims in the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting, April Elrod, Makenna’s mother, confirmed to CNN.

Allison McCullough, Makenna’s aunt, also confirmed the information to ABC News. 

She added that Makenna loved to play softball, do gymnastics and spend time with her family. She was a natural leader and loved school. McCullough described her niece as “a light to all who knew her.”

“She loved her family and friends so much,” McCullough added.

Derek Gonzales was about to go for lunch with his colleague Julio Luna when he heard gunshots on Tuesday. So he rushed to Robb Elementary School from his nearby shop with Luna.

What they saw upon arrival was a chaotic scene.

Gonzales said bullets were going into the direction of a nearby funeral home, and some were coming in his direction, he added. "We were like, in shock."

He said he didn’t expect a shooting at the school and thought something else might have happened.

"We didn’t expect for this to happen here in Uvalde," Luna added.

The two tried to get out of their car, but police told them to get back in.

In a news briefing earlier Thursday, Victor Escalon, South Texas regional director of Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), told reporters that the gunman shot towards eyewitnesses across the street at a funeral home after he wrecked his car. The official said the shooter then continued to walk towards the school and climbed a fence.

Victor Luna, a parent of a student at Robb Elementary School, said he pleaded with officers to give him their gear so he could go inside as the shooting was happening.

“I told one of the officers myself, if they didn’t want to go in there, let me borrow his gun and a vest, and I’ll go in there myself to handle it, and they told me no,” he told CNN, adding that he wanted the officers to “go in and get rid of that man, that shooter.”

“I mean, they took a while for them to go in there. So I mean this tragedy happened, like kids didn’t make it out," he continued. "They were doing their job, but they could have done it quicker before that man went in the school.”

His son Jayden survived Tuesday's mass shooting. He said he also had grandchildren in the school.

Luna told CNN that he saw some officers going in and out of the building, but he wanted to see more.

Luna noted that he had waited about two to three hours before they started bringing kids out of the school. “That was what was aggravating me, cause I want to see my son. I didn’t know what was going on he could have been in there dead," he said.

Jayden is hurting and doesn’t want to be by himself, Luna added.

Derek Gonzalez, a witness to the scene, told CNN he saw “family members crying, screaming.”

“They were like give me the vest, you know, I'll go in there,” he said. “And the cops were pushing people back to get out of the way."

They were outside for what felt like “forever,” Gonzalez added. 

He said his aunt is a fourth-grade teacher in the same building. She survived and is “shaken up," he said. His cousin lost his daughter, Amerie Garza, in the massacre.

Watch:

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden will visit Uvalde, Texas, on Sunday to meet with families who lost loved ones in the horrific mass shooting, as well as to meet with other community members and religious leaders, the White House announced.

"On Sunday, May 29, the President and the First Lady will travel to Uvalde, Texas to grieve with the community that lost twenty-one lives in the horrific elementary school shooting," according to an advisory from the White House.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierr offered more details about the trip during a press briefing Thursday.

Jean-Pierre also urged Congress to take action and lamented the loss of life from Tuesday's terrible mass shooting that killed 19 children and two adults. 

"Schools should be sanctuaries of learning, not battlefields," Jean-Pierre said. "These were elementary school kids — they should be losing their first teeth. Not losing their lives. They should be at little league, softball, and soccer practices this weekend. These parents should be planning their kids' summer, not their child's funeral."

She added: "Teachers should be there to teach, nurture, and prepare our children for the future. Not to be gunned down or asked to sacrifice their own lives for the kids they love. But that is what two heroic teachers did in Uvalde — killed while trying to protect their students."

Jean-Pierre continued: "As the President said this week it is time to turn this pain into action. It's time for Congress to act."

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, visited Uvalde, Texas, on Thursday where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Duchess told CNN.

“She took this trip in a personal capacity as a mother, to offer her condolences and support in person to a community experiencing unimaginable grief,” the spokesperson said.