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What to Know About the School Shooting in Uvalde, Texas

Nineteen children and two teachers were killed in a massacre at an elementary school. It was the deadliest school shooting in the United States in a decade.

A memorial outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in June.Credit...Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The New York Times

On May 24, an 18-year-old gunman wielding an AR-15-style rifle killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, a small city west of San Antonio. It was the deadliest school shooting since 20 children and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012.

Here’s what to know about the attack.

Around 11:30 a.m. on May 24, a gunman was reported outside the school, shortly after he crashed a pickup truck in a nearby ditch. The gunman, identified as Salvador Ramos, 18, had earlier shot his grandmother in the face at her nearby home.

After leaving the truck, Mr. Ramos entered the school, where he went into a pair of connected fourth-grade classrooms and started shooting.

The toll: 19 students and two teachers dead, and more than a dozen others wounded. (Read more about the victims.)

Scores of officers from multiple agencies responded to the scene, but hesitated to confront the gunman, to the frustration of parents who had also gathered outside.

More than an hour after Mr. Ramos entered the building, Border Patrol officers stormed the classrooms and fatally shot him. (Read a minute-by-minute timeline of the attack.)

By Scott Reinhard

That question has become the focus of at least three investigations, including one by a special Texas House committee, which released its findings on July 17.

The report, the first comprehensive assessment of the law enforcement response to the shooting, made a broad indictment of actions by the police.

It concluded that the order to confront the gunman could have been issued far earlier; that “some victims could have survived if they had not had to wait” for rescue; and that the school police chief, dozens of state police officers and scores of agents with the U.S. Border Patrol all exercised “egregious poor decision making.”

The decision to finally confront the gunman was made by a small group of officers, the report found.

A video from inside the school, showing how officers waited before confronting the gunman, was released on July 11 by The Austin American-Statesman and KVUE.

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Surveillance footage from Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, shows officers retreating from gunfire and waiting for 77 minutes before confronting the gunman. The delayed police response has been widely criticized and is under investigation.CreditCredit...The New York Times

On Aug. 24, the school board in Uvalde fired its school police chief, Pete Arredondo, who directed the district’s response to the shooting. The unanimous vote, which Mr. Arredondo, through his lawyer, called “an unconstitutional public lynching,” was the first direct accountability over the widely derided police response.

The shooting in Uvalde came less than two weeks after a racist attack at a supermarket in Buffalo, where a gunman killed 10 Black people. The back-to-back mass shootings prompted a flurry of negotiations in Congress, where years of efforts to enact gun restrictions have fallen short amid Republican opposition.

A month to the day after the Uvalde shooting, Congress gave final approval to a bipartisan compromise intended to stop dangerous people from accessing firearms, a measure that President Biden signed on June 25.

The Daily Poster

Listen to ‘The Daily’: Portraits of Grief From Uvalde

The lives touched by the killing of 21 people at an elementary school in a close-knit community.
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transcript

Listen to ‘The Daily’: Portraits of Grief From Uvalde

The lives touched by the killing of 21 people at an elementary school in a close-knit community.

sabrina tavernise

From The New York Times, I’m Sabrina Tavernise. This is The Daily.

In the small and close-knit community of Uvalde, Texas, the killing of 21 people at an elementary school has left few lives untouched. Over the past few days, my colleagues Rick Rojas, Natalie Kitroeff, Eduardo Medina and I set out to tell some of those stories.

[music]

It’s Wednesday, June 1.

gemma lopez

Hi.

rick rojas

Hi. All right, cool. Would you mind just spelling your name for me to make sure I have that right?

gemma lopez

G-E-M-M-A.

rick rojas

And your last name?

gemma lopez

Lopez, L-O-P-E-Z.

rick rojas

And how old are you?

gemma lopez

10 years old.

rick rojas

And just to be sure, you’re her grandmother?

fernanda moreno

Yes, I’m her grandmother.

rick rojas

All right.

fernanda moreno

I have custody of her.

rick rojas

OK, OK — great, great. So I guess, first off, tell me about today. What have you been doing today?

gemma lopez

Today, I didn’t just wake up. I woke up at 7 because she just got here at 7. And then we did a lot of stuff. We were playing around. We were playing hide and seek for a little bit. We went to our grandpa’s. And then we were playing around with Alexis, my little cousin.

rick rojas

OK. And so what grade are you in?

gemma lopez

I’m in fourth grade.

rick rojas

OK, so you’ve just been playing and just trying to take it easy today?

gemma lopez

Yeah, and then we got chicken. We ate it here. And then we were just playing around.

fernanda moreno

Yeah.

rick rojas

Nice. And so you were just talking about your classroom being close to there. I mean, would you mind? I know it’s difficult. But what do you remember from that — from that day? What kind of —

gemma lopez

All I remember was just in the morning, we were just eating breakfast. Then we put on a movie. The movie was I think “The Jungle Cruise.”

rick rojas

OK.

gemma lopez

Like, in the middle of it, we went to P.E. Then we played a little bit more of the movie. And then we went to the awards ceremony. And then when I came back, we finished the movie. And then we did, like, a little bit other work. And then we were just playing — we were just messing around, playing around, doing whatever we do. And then all of a sudden, like, unexpectedly, I heard gunshots.

But I thought they were, like, firecrackers, ‘cause kids on their free time, they could mess around and everything. After I heard that, I wasn’t thinking of it as much. And then I just checked the window. Then I saw police officers holding the gun.

And then I heard a gunshot again. And they shot the top of the wall. Then I went in between Jalisa (sp) and Stacy (sp) and went, like, close to my arm.

But I missed my arm. And then, like, I knew something was, like, so wrong. So everybody went under the — first they turned off the lights. And everybody went under the table. They were scared and everything. But I told them to be quiet. Then I heard a lot more of gunshots. Oh, I was crying a little bit. And my best friend Sophia (sp) was also crying right next to me.

rick rojas

I mean, how do you see her doing? I mean, how — I guess, you see your granddaughter go through something like this. I mean, how do you help her cope?

fernanda moreno

Well, what she was telling me that she went under the table. And I said, well, that’s good, mama. That’s good. She didn’t run or scream. She just went under the table. I mean, she cried a little bit. But I mean, she didn’t panic that much.

rick rojas

Yeah, yeah.

fernanda moreno

Mm-hmm. And it’s good that she turned off the light, you know.

rick rojas

Oh, so you turned off the light in classroom?

fernanda moreno

Yes, she turned off the light.

gemma lopez

Yes.

rick rojas

Wow. And what made you think to do that?

gemma lopez

Because we always have all these drills about the lockdowns. And they always say to turn off the lights instantly and go hide. So I instantly just remembered that. So I instantly did it.

rick rojas

OK, so have there been just like, they told you to do this, or did you actually practice this before?

gemma lopez

We practiced a lot of lockdown since, like, pre-K or kindergarten.

rick rojas

Wow.

[music]

natalie kitroeff

Your name is Jacob, yeah?

jacob albarado

Yes.

natalie kitroeff

A-L-B-A-R-A-D-O. That’s your last name, right?

jacob albarado

Yes, correct.

natalie kitroeff

And are you in the Border Patrol?

jacob albarado

Yes.

natalie kitroeff

And so were you on duty at the time, or were you —

jacob albarado

No, I was off duty. I was in my slacks and dress shoes because I had just — I had just left because I was at an awards ceremony.

natalie kitroeff

You were at an award ceremony for your daughter?

jacob albarado

Yeah, that’s correct. That goes there at Robb. She’s in second grade at Robb.

natalie kitroeff

OK.

jacob albarado

And my wife teaches fourth grade at Robb.

natalie kitroeff

How did you hear that this was going on?

jacob albarado

As I was walking into the barbershop, they go, did you hear that? And I said, no. I said, what, what are you talking about? He said, man, I think I heard gunshots. And I said, nah, I didn’t hear anything.

I sit down and get my haircut.

And nothing — we didn’t get started at all. He received a text from his wife that Robb had a shooter. And then I received a text from my wife saying that there is an active shooter. So we just took off, hauling butt to the school as fast as we could.

natalie kitroeff

You and the barber?

jacob albarado

Yes.

natalie kitroeff

Did the barber have a kid in the school too?

jacob albarado

Yes.

natalie kitroeff

Oh my gosh.

jacob albarado

Thankfully, my barber had a shotgun. And I grabbed his shotgun. And I took off running towards the school.

natalie kitroeff

You’re kidding me.

jacob albarado

No.

natalie kitroeff

And he had that in his car or something? Like, did you run?

jacob albarado

Yeah, he had it in his truck.

natalie kitroeff

Do you remember what time this was around?

jacob albarado

I checked my messages — I checked my messages, it was like 11:45, 11:47.

natalie kitroeff

So what were you thinking when you went in? I mean, when you went in there, were just like, I’m going to save these kids? I mean, what was on your mind? What was going through your head?

jacob albarado

Oh, seriously — seriously, I need to get my wife out. I need to get my daughter out. But of course, I’m getting everyone else out as well. My wife got out. I was in contact with her. But I was still looking for my daughter. So from that point on, I just said, where’s my daughter? Where is Jada? I ran towards the opposite wing to go get my daughter.

My daughter was past the playground. So I went after her. I mean, I knew where she was at — my wife kept on telling me that she was in the restroom because she was — my wife was in contact with my daughter’s teacher. I was looking for a restroom. I couldn’t find the restroom. But apparently, there’s restrooms inside the classrooms.

natalie kitroeff

But were you personally looking or were the agents looking?

jacob albarado

No, like I said, I ran over there. And I was looking for the restroom. I couldn’t find the restroom. And then I told him, I said, we need to get these kids out of here. I take charge of every situation. I’ve had 13 years in law enforcement.

natalie kitroeff

OK.

jacob albarado

I don’t know how many years these other guys have. But I take control of every situation.

natalie kitroeff

OK, so you were leading this team basically.

jacob albarado

This makeshift team that I made, yes.

natalie kitroeff

And how did you make — you got to the scene and, what? Did you just see your colleagues and say, like, we’re doing this, or how did you get the team together that fast?

jacob albarado

Yeah, I ran. I ran across. And I said, what’s going on? The kids are all in the room right now. I said, man — I said, get these kids out of here. I said, these kids — this is our opportunity. This is our time to get the kids out. So I started clearing the rooms.

natalie kitroeff

And you had just a bunch of your — a bunch of officers were out there. And so you were able to just get together a team right there?

jacob albarado

Yeah, it’s a small town. Half these guys know me. Half these guys don’t. They realized I was taking charge. And they just listened. I was on the sidewalk. I sent two officers to open up the rooms and send them my way.

And then I had another two officers pointing their guns towards where the active shooter was at. And then I had another two officers set up on the sidewalk so the kids can know where to go.

I cleared out her whole wing of classes, which is like five or six classes. And then I finally see my daughter. And then I start clearing out the other wing. And then I see my daughter’s best friend. I clear out all their — clearing them all out, sending them towards the parking lot so they can get off campus.

So who knows if the shooter is going to be moving around? Who knows? But at that point in time, the shooter wasn’t there so I was getting everybody, anyone I could, off of campus.

natalie kitroeff

How many kids do you think you cleared out?

jacob albarado

Five, six classes on one wing, which is about 20 something kids a class, and then another wing, which is another five or six classes — another 20-something kids a class.

natalie kitroeff

Wow.

jacob albarado

So easily, I’d say, 200 kids.

natalie kitroeff

Wow. Did you see your daughter come out? Were you able to give her a hug?

jacob albarado

No, I saw her. I saw her. I spotted her. And it was a big relief that she was fine, yes. I think I might have given her a hug and just kept on moving the kids along.

I did what I was trained to do.

natalie kitroeff

Hi.

ricardo garcia

Hello.

natalie kitroeff

I don’t know if I’m in the right place. I was looking for Rubin.

ricardo garcia

Rubin, no, he’s not there right now. He’s next door.

natalie kitroeff

He’s next door?

ricardo garcia

Yeah, yes, ma’am. He’s next door.

natalie kitroeff

Yeah.

ricardo garcia

But he’s not there right now.

natalie kitroeff

OK.

ricardo garcia

And with everything that happened to him, it’s just so crazy, so unbelievable. I work at the hospital, so.

natalie kitroeff

You do?

ricardo garcia

Yes, I work at the hospital.

Oh my god, I just can’t get it out of my mind. I can’t sleep. Ever since that, I couldn’t sleep. I just can’t sleep. I just, I hear the screaming and everything. I just — everything is just crazy.

natalie kitroeff

Oh my gosh.

ricardo garcia

I never thought it was going to happen here. But it did. But it did, so. What’s your name again?

natalie kitroeff

Natalie.

ricardo garcia

Natalie.

natalie kitroeff

Yeah, what’s your name?

ricardo garcia

My name is Ricky.

natalie kitroeff

Ricky?

ricardo garcia

Yes, ma’am.

natalie kitroeff

Nice to meet you.

ricardo garcia

Nice to meet you.

natalie kitroeff

What do you do at the hospital, if you don’t mind my —

ricardo garcia

I’m a groundskeeper.

natalie kitroeff

This is at —

ricardo garcia

I had my grandson — my two grandsons were going to school there. And I have a niece that was going. But they are OK. But they’re just shaken up. I guess they saw what they saw. And it’s just crazy.

natalie kitroeff

[INAUDIBLE]

ricardo garcia

But yeah [INAUDIBLE], sometimes I just can’t sleep. I can hear the screaming, the yelling, and what I saw in the kids when they’re bringing them in. I could see the kids when the door would open to the emergency room. You can see the kids when they’re coming in. And it’s just unbelievable.

natalie kitroeff

When you were hearing the screaming, who was screaming?

ricardo garcia

The parents when they were getting to know the bad news. They [INAUDIBLE], no [EXPLETIVE] no!

Hitting the walls, I can hear that. I can hear that — the fear, the sadness, everything — the anger they were feeling. My body — I mean, I have goosebumps. I had goosebumps. Man, I’m lucky. Thank you god, but you know, what about the other kids?

natalie kitroeff

I mean, how many parents did you see like?

ricardo garcia

Oh man, the whole hospital was full. Whole hospital full — the whole hospital was full. Everybody is going and sitting down, just shocked. And I mean, there’s something that — it’s just something I just can’t get out of my mind. And the nights — sometimes I can’t sleep.

I can hear the echoes of the screaming and the pain they were in, stuff like that. And I think I’m going to go to counseling here tomorrow at the [INAUDIBLE] because I just — this was [INAUDIBLE]. Ever since I saw that, I mean, I thought I would never see something like that. You see it in the movies and hear it [INAUDIBLE].

natalie kitroeff

When you can’t sleep at night, are you hearing a specific thing that they’re saying?

ricardo garcia

Yeah, just yelling, no, no! That’s the only thing I can. That’s the only thing I can hear, the parents. No, no! [EXPLETIVE] no, boom, boom! [EXPLETIVE] no, boom, boom! No, no — it’s just, man.

natalie kitroeff

You’re going to go do some counseling right?

ricardo garcia

Yes, yes, I got to, miss. It’s just — shaking my hands. I mean, I just feel — I don’t know. I feel weird. I wish I could have done something but I can’t. I just — so unreal.

natalie kitroeff

Yeah.

Do you think anything is going to change because of all this?

ricardo garcia

I’m hoping so, Natalie. I’m hoping so. Something’s got to change. I mean, come on. There’s just too much of it.

natalie kitroeff

I’m so sorry for what you had to go through.

ricardo garcia

It’s OK. Thank you.

natalie kitroeff

I’m going to send you a note, OK? I’m going to send you a text.

ricardo garcia

Yes.

natalie kitroeff

I’m going to also [INAUDIBLE].

ricardo garcia

Thank you [INAUDIBLE].

natalie kitroeff

All right, Ricardo, right?

sabrina tavernise

We’ll be right back.

dr. ronald stewart

So I’m Dr. Ronald Stewart. I’m a trauma surgeon at University Hospital in San Antonio. And I’ve been here for, I guess, more or less 40 years.

sabrina tavernise

Oh, wow.

dr. ronald stewart

And I’ve been faculty since 1993.

sabrina tavernise

So you’ve seen a lot of trauma surgery over the years.

dr. ronald stewart

I have. I’ve treated lots of patients with firearm injuries and gunshot wounds over the years. And then we had the Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church mass shooting.

sabrina tavernise

That was the shooting in 2017, if I’m not mistaken, right?

dr. ronald stewart

Yes.

sabrina tavernise

Where 26 people were killed.

dr. ronald stewart

Yeah.

sabrina tavernise

On that note, Dr. Stewart, I wanted to turn to Tuesday and the shooting in Uvalde.

dr. ronald stewart

Yes.

sabrina tavernise

So bring me back to the beginning of that day. How did it begin for you? What was the morning like?

dr. ronald stewart

So I had a 7 a.m. meeting. Then I had another meeting with our chief medical officer, just normal daily activities. And then sometime at around, I guess, probably around 11:30 or noon, I got notification that there was first responders responding to a shooting with an elementary school.

sabrina tavernise

What was the first thing that came to your mind?

dr. ronald stewart

The first thing — the first thing honestly, I think, would be sadness, emotion of sadness — the first emotion.

And a wish to hope that it’s not accurate, that the report’s not right.

But then really just probably a few seconds later, it’s like, OK, so our job is to prepare at that time for whatever comes our way.

sabrina tavernise

And what’s the first thing you see once people start to arrive?

dr. ronald stewart

We received three children and one adult. And you have children who were elementary-age children who, they’re small. And critically ill patients are intubated. And these wounds are — the wounds that we saw were typical of high-energy wounds from high-velocity firearms.

Typical 12 muzzle velocity of say, 800 to 1,200 feet per second — a handgun muzzle velocity, you have an entrance wound. And you may or may not have an exit wound. And you have two holes. And that’s what you have with these sorts of wounds. You have big defects in tissue. It’s destroyed. It’s open. That’s what we were seeing.

sabrina tavernise

And Dr. Stewart, what will you most remember from that day?

dr. ronald stewart

To me, people working together to help another person, a child, when they need it the most is the most beautiful thing. I’m a photographer. And I consciously look for beauty in the world.

But the most beautiful thing that I see is people working together to help somebody when they need it the most. It’s like watching a symphony that all the parts are different but all working together towards a common goal. That, I will remember. That’s the beauty. That’s the beauty.

[music]

Probably the thing I remember the most negative is a conversation with a child who’s describing the events — the events of the scene, the horror of the events, the actuality.

We weren’t asking what happened. They just started talking about what happened. That to me is the most — the thing I will remember.

sabrina tavernise

Yeah.

dr. ronald stewart

And you know, I feel kind of bad and guilty in that maybe I feel like I’m focused on how I feel a little bit. But — because obviously, the impact to the patient and families is nothing compared to anything that I go through or we go through. It’s nothing. It pales in comparison, you know? But.

sabrina tavernise

Yeah.

[music]

eduardo medina

I’d love to make sure I have the spelling of your names correct, if that’s OK?

kimberly rubio

OK.

eduardo medina

Kimberly Rubio, right?

kimberly rubio

Yes.

eduardo medina

I got K-I-M-B-E-R-L-Y?

kimberly rubio

Yes.

eduardo medina

And then Rubio, R-U-B-I-O?

kimberly rubio

Yes.

eduardo medina

Sir, would you be comfortable if I include your name in there?

felix rubio

That’s fine.

eduardo medina

Perfect. How do I spell it?

felix rubio

Felix, F-E-L-I-X. And then Rubio.

eduardo medina

Would you be comfortable if I include your daughter’s age in the story as well?

felix rubio

That’s fine.

kimberly rubio

She’s 10.

eduardo medina

10, perfect.

felix rubio

They need to know how old she was.

eduardo medina

I don’t know where you’d want to start. But something we’ve been asking today is if parents were there at the school when the officers were there, and if, so what you saw and what you made of the response there from the law enforcement?

kimberly rubio

We were there for — first of all, we had two kids on campus. My son is in second grade. And my daughter was in fourth grade. We went to his award ceremony at 8. And we left. And we went back — her’s was at 10:30.

She got two awards, a good citizen award and the honor roll. We took pictures with her. And then my mother-in-law said that we would get her ice cream after school.

felix rubio

She loves ice cream.

kimberly rubio

She loves ice cream. She always wants ice cream.

eduardo medina

It sounds to me like she was a brilliant girl. Can you tell me more about that? Was she always very studious?

kimberly rubio

Always. My husband has said it before. She is the student every teacher wants because she does everything that’s asked of her. You never have to tell her to do her homework.

She does everything. She’s very competitive. They have a program for math to help them. And they get points. And she was just back and forth with this one student one year because —

eduardo medina

She wanted to be first.

kimberly rubio

Yes, she wanted to be first.

eduardo medina

Wow.

kimberly rubio

She’s shy, really quiet. We talked about this, though. When she had a point that she wanted across, she made it. She would speak up.

eduardo medina

And sorry, I should have had this be my first question. But it’s just come to mind now. How do I spell your daughter’s name?

kimberly rubio

A-N-D-R-I-A. And then Lexi, her nickname, L-E-X-I.

eduardo medina

That’s Alexandria Aniyah Rubio.

kimberly rubio

Yes.

eduardo medina

A powerful name, that is.

kimberly rubio

When we talk about it, I always think about what it sounds like when they call them at graduation.

[CRYING] We waited a long time and couldn’t come up with a name forever.

felix rubio

Very last minute.

kimberly rubio

Very last minute, they told us, hey, if you want to leave tomorrow, we need you to fill this out now.

[INAUDIBLE], it was perfect.

eduardo medina

It’s a beautiful name.

kimberly rubio

Yeah.

eduardo medina

I would love to know from you, if there are particular messages you want to make sure people understand from someone who’s at the core of this terrible tragedy.

kimberly rubio

We live in this really small town in this red state. And everyone keeps telling us that it’s not the time to be political. But it is. It is.

And I don’t want this to happen to anybody else.

You know, when I got home, my mom told me that the governor was here and that he wanted to come and meet with the families. And my first thought was, my Lexi doesn’t even like him. She was really little. But we talked about this stuff at home.

And we talked about women’s rights. And she was a budding feminist, you know? Like, she was —

eduardo medina

Yeah.

kimberly rubio

[CRYING] And it’s not right.

It’s my baby, and I don’t want anybody else to go through this.

felix rubio

And this is her husband, Lexi’s dad.

eduardo medina

Hi, sir.

felix rubio

And like my wife said, we just want to get the point across. We hear it all the time. Someone needs to come up with a solution. This is painful. It really is. Our baby was taken. And she’s taken.

kimberly rubio

They don’t care about Lexi. They don’t care about my baby. I don’t even understand why anybody needs these kind of weapons.

eduardo medina

I suppose we —

kimberly rubio

Is it really worth my baby? Is it really worth all of these babies?

[music]

sabrina tavernise

On Tuesday, funerals for the children killed at Robb Elementary began in Uvalde. Many of them will be buried in specially-designed caskets decorated with their favorite sports and cartoon characters.

[music]

sabrina tavernise

We’ll be right back.

Here’s what else you need to know today. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court blocked a Texas law that would ban large social media companies from removing posts based on the views contained in them. The case is moving through the lower courts. And the 5-to-4 vote suspends the Texas law while it is being litigated. Supporters of the law say it was an attempt to combat what they called Silicon Valley’s censorship of conservative views.

The law was prompted in part by the decisions of some platforms to bar former President Donald Trump after the January 6 attack on the Capitol. The case may well eventually end up at the Supreme Court. Justice Samuel Alito wrote in a dissent that the issues raised in it were so novel and significant that the court would have to consider them at some point.

Today’s episode was produced by Diana Nguyen, Asthaa Chaturvedi and Clare Toeniskoetter, with help from Will Reid and Eric Krupke. It was edited by Michael Benoist with help from Lisa Chow, contains original music by Elisheba Ittoop, Marion Lozano and Dan Powell, and was engineered by Corey Schreppel.

Special thanks to Jack Healy, Frances Robles, Josh Peck, Edgar Sandoval, Jazmine Ulloa, and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly.

That’s it for The Daily. I’m Sabrina Tavernise. See you tomorrow.

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