Shooting spree at US elementary school: Attacker announced action on Facebook

The United States is in shock after a Texas elementary school shooting. Shortly before the attacker shot 21 people, he announced his actions on Facebook, Texas Governor Abbott has now announced.

According to Governor Greg Abbott, the shooter at an elementary school in the US state of Texas announced his plans on Facebook shortly before the crime. He initially wrote that he would shoot his grandmother, Abbott said at a press conference. His second post was that he shot his grandmother.

About a quarter of an hour before arriving at the school, the 18-year-old wrote that he was going to shoot at an unnamed elementary school, Abbott said. According to him, the shooter had no criminal record. However, it is not certain whether the gunman had any entries as a young person. That still has to be determined. Mental illnesses are not known.

grandmother survived

The governor also announced that the gunman shot his grandmother in the face – she survived. At school, he then broke into a classroom that was connected to another. His weapon was an AR-15 assault rifle. The 18-year-old killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde near San Antonio before he was shot dead by police.

The death toll could rise, the AP news agency reported, citing federal investigators. Some elementary school students were injured and at least one 10-year-old child is still in critical condition.

Perpetrator apparently fired hundreds of times

So far it is known that security officers at the elementary school in Texas apparently tried to stop the assassin immediately before the crime. The 18-year-old managed to gain admission to the school anyway. Investigators say he wore bulletproof clothing and fired hundreds of times. This is all preliminary information. According to police spokesman Chris Olivarez, the perpetrator apparently shot all of his victims in a single classroom. All the dead were found in a room where the shooter had previously barricaded himself.

Police Chief Pete Arrendondo asked for patience. The focus at the moment is on the fate of the bereaved: “Our investigations are not yet complete. If we are able to inform the families, then we will do so. That is our priority, so please wait.”

O’Rourke: “You’re not doing anything”

Governor Abbott attributed the crime not to easy access to guns, but to an increase in mental illness. He argued that 18-year-olds in Texas have been able to buy guns for 60 years, but there has never been a school massacre on this scale.

Democratic politician and governor candidate Beto O’Rourke blamed Abbott for the act of violence because of his attitude to gun laws: “You’re not doing anything,” said the former presidential candidate during the press conference addressing the conservative governor. “That is your responsibility.”

Majority is not enough

US President Joe Biden has called for the consequences of repeated gun shootings. “As a nation, we have to ask ourselves when in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby,” he said. “We have to take action.”

The President did not announce any concrete initiatives. Because he needs the US Congress to change the laws, he can’t do that alone. But even if members of his party, the US Democrats, were to introduce bills into parliament, it would not be clear this time whether they would find a majority in favor. In the Senate, the majority is not sufficient for a fundamental change.

With information from Torsten Teichmann, ARD-Studio Washington