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A deputy sheriff was among those to lose a child during a shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
“One deputy sheriff lost a daughter in that school,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said during a Wednesday news conference.
Abbott’s comments come after 18-year-old Salvador Ramos opened fire in the Texas elementary school, killing 19 students and 3 adults. Ramos also killed his grandmother before driving to the school to carry out the attack, which ended with his death at the hands of responding law enforcement.
Over a dozen others were injured in the shooting, with Abbott saying that three law enforcement officers were also injured during the shootout that remain in good condition.
People leave the Uvalde Civic Center following a shooting earlier in the day at Robb Elementary School, Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas.
(William Luther/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)
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While the shooting has renewed calls for stricter gun laws, Abbott said that a “mental health problem” was to blame for the incident.
“Before coming out here we had a long discussion with law enforcement at all levels. We had a discussion with community leaders, elected officials, and I asked the sheriff, an open-ended question, and got the same answer from the sheriff as well as from the mayor, of Uvalde” Abbott said.
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Police walk near Robb Elementary School following a shooting, Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas.
(AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
“The question was ‘what is the problem here?’” he continued. “And they were straight forward and emphatic. They said ‘we have a problem with mental health illness in this community.’”
Abbott detailed the social media use of Ramos before the deadly shooting, noting that Ramos had posted that he had killed his grandmother and was about to go to an elementary school. The governor also stressed that the incident remains under investigation that Texas Rangers would be leading.
