Rocky Mountain National Park Search and Rescue Team during an incident in the Mount Meeker area, May 29, 2022. – Rocky Mountain National Park via National Park Service
(BOULDER COUNTY, Colo.) — A climber died and two others were injured in an avalanche on Sunday in Rocky Mountain National Park.
A rock fall and avalanche were reported near the Dreamweaver Couloir on Mount Meeker at about 9 a.m. local time, according to the National Park Service. Climbers nearby witnessed the avalanche, the service said in a statement.
“Three individuals were involved in the incident including a female and two males,” Kyle Patterson, park spokesperson, said in a statement.
Rocky Mountain National Park launched a search-and-rescue operation with help from the Colorado Search and Rescue Association, Flight for Life, the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group, Front Range Rescue Dogs, Med Evac and the Colorado National Guard.
“Rescue teams are working in terrain above 11,500 feet and are experiencing winter like weather conditions,” NPS said.
When a “weather window” opened up at about 2 p.m. local time, a helicopter from nearby Buckley Air Force Base flew in to help extricate one of the male climbers, NPS said. Using a winch-operated cable, the helicopter freed the man, who was then flown to Medical Center of the Rockies, NPS said.
Searchers located the body of the second male climber in the avalanche debris at about 5:15 p.m. on Sunday, NPS said.
“The recovery operation will be delayed due to winter weather conditions,” NPS said in a statement.
The female climber involved in the avalanche suffered minor injuries, NPS said. The names of the victims were being held until their families were notified, NPS said.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky and Timmy Truong contributed to this report.
(SAVANNAH, Ga.) — Five people are dead after two boats collided on a river in Georgia over Memorial Day weekend, officials said.
The crash occurred around 10:30 a.m. Saturday at a convergence in the Wilmington River, about seven miles east of downtown Savannah in Chatham County.
Nine people were aboard two boats — six in one, three in the other, officials said. The boats were traveling in opposite directions when witnesses said they collided, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Initially, two people were confirmed dead and three injured following the crash, the department said.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources identified the victims Sunday as Christopher David Leffler, 51, of Savannah; Lori Lynn Leffler, 50, of Savannah; Zachary James Leffler, 23, of Alpharetta; Nathan Leffler, 17, of Savannah, and Robert Steven Chauncey, 37, of Savannah.
Chris Leffler was a coach and teacher at Calvary Day School, and Nathan Leffler was a senior at the school, Dr. Hunter Chadwick, head of the school, said in a statement.
“We are saddened to report the death of our faculty member, Mr. Chris Leffler, and his wife, Lori, their sons, Zach and Nate, who passed away from injuries sustained in a boating accident this weekend,” the statement read.
The family was “loved by so many and will be missed dearly,” Chadwick said, describing Chris Leffler as an “outstanding” teacher, coach and friend.
Nate Leffler “had a quiet demeanor, contagious smile and passion for athletics,” Chadwick said. “He was well-liked by his peers, was a great brother and a loving son.”
Three men were missing in the wake of the incident — a 37-year-old man and two men in their early 20s — but were found Sunday morning, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Mark McKinnon, communications director for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, told ABC News that all three bodies were found Sunday morning after game wardens detected them with sonar technology around 9 a.m. ET.
The bodies were found close to one another in 14-foot-deep water near the site of the crash, McKinnon said.
Savannah ABC affiliate WJCL captured a damaged boat being towed on Saturday.
“Rough day today out here,” Bill Koster, the chief of operations for Chatham County Emergency Services, told reporters.
First responders, including Georgia Department of Natural Resources game wardens, Chatham County Marine Patrol, Savannah Fire and Chatham Emergency Services and two U.S. Coast Guard helicopters, helped look for the missing boaters.
Four passengers sustained minor injuries and were transported to a local hospital, officials said. One patient was flown to the hospital by the Coast Guard after being rescued from the water, Koster said.
The cause of the crash is under investigation, officials said.
Two center console boats were involved in the incident, one of which sunk following the crash, Koster said.
Chatham Emergency Services urged people to avoid the area following the deadly accident.
ABC News’ Victoria Arancio, Lillian Gifford, Jason Volack and Will McDuffie contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — While Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer, celebrated by many with cookouts and pool parties, the holiday’s purpose is one of remembrance for the country’s fallen soldiers.
This year, the USAA Poppy Wall of Honor — a temporary installation honoring the more than 645,000 Americans who, since World War I, have been killed in military service — has returned to the National Mall in Washington.
The tribute, a lightly reflective display of shocking red petals, is on display between the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Constitution Gardens pond. It returns to Washington for the first time since 2019 after being on hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Its name is also special: The poppy flower came to symbolize combat sacrifice after Canadian Lt. Col. John McCrae saw bright red poppies blooming in the battle-torn wake of World War I and was moved to write “In Flanders Fields.” McCrae’s work was later published and seen by American University of Georgia professor Moïna Michael and by Anna Guérin in France. Micheal wrote her own poem in 1918 titled “We Shall Keep Faith” and began selling poppies to raise money for veterans and their families; she is credited with the idea of making and selling red poppies to help support veterans.
In France, Guérin organized her own large poppy drives and sold the flowers for money for widows, orphans and veterans.
It is with that legacy in mind that the flower wall again blooms in memory of the slain.
“Memorial Day may be our most sacred holiday,” Vice Adm. John Bird, senior vice president of military affairs at USAA, told ABC News.
“We take time to remember and reflect on the men and women that died in service to our country fighting for our nation. Many of these young men and women were volunteers,” Bird says. “They put their lives on the line so we can enjoy the freedom and the quality of life that we have today. So it’s a very important holiday and we can never thank them enough, but we certainly should never forget them.”
Military leaders also note that there can be a common misconception about the holiday’s meaning compared to Veterans Day, in November.
“A lot of folks don’t understand the significance of it … people say, ‘Hey, have a great Veterans Day.’ The veterans — they’re living. It’s a little hard to say, ‘Hey, have a great Memorial Day.’ We’re really honoring those that died during war on Memorial Day and we must keep that in mind,” said Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Dennis Fritz.
Though the holiday is rooted in solemnity and sacrifice, it can also be an occasion to gather in celebration for those who cannot, supporters say.
“Reflect on them for a moment and be thankful if you know family members of the fallen. Thank them for their great sacrifice … It’s not to say we don’t have a good time or we don’t enjoy our barbecue,” Bird says. “Just take a moment to thank those who have fallen, wear a poppy and remember and reflect.”
(CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.) — At least six people were injured on Saturday night during an exchange of gunfire in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, police said.
Chattanooga police officers were patrolling the downtown area at about 10:48 p.m. local time when they “observed multiple parties exchanging gunfire and numerous people fleeing the area” near 100 Cherry St.
“Our Officers began rendering aid to the victims as well as assisting others to safety,” a police spokesperson said. “They were able to detain at least one person of interest in the incident in the moments after the shooting began.”
Police said “several” gunshot victims were transported to local hospitals. Two individuals had life-threatening injuries, police said. Most of the victims were in their teens or early 20s, police said.
Chattanooga Mayor Kelly posted a message Sunday on Twitter, saying, the shooting was “unacceptable — our city and our community will act.”
“Last night, our city felt the terrible cost of gun violence,” Kelly tweeted. “My heart is with the families whose lives have been upended by this horrific situation.”
Kelly said he and the Chattanooga police chief are planning to hold a news conference on the shooting Sunday afternoon.
“We had large groups of juveniles walking around the downtown area this date and we believe it’s from within that group that the shooting took place,” a police spokesperson said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Keith Harden contributed to this report.
(SAVANNAH, Ga.) — Five people are dead after two boats collided on a river in Georgia over Memorial Day weekend, officials said.
The crash occurred around 10:30 a.m. Saturday at a convergence in the Wilmington River, about seven miles east of downtown Savannah in Chatham County.
Nine people were aboard two boats — six in one, three in the other, officials said. The boats were traveling in opposite directions when witnesses said they collided, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Initially, two people were confirmed dead and three were following the crash, the department said. Their identities are being withheld pending family notification.
Three men were missing in the wake of the incident — a 37-year-old man and two men in their early 20s — but were found Sunday morning, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Mark McKinnon, communications director for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, told ABC News that all three bodies were found Sunday morning after game wardens detected them with sonar technology around 9 a.m. ET
The bodies were found close to one another in 14-foot-deep water near the site of the crash, said McKinnon.
Savannah ABC affiliate WJCL captured a damaged boat being towed in Saturday.
“Rough day today out here,” Bill Koster, the chief of operations for Chatham County Emergency Services, also told reporters.
First responders, including Georgia Department of Natural Resources game wardens, Chatham County Marine Patrol, Savannah Fire and Chatham Emergency Services and two U.S. Coast Guard helicopters, helped look for the missing boaters.
Four passengers sustained minor injuries and were transported to a local hospital, officials said. One patient was flown to the hospital by the Coast Guard after being rescued from the water, Koster said.
The cause of the crash is under investigation, officials said.
Two center console boats were involved in the incident, one of which sunk following the crash, Koster said.
Chatham Emergency Services urged people to avoid the area following the deadly accident.
ABC News’ Victoria Arancio, Lillian Gifford, Jason Volack and Will McDuffie contributed to this report.
(UVALDE, Texas) — A small town in rural Texas is reeling after a gunman opened fire at an elementary school on Tuesday, killing 19 children.
Two teachers were also among those killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, according to authorities.
Prior to opening fire at the school, the suspect also allegedly shot his grandmother, officials said.
The alleged gunman — identified by authorities as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, a student at Uvalde High School — is dead.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
May 29, 1:37 pm
Chaos, confusion and the decision to enter school: Sources
When federal agents from Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations arrived at Robb Elementary School Tuesday, they immediately encountered a scene of confusion and chaos, according to multiple law enforcement officials briefed on the attack.
Some arrived with heavy equipment, others with whatever they could carry as they ran to the scene on foot.
Initially, these agents, multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News, tried to discern who was doing what, where was shooter who was engaging law enforcement and how were children were being evacuated.
Once the tactical team assembled with enough gear, they became aware of an order not to enter the classroom because they were told the suspect had barricaded himself, the sources told ABC News.
The Texas Department of Public Safety has said the incident commander wrongly believed the shooting had stopped.
Eventually, the special agent-in-charge of Homeland Security Investigations gave the instruction to all federal agents under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security that they were free to use their best judgment and to do what they felt was best, the sources said.
The federal agents were unsure whether any children could be saved at that point, but they were interested in evacuating the wounded. Some agents brought children in other classrooms out through windows.
The tactical team went in at 12:50 p.m. CDT and fatally shot the suspect, 77 minutes after the shooting started, officials said.
The suspect was dead at the scene, the sources said. He was found with more than a dozen bullet wounds.
May 29, 1:10 pm
Justice Department to investigate police response to Uvalde shooting
The Justice Department will conduct a critical incident review to examine the law enforcement response to last week’s school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, a spokesperson announced on Sunday.
The review is being conducted at the request of Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin and the DOJ will publish a report on its findings at the conclusion.
“The goal of the review is to provide an independent account of law enforcement actions and responses that day, and to identify lessons learned and best practices to help first responders prepare for and respond to active shooter events. The review will be conducted with the Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing,” the DOJ said in a statement.
“As with prior Justice Department after-action reviews of mass shootings and other critical incidents, this assessment will be fair, transparent, and independent. The Justice Department will publish a report with its findings at the conclusion of its review.”
May 29, 1:53 pm
President, first lady place bouquet of roses at Robb Elementary School memorial
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden paid their respects at a memorial outside Robb Elementary School on Sunday, placing a bouquet of white roses and viewing and touching photos of the 19 children and two teachers killed in Tuesday’s attack at the school.
The Bidens’ motorcade arrived to applause from community residents lining the street nearby.
The president and first lady met Robb Elementary School principal Mandy Gutierrez. The president hugged Gutierrez and appeared to officer words of comfort.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also joined the Bidens at the memorial.
May 29, 12:08 pm
Biden, first lady arrive in Uvalde
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden have arrived in Uvalde, Texas, Sunday morning and plan to meet with loved ones of 19 students and two teachers killed in Tuesday’s mass shooting at Robb Elementary School.
The Bidens arrived at Uvalde’s Garner Field on Marine One just before noon after flying on Air Force One at Kelly Field in San Antonio earlier Sunday.
The Bidens were met on the tarmac at Garner Field by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin and other local dignitaries.
The White House said the [president}() and first lady intend “to grieve with the community that lost twenty-one lives in the horrific elementary school shooting.”
The Bidens are scheduled to visit a growing memorial outside Robb Elementary School and attend Mass at a local Catholic church before meeting with the family members of those killed in the attack and first responders.
May 29, 11:32 am
Senators hold bipartisan negotiations on federal gun legislation
Some Democrat and Republican senators are negotiating through the Memorial Day weekend in an attempt to find “common ground” on potential federal gun laws intended to prevent massacres like the one at a Uvalde, Texas, school, according to Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy.
“There are serious negotiations and we are going to continue to meet through early next week to try to find some common ground,” Murphy, a Democrat, told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl on Sunday.
Murphy said negotiations with Republican senators have included discussions of “red flag” laws, expansion of the federal background check system, safe storage, mental health resources and increased security funding for schools.
“What we’re talking about is not insignificant,” Murphy said.
He said the goal is to come up with a package “that really in the end could have a significant downward pressure on gun violence in this country and break the logjam.”
“Maybe that’s the most important thing we could do is just show that progress is possible and that the sky doesn’t fall for Republicans if it supports some of these common sense measures,” Murphy said.
Murphy, who took up the cause of combatting gun violence a decade ago following the deadly 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, said he is hearing from more Republicans than ever agreeing on the need for new federal gun legislation, or to bolster laws on the books now.
Republican Rep Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., told Karl that “raising the age of gun purchase to 21 is a no brainer.”
“If you look at the Parkland shooting, you look at Buffalo, you look at this shooting, these are people under the age of 21,” Kinzinger said. “We know that the human brain develops and matures a lot between the age of 18 and 21. We just raised — without really so much as a blink — the age of purchasing cigarettes federally to 21.”
May 28, 3:05 pm
Shooter fired on at least 6 occasions after police arrived
Alleged school shooter Salvador Ramos was in the classroom for 77 minutes before officers entered and killed him. During that time, he discharged 315 rounds of ammunition, with hundreds of those rounds fired within the first four minutes of his arrival, authorities said.
After the initial barrage, the police commander on the scene mistakenly believed the shooter was barricaded and it was no longer an active shooter incident, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw told reporters in an update Friday. But as officers gathered outside the classroom, the gunman kept shooting on at least six occasions, the new details show.
At 11:35 a.m., as the first three officers entered the building and approached classrooms 111 and 112, the suspect fired into the hallway through a closed door, where two officers sustained “grazing wounds,” McCraw said.
He fired an additional 16 rounds two minutes later — at 11:37 a.m. — and again at 11:38 a.m., 11:40 a.m. and 11:44 a.m., according to McCraw, who did not specify whether the additional discharges were directed at officers in the hallway or at those inside the classrooms.
At 12:21 p.m., with as many as 19 officers then gathered outside the classroom, the suspect again fired at the closed door, forcing officers to “move down the hallway,” McCraw said.
Despite those additional spurts of gunfire – and a 911 call from inside one of the classrooms alerting a dispatcher that eight or nine people remained alive — officers did not enter the classroom and kill Ramos until 12:50 p.m., according to McCraw.
The police response to the shooting is now being investigated, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday.
-ABC News’ Lucien Bruggeman
May 28, 1:14 pm
Texas active shooter training instructs ‘move in, confront attacker,’ manual shows
The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District in Texas hosted active shooter training for its six-member police force two months prior to the massacre at Robb Elementary, based on the “Active Shooter Response for School-Based Law Enforcement” course from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, which explicitly states: “First responders to the active shooter scene will usually be required to place themselves in harm’s way and display uncommon acts of courage to save the innocent.”
The course manual also includes this sobering instruction: “A first responder unwilling to place the lives of the innocent above their own safety should consider another career field.”
The training makes clear the “first priority is to move in and confront the attacker.”
It is “safer” and “preferable” to have a team of at least four officers move on a subject but, since “time is the number one enemy during active shooter response,” even a single officer is expected to act, according to the training document.
In Uvalde, 19 officers entered the school but remained in the hallway, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw said at a press conference Friday.
Only when an attacker is isolated and “can do no more harm to students, staff, or visitors” is the officer not obligated to enter the room, which is what McCraw said the incident commander, Uvalde ISD Chief Pete Arredondo, believed.
“It was the wrong decision,” McCraw said.
-ABC News’ Mike Levine and Aaron Katersky
May 27, 5:23 pm
Texas governor: ‘I was misled’ on police response to shooting
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he was “misled” about the response to the Uvalde school shooting.
“I am livid about what happened,” Abbott said during a press briefing Friday, hours after the Texas Department of Public Safety detailed missteps that led to a 35-minute wait to breach the classroom where the shooter was.
“As everybody has learned, the information that I was given turned out, in part, to be inaccurate, and I’m absolutely livid about that,” Abbott said Friday. “There are people who deserve answers the most, and those are the families whose lives have been destroyed. They need answers that are accurate, and it is inexcusable that they may suffer from any inaccurate information whatsoever.”
The governor said there will be investigations into the release of information on the shooting and the strategy employed in the response.
On Wednesday, Abbott said an officer had confronted the shooter at the entrance to the school building, which was not the case.
“But the reality is, as horrible as what happened, it could have been worse,” he also said at the time. “The reason it was not worse, is because law enforcement officials did what they do.”
May 27, 4:37 pm
Texas official says gunman had 1,657 rounds of ammunition
The gunman had purchased a total of 1,657 rounds of ammunition, 315 of which were inside the school, Steven McCraw, director of Texas Department of Public Safety, said Friday.
McCraw said 142 of those rounds were spent cartridges and 173 were live rounds.
Officials found 922 rounds outside of the school, but on school property. Of those rounds, 22 were spent cartridges and 900 were live rounds. Another 422 live rounds were found at the crash site, McCraw said.
The suspect had a total of 60 30-round magazines, 58 of which were at the school. He had fired nearly 200 rounds, most of them inside the school, said McCraw.
May 27, 3:42 pm
5 of 17 injured in shooting remain hospitalized
Five of the 17 people injured in the elementary school shooting remain in the hospital on Friday, according to officials.
Two children and one adult are being treated at University Hospital in San Antonio, two of whom are in serious condition, and two adults are at Brooke Army Medical Center, both in fair condition.
A 10-year-old girl was discharged from University Health in San Antonio.
Eight children and three adults were treated and discharged from Udalve Medical Center earlier this week.
-ABC News’ Jennifer Watts
May 27, 3:13 pm
Texas DPS conducting review of law enforcement actions during shooting
As part of its ongoing investigation into Tuesday’s shooting, the Texas Department of Public Safety is conducting a review of law enforcement actions.
This comes after the visibly shaken Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, revealed a cascading series of police failures before and during one of the deadliest school shootings in the nation’s history.
The incident commander, the chief of Uvalde ISD Police, wrongly believed the incident had transitioned from an active shooter situation to a barricaded subject situation, where the suspect had stopped firing and barricaded himself in a classroom, no longer posing a threat to children, McCraw said.
“He thought there was time,” McCraw said.
McCraw said there may have been a belief by the incident commander that no one was alive anymore inside the classrooms. But, he detailed multiple 911 calls made from inside the classrooms, on which callers explicitly said several children were alive and trapped inside with the shooter. Callers at several points asked for police to be sent in.
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky
May 27, 1:53 pm
Several 911 calls were made from inside classroom as police waited outside
Those inside a classroom with the shooter made several calls to 911, but the tactical unit that arrived at 12:15 p.m. waited 35 minutes before breaching the classroom, Steven McCraw, director of Texas Department of Public Safety, said at a press conference Friday.
A 911 call was made at 12:03 p.m. from room 112 and lasted 23 seconds. McCraw did not identify the caller.
She called back at 12:10 p.m. and advised that there were multiple dead in the classroom, McCraw said.
The person then called again at 12:13 p.m. and again at 12:16 p.m., when she said there were eight to nine students who were still alive, McCraw said.
A call was made by someone else from room 111 at 12:19 p.m., the caller hung up when another student told her to hang up, McCraw said.
At 12:21 p.m., three shots were heard over a 911 call. At 12:36 p.m., another 911 call was made by the initial caller and it lasted for 21 seconds. The student caller was told to stay on the line and be very quiet. She told 911 that the gunman shot the door, McCraw said.
At approximately 12:43 p.m. and 12:47 p.m., she asked 911 to please send the police now, McCraw said.
The caller said she could hear police next door at 12:46 p.m. At 12:50 p.m., the Border Patrol tactical unit finally breached the door and shot the suspect.
May 27, 1:18 pm
Suspect reportedly involved in online chats about guns, school shootings in recent weeks
Authorities shed more light on some of the suspect’s digital footprint in the weeks and months before Tuesday’s mass shooting.
In September 2021, suspected gunman Salvador Ramos asked his sister to buy him a gun and she “flatly refused,” Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told reporters during a briefing Friday. He did not note where this exchange took place.
On Feb. 28, in an Instagram group chat with four people, they discussed “Ramos being a school shooter,” McCraw said.
The next day, on March 1, in an Instagram chat with four people, Ramos discussed buying a gun, according to McCraw.
Two days later, on March 3, in another four-person chat, someone said, “Word on the street is you are buying a gun,” according to McCraw. Ramos reportedly replied, “Just bought something.”
On March 14, Ramos posted on Instagram, “Ten more days,” according to McCraw. Someone replied, “Are you going to shoot up a school or something?” to which Ramos replied, “No. Stop asking dumb questions. You’ll see,” according to McCraw.
Investigators are also looking into people the suspect may have communicated with in video game chat rooms who “may have known something,” McCraw said.
May 27, 12:36 pm
Officers did not breach classroom for 35 minutes while shooter was inside
Steven McCraw, director of Texas Department of Public Safety, admitted it was the “wrong decision” for officers not to go into the classroom where the suspect was for 35 minutes. Children were inside the classroom with him, making 911 calls, McCraw said in a press conference Friday.
The incident commander believed he was dealing with was a barricaded subject inside the school and the children were not at risk, he said.
A tactical team from CBP was on scene at 12:15 p.m., but did not breach the classroom until 12:50 p.m.
“Of course it wasn’t the right decision,” McCraw said. “It was the wrong decision.”
May 27, 11:23 am
US Marshals say they never arrested or handcuffed anyone outside school
The U.S. Marshals said they never placed anyone in handcuffs, but they say they “maintained order and peace in the midst of the grief-stricken community that was gathering around the school,” in a statement posted on Twitter.
U.S. Marshals arrived on scene from Del Rio, Texas, at 12:10 p.m., and the first deputy U.S. Marshal went into the school to assist BORTAC, the elite tactical CBP team that ultimately shot the alleged shooter, the statement said.
They came from 70 miles away and got the first call around 11:30 a.m., according to the statement.
“These Deputy US Marshals also rendered emergency trauma first aid for multiple victims,” the statement said.
“Additional Deputy U.S. Marshals were asked to expand and secure the official law enforcement perimeter around the school,” the statement said. “Our hearts are heavy with sorrow and sadness at this horrific crime. We send our condolences to all the victims and families affected by this tragedy.”
Angeli Rose Gomez, a mother waiting outside for her children, told the Wall Street Journal she was one of numerous parents urging police and law enforcement officers to go into the school sooner, first politely and then more urgently. She said U.S. Marshals put her in handcuffs, and told her she was being arrested for intervening in an active investigation.
Angel Garza, the stepfather of one of the children killed in the shooting, ran to try to reach and help his child, and was restrained and handcuffed by a local police officer, Desirae Garza, the girl’s aunt, recounted to the New York Times.
May 27, 6:30 am
10-year-old survivor recalls gunman saying: ‘You’re all gonna die’
There was blood in the hallway and children were covered in it, one of the students who survived the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, told ABC News.
Salinas was a student in Irma Garcia’s fourth-grade class. They were scheduled to graduate Thursday, but the ceremony was canceled because Garcia, another teacher and 19 third- and fourth-grade students were killed in Tuesday’s massacre.
Salinas said his aunt dropped him off for school on Tuesday morning.
“It was a normal day until my teacher said we’re on severe lockdown,” he told ABC News, “and then there was shooting in the windows.”
Salinas said the gunman came into his classroom, closed the door and told them, “You’re all going to die,” before opening fire.
“He shot the teacher and then he shot the kids,” Salinas said, recalling the cries and yells of students around him.
-ABC News’ Samira Said
May 26, 9:57 pm
Accused shooter’s mother at one point worked at same establishment of gun purchase: Sources
Sources told ABC News the accused school shooter’s mother, Adriana Reyes, at one point worked at Oasis Outback, the same store where the gunman purchased two weapons just after his 18th birthday earlier this month.
The establishment is half gun retailer, half restaurant; Reyes’ employment was with the restaurant portion, sources say.
It is unclear if she had any role in her son’s purchase of the firearms. The owner of Oasis declined to comment to ABC News and added he would only speak with law enforcement at this time. Reyes has not responded to ABC News’ request for comment.
-ABC News’ Matt Gutman, Laura Romero and Victor Ordonez
May 26, 6:49 pm
Law enforcement examining if lockdown was audible to students, staff: Sources
The response by school officials and law enforcement is becoming a key focus in the ongoing investigation into the Uvalde school shooting, law enforcement sources told ABC News Thursday.
It is unclear whether any students and teachers heard an official call for a lockdown once the gunman entered the building, the sources said.
Additionally, investigators are looking into whether officers on site could have made other attempts to enter the school to end the gunman’s rampage faster, the sources said. Responding police were met with gunfire and called for tactical teams with proper equipment to enter the classroom and neutralize the gunman, according to the sources.
-ABC News’ Matt Gutman, Josh Margolin, Aaron Katersky and Luke Barr
May 26, 5:19 pm
10-year-old survivor recalls moments after hearing shots fired
A student who was in the classroom next door to the one the gunman entered recounted to ABC News what she did next.
Gemma Lopez, 10, said she heard five to six gunshots and commotion outside her classroom at Robb Elementary School before a bullet whizzed by her arm and into the wall. She recalled seeing a puff of smoke, which is when she knew they were all in danger.
She said she turned off the lights and then ducked under the tables — what she learned to do in the active shooter training she has undergone since kindergarten. There were no locks inside and they did not have a key in the classroom to lock the door from the inside, she said.
Authorities yelled at the gunman to put down his weapon, to which he reportedly shouted in response, “Leave me alone please,” in Spanish, Gemma recalled.
Gemma said her best friend, Amerie Jo Garza, was one of the 19 children killed in the massacre.
(UVALDE, Texas) — The list of mass shootings in Texas in recent years goes on and on. Uvalde. El Paso. Santa Fe. Sutherland Springs.
Latino anti-gun violence advocates in Texas say they are exhausted following the most recent school shooting in Uvalde. They have been continuously advocating against Gov. Greg Abbott’s gun laws with each new incident, they say.
“We don’t just want thoughts and prayers. We want legislators to take action and for them to say enough is enough,” said Cesar Espinosa, executive director of activist group Fiel Houston, who said he will be protesting the National Rifle Association conference in Houston this week.
Abbott said he will attend the conference virtually.
“He can’t have it both ways — he can’t condemn the tragedy and at the same time, celebrate the culture that makes these tragedies possible,” Espinosa said. “We don’t want to be sitting here a few months a few years from now, talking about another tragedy.”
Three of the 10 deadliest mass shootings in modern U.S. history have been in Texas, each occurring in regions with large Hispanic populations.
“We have the most permissible gun laws in the country,” said Rochelle Garza, a former ACLU lawyer who is running for attorney general in Texas. “These policies that we’ve got are failing our communities, are failing our people and the leadership that we have right now is not doing anything about it.”
Still, in recent years, Abbott has signed a series of bills into law that make purchasing a firearm easier. He argues that each law strengthened the Second Amendment.
“Politicians from the federal level to the local level have threatened to take guns from law-abiding citizens — but we will not let that happen in Texas,” Abbott said in a statement last year.
In 2021, Abbott made it legal for “law-abiding Texans” to carry handguns without a license or training and also loosened restrictions on handguns based on age.
It made it possible for 18-year-olds to receive a license to carry a handgun if they meet requirements other than age.
The governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Abbott rejected the notion that guns were the main cause of the recent shootings, pointing to a lack of mental health support instead.
“We as a state, we as a society need to do a better job with mental health,” Abbott said. “Anybody who shoots somebody else has a mental health challenge. Period. We as a government need to find a way to target that mental health challenge and to do something about it.”
But gun reform advocates say the state’s lax gun laws have furthered the harm done to their communities.
“We don’t want to be sitting here a few months or a few years from now, talking about another tragedy,” Espinosa said. “We want to make sure that we not only talk about it, but we do something about it to make sure that gun safety is a top priority in this nation.”
Latinos in favor of gun reform are calling for “universal background checks, closing related loopholes, and a ban on assault weapons,” said Janet Murguía, the president and CEO of Latino civil rights organization UnidosUS.
They say gun reform is a key part of racial and social justice.
Hispanics are disproportionately affected by firearms violence in the United States, according to the research organization Violence Policy Center (VPC).
“As long as assault-type weapons remain too easily accessible, more communities will be broken and devastated by mass shootings,” Lourdes M. Rosado, president of civil rights group LatinoJustice PRLDEF, said in a statement.
Nearly 70,000 Hispanics were killed by guns between 1999 and 2019, the organization found, including 44,614 gun homicide victims and 21,466 gun suicides.
Nearly three-quarters of Hispanic murder victims are killed with guns, VPC research shows.
The Harris County Democratic Party has called for Abbott to schedule a special legislative session to address the state’s lack of gun restrictions following the Uvalde shooting.
“Latinx, Black, and nonwhite communities will continue to be disproportionately impacted,” Rosado said. “We call on lawmakers to move without hesitation to strengthen federal and local gun controls once and for all, and for lobbying reforms that can curtail the outsize influence of the gun lobby.”
However, there are many Latinos who own guns– some of whom have become gun owners in recent years.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade association for the firearms industry, says that when comparing 2019 to 2020, there was a 58.2% increase in gun purchases among Black people, a 43% increase among Asian Americans and 49% among Latinos.
The NSSF estimates that 40% of gun sales overall were for first-time gun buyers.
Still, across the board, many Latinos are calling for some type of change. The Latino Rifle Association, a gun owner group, also called for solutions to gun violence.
In a statement posted online, the organization said, “We want a society that does not foster and arm hatred, does not leave millions behind in conditions of poverty and systemic violence.”
It added, “So much must be done to create a society that the children at Robb Elementary School deserved.”
(UVALDE, Texas) –The parents of one of the victims killed in the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, earlier this week told ABC News they turned down an invitation to meet with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Felix and Kimberly Rubio, the parents of Alexandria “Lexi” Rubio, said they have no interest in meeting Abbott, her mother saying, “my Lexi doesn’t even like him.”
“It’s not what Lexi would have wanted,” Kimberly Rubio said.
Kimberly Rubio said their daughter shared her parents’ stance on gun control.
“There’s no reason for just an average citizen to have these types of weapons,” she said. Adding, “What for? What do you need them for? Is it worth my kid? These kids?”
The parents are now calling on legislators to ban AR-15 style weapons, even though Felix Rubio, an off-duty deputy sheriff, thinks his department will go against him for supporting gun restrictions.
The parents, whose two children go to Robb Elementary School, were at the school the morning of the shooting for two awards ceremonies, one at 8 a.m. and another at 10:30 a.m.
When they heard of the shooting, Felix Rubio said he went back to the school while the gunman was still alive and said he saw him get shot.
The alleged shooter was in the classroom for 77 minutes before officers entered and killed him, authorities said. He discharged 315 rounds of ammunition in that time, with hundreds of those rounds fired within the first four minutes of his arrival, according to authorities.
Asked about their response to Texas officials admitting it was the “wrong decision” to not breach the classroom sooner, Kimberly Rubio said she blames herself for not taking her daughter home after the ceremony.
“I have enough ‘what ifs’ on my end, so I am not interested in reading about somebody else’s mistakes, because I already have to live with my own,” Kimberly Rubio said.
“It wasn’t done on purpose, but it’s still a mistake because I made it, otherwise she’d be home with me. I left my baby at that school,” she added.
Lexi Rubio played softball, liked getting ice cream after every meal and wanted to be a lawyer, her parents told ABC News.
“She wanted to make a difference. And I want that for her now, she still can,” Kimberly Rubio said.
“As far as like bringing my kids back to school next year, yes, we’re terrified. We’re terrified because we didn’t think it would happen here,” Kimberly Rubio added.
(HOUSTON) — Days after the shooting massacre at a Texas elementary school, the National Rifle Association is gathering this weekend in Houston as the debate over gun control heats up.
The annual convention has also drawn protesters calling for greater gun reforms in the wake of the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.
One attendee said she has struggled with the debate over gun reform as both a Texas gun owner and a grandmother of 13.
“I struggle with that a lot,” Teresa Wakefield, of Houston, told ABC News Friday while browsing the floor of the gun show.
But after Uvalde, where an alleged 18-year-old gunman shot and killed 19 children and two teachers, she said it’s time for lawmakers to reconsider the legal age to purchase a gun.
“I don’t think that an 18-year-old should have been able to go in there and buy rifles. That’s just too much for an 18-year-old,” she said. “You can’t buy alcohol. Why should you be able to buy weapons at 18?”
Most Americans support gun reform measures including universal background checks and red flag laws, polling shows.
Though Wakefield believes no amount of gun control legislation would stop mass shootings.
“It’s unnecessary, and it’s uncalled for, but we will never be able to stop it. It’ll never stop,” she said.
When asked about the Uvalde shooting, Wakefield broke down in tears.
“It’s just all this heartache and heartbreak and devastation,” she said. “But it’s not our fault. It’s not the NRA’s fault. It’s not any gun owners’ faults.”
‘Rabbit hole’
Several gun owners ABC News spoke to at the convention were open to reform — if limited.
Texas gun owner BJ Spalding said he doesn’t support red flag laws but is for expanding background checks.
“That’s one thing I don’t have a problem with,” he said while on the floor of the gun show Friday.
Ron Levandowski, who traveled in from Utah to attend the convention, said he would support a red flag law but worries about what he called a slippery slope.
“I think that’s going down a whole different kind of rabbit hole,” he told ABC News Friday. “Let’s say Joe Biden passes this law tomorrow, and he puts a hardcore-left person in charge of who gets a red flag, then we have another issue.”
Tom Shadrix, an NRA member from Florida, told ABC News he would support reform that would keep guns away from people with “psychological issues,” but found most reform measures “overkill.”
“I want Republicans and smart-minded Democrats to hold the line, because I think it’s in our God-given rights that we be able to protect ourselves,” he said. “Just because an event like this happens doesn’t mean they need to twist it in a political way to their advantage.”
Several Republican officials who attended the event spoke out against gun restrictions.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said calls to further restrict gun access are “all about control and it is garbage,” while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz argued that expanded background checks would not work and instead called for armed officers at schools.
‘We’re angry and we’re fed up’
Outside the convention, protesters lined the streets with chants for change.
“My daughter is a teacher, and she had to learn to pack bullet wounds in her classroom in order to teach,” Kim Milburn told ABC News. “She is in a classroom, and I fear for her life every day.”
Milburn called on lawmakers to “do your job.”
“Protect our children,” she said. “Get it done right now. We’re tired, we’re angry and we’re fed up.”
Fourteen-year-old Aubrey Long came to protest with her father and brother.
“I shouldn’t go to school and be scared that I could get hurt that day because we can’t control our guns,” she told ABC News.
Aubrey also said that she worries about her brother and sister in the wake of the Uvalde shooting.
“I got chills when I heard what happened,” she said. “I don’t understand why we haven’t been controlling this, why this hasn’t changed.”
On the outskirts of the protests, Texas science teacher Clark Ellis was holding a poster Friday with the faces of his eighth grade students.
“I am tired of worrying for my students. It’s not fair that they have to sit there and wonder whether or not they get to go home at the end of the day,” he said. “At this point it feels like lying to them to say, yes, everything’s going to be okay.”
Ellis said he was standing off to the side hoping to have a conversation with NRA members and find common ground on reform measures like increasing the legal age to buy AR-15 rifles and high-capacity magazines and around gun storage requirements.
“We’re looking for allies in this. Whatever we can do to try and make it safer for the kids that I love in my classroom, that’s something that we have to do,” he said. “We can’t do nothing.”
Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
(BUFFALO, N.Y.) — The final victim of the supermarket shooting massacre in Buffalo, New York, was laid to rest Saturday, as the country reels from another mass shooting.
Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Douglas Emhoff attended the memorial service for Ruth Whitfield Saturday afternoon at Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Buffalo.
Whitfield, 86, was one of 10 people killed at Tops Friendly Market on May 14 in what authorities are calling a “racially motivated hate crime.”
“I do believe that our nation right now is experiencing an epidemic of hate,” Harris said during the service.
Harris had not planned to speak but made remarks at the urging of Rev. Al Sharpton, counsel for the Whitfield family.
“No one should ever be made to fight alone. We are stronger than those who are trying to hurt us think that we are,” Harris said.
“We are strong,” she continued. “We are strong in our faith. We are strong in our beliefs about what is right and our determination to act to ensure that we protect all those who deserve to be protected, that we see all those who deserve to be seen, that we hear the voices of the people and that we rise up in solidarity to speak out against this and to speak to our better angels.”
Whitfield was returning home from visiting her husband in a nursing home when she stopped by the market to pick up groceries — “a daily ritual,” her son, Garnell Whitfield, told ABC News — and never returned home.
She is survived by many loved ones, including her husband of 68 years, Garnell W. Whitfield, Sr.; her four children, nine grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, five great-great-grandchildren and seven siblings.
Attorney Ben Crump, counsel to the Whitfield family, called her “one of the most angelic figures that we have ever known” during Saturday’s memorial service.
“It is up to us to take the stand to make sure that Ruth Whitfield’s life will be remembered, her legacy, not just for this hateful act, but her legacy will be one of love, where all of us came together to demonstrate a greater love,” Crump said during the service. “A love that we said, No more, enough is enough. And that is our plea for justice — that you stand with us and proclaim enough is enough.”
In addition to Whitfield’s family and those of the Buffalo faith community, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and State Attorney General Letitia James were in attendance, according to Sharpton, who charged that there is an “epidemic of racial violence that is accommodated by gun laws that allow people to kill us.”
Following the service, Harris stopped by Tops Friendly Market to leave flowers and pay her respects. Before she departed Buffalo, the vice president called on Congress to act on gun reform legislation, vouching for a ban on assault weapons and background checks.
“An assault weapon is a weapon of war, with no place, no place in a civil society,” she told reporters, adding that background checks are “just reasonable.”
Authorities allege the suspect, wielding an AR-15-style rifle, intentionally targeted Black people in an attack he had planned for months.
All 10 of the people killed in the attack were Black, six women and four men. Three other people were wounded in the shooting, including one Black victim and two white victims.
The suspect, Payton Gendron, 18, was indicted by a grand jury on first-degree murder, but all charges remain under seal. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on June 9.
Gendron was initially charged with one count of murder following the massacre. He pleaded not guilty and was ordered to be held without bail.
The suspect is expected to face additional murder and attempted murder counts and state hate crime charges. The FBI is also conducting a parallel investigation, which the Department of Justice said could lead to federal hate crime and terrorism charges.
During a visit to Buffalo in the wake of the massacre, President Joe Biden called the mass shooting an act of “domestic terrorism.”
