Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-TX, interrupted a press conference from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott about the Uvalde shooting Wednesday, shouting at the current governor before being escorted from the auditorium.
O’Rourke said the response from Abbott and other Texas leaders was “totally predictable,” and did nothing to solve the problem of easy access to guns that is plaguing communities across Texas and the nation.
Abbott ordered law enforcement officers to escort O’Rourke, who won his Democratic primary for governor, out Tuesday, outside the building.
Several attendees on the stage, including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, began yelling back, telling O’Rourke to sit down, that he was “pathetic,” and that this was no place for politics.
Abbott said he blames the shooter’s mental state for the killing of 21 people. And more details about the gunman emerged on Wednesday: He had trouble getting along with his mother, so he was living with his grandparents. Rolando Reyes told ABC News that he didn’t know his grandson “had weapons or nothing…If I would have known, I would have reported it.”
After an argument that ended with the shooting and wounding of his grandmother, Ramos went to Robb Elementary School, where he opened fire on students and teachers. As of this writing there is still no word on the grandmother’s condition.
As for the 19 children and their teachers who died, portraits are emerging of the young lives taken. Several sets of cousins and a 10-year-old boy whose family called “the life of the party.” A girl who had just celebrated her 10th birthday and a teacher who had been with the school her entire career of 23 years.
Meanwhile, Investigators are still looking into the gunman’s online presence as well as talking to friends and families to learn more about what drove the shooter to this deadly rampage that left at least 21 dead in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday.
The picture that’s developing through social media and interviews with friends and relatives is of a disturbed young man who had some prevalence towards violence. Law enforcement is looking closely at social media as they try to search for some kind of triggering event. Were there signs? And it seems to be as they dig into these social media posts, they are finding plenty of images of guns and other violent content, friends have spoken about animal abuse and instances that the shooter shared with them on social media.
As for the guns used in the massacre: the shooter purchased two AR-15-style rifles at Oasis Outback, a federally licensed store located in Uvalde. Oasis Outback is located approximately three miles from Robb Elementary School. According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the gun purchases were made on two separate days: May 17 and May 20. That means the gunman bought the first AR-15-style rifle one day after he turned 18 and the second four days before the shooting. Both weapons were purchased at that same store. The guns were purchased legally.
Contrary to earlier reports, the gunman was not wearing body armor during Tuesday’s massacre. Multiple law enforcement officials told ABC News that he was wearing tactical gear, including a vest that could hold ammunition, but there was no armor or fabric that would protect him from gunfire, the sources said.
Source-ABC
