A moment of political theatrepublished at 18:51 British Summer Time 25 May 2022

18:51 BST 25 May 2022

Boer Deng
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

A moment of unexpected political drama has just gripped the governor's press conference. Beto O'Rourke, the Democratic candidate running for governor against Abbott appears to have just disrupted the conference.

O'Rourke has long called for stricter gun control.

He was escorted out amid exclamations of "sir, you are out of line".

Beto O'Rourke - a Democratic star running for governor - has disrupted the conference.

Abbott outlines what he says are the "facts of what happened".

He says the shooter shot his grandmother in the face, and then drove away. She then called the police.

Soon after, the gunman crashed his car and ran into the school. Officers engaged with the gunman at that time, he went in through a backdoor, through two short hallways and into a classroom on the left hand side.

The classroom was connected internally to another classroom. Officers converged on the classroom and a border control officer killed the gunman, Abbott says.

Here's more on how the day unfolded.

Image source, Getty Images

Governor Abbott calls on Texans to surround the people of Uvalde with love.

"Our job is to ensure that the community is not going to be ripped apart," he says.

"The reason it was not worse is because law enforcement officials did what they do."

A total of 19 children and two teachers were killed in the shooting.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has begun his news conference in Uvalde.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott is expected to speak soon at a news conference in Uvalde at 12:30 local time (4:30 GMT).

Abbott will be joined by Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, and congressman Tony Gonzalez, among others.

Law enforcement officials are expected to provide the latest information on the shooting.

The daughter of a teacher killed in the Uvalde shooting has said her "heart will forever be broken" after her mother "selflessly" tried to save the lives of her students.

Eva Mireles, 44, was one of two teachers killed during the shooting.

In a post on Twitter, her daughter Adalynn said that Mireles was a "hero" and an "inspiration".

"I keep telling myself this isn't real," Adalynn wrote. "I just want to hear your voice".

Adalynn added that she will "forever say your name so you are always remembered, Eva Mireles, 4th-grade teacher at Robb Elementary who selflessly jumped in front of her students to save their lives".

CBS News, the BBC's US partner, has spoken with the school shooter's neighbour of 17 years. Ruben Flores, 41, said the teen had been coming over to his house since the fifth grade - when he was about 10 or 11 years old - to play with his son.

“He was quiet and, from what I could see, the mother never really showed love. He had a rough life,” Flores told CBS.

But, by the age of 14 or 15, the boy stopped coming over. His behaviour had changed and he seemed to have become "an outcast in school", according to Flores.

“It was hard to carry a conversation with him. He seemed really frustrated at times.”

Flores said the teen had moved in with his grandma about two months ago, alleging that the boy's mother had a drug habit that had spiralled.

New information on the shooting at Robb Elementary has emerged since the attack unfolded. Here's a recap of some of the key details we've learned:

• The shooter first shot his grandmother at home
• He then drove to the school campus and crashed his vehicle outside the school
• Armed with a rifle and wearing a tactical vest, he shot at the school's police officer and forced his way into the school
• He entered and barricaded himself into a classroom, firing at the students and teachers inside it
• Law enforcement officers broke windows in their efforts to evacuate children and teachers
• More officers arrived, who eventually forced their way into the barricaded classroom and, after exchanging gunfire with the suspect, shot him dead
• A US Border Patrol officer shot and killed the gunman, the Associated Press reports
• All the children killed were inside the classroom
• Parents were reunited with their children at a nearby civic centre

Image source, Reuters

It has become a routine after each mass shooting. America's lawmakers share their "thoughts and prayers" but no new gun policy is implemented, let alone introduced.

Democrats - who favour stricter gun measures - currently control both chambers of the US Congress, but their margins of control are too slim to pass laws on their own.

Passing legislation in the Senate is especially difficult right now, as the chamber is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. Most bills require 60 votes to pass - out of 100 senators - and almost no Republicans have an appetite for gun control.

In the House of Representatives, where Democrats have a slightly wider margin of control, lawmakers have passed a bill that expands background checks to all firearm sales in the country and another that closes the loopholes allowing gun purchases before a background check is completed. Neither bill has been taken up by the Senate, which would need to pass them.

In the wake of Tuesday's shooting, a handful of moderates from both parties have said they could work together on so-called "red flag laws" or "yellow flag laws", which allow law enforcement to intervene in certain circumstances and temporarily confiscate firearms.

But there is no indication even these areas of potential compromise have the backing they need to be signed into law.

Image source, Getty Images

In Washington, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has signalled there will be no immediate vote on US gun legislation.

Speaking from the Senate floor, the Democrat suggested there was no use in officials rushing to vote for legislation when political intentions remained the same.

Democrats would try to work with Republicans on bipartisan gun legislation, Schumer added, but any new developments were “unlikely” because the issue is “burnt in the past”.

The Senate is due to go on Memorial Day recess from Thursday afternoon.

Image source, Getty Images

White House officials have said President Joe Biden will soon visit the scene of Tuesday's mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

No details of the trip have yet been finalised, but one senior administration official said it could happen as early as this weekend.

The president reportedly does not want to distract from ongoing response efforts by law enforcement and others in the community.

Last Tuesday, Biden visited the black community in Buffalo, New York, where a teen gunman shot dead 10 shoppers at a local supermarket in an apparently racially motivated hate crime.

Angelica Casas
Reporting from Uvalde

Image source, Angelica Casas

It’s unusually quiet this morning in the neighbourhood surrounding Robb Elementary School.

Sandra Parra, who lives down the street, is used to seeing young children walking in front of her house on their way to school each weekday. There was none of that this morning.

“The normality is not here anymore,” says Parra, who was born and raised in Uvalde. Looking towards the school, Parra shakes her head.

She says she’s having trouble comprehending it all, including how the gunman was able to arm himself.

“This kid was just 18. You have to be 21 to drink. How?”

Parra has an American flag in her front lawn; most houses here do. But if there’s anything she disagrees with in this country, it is the relaxed gun laws in states like Texas.

“I hope there are changes,” she says. “I don’t have a gun myself but if I did, it would be for protection.”

We've heard President Volodymyr Zelensky speaking frequently in the past three months of the horrors seen in Ukraine following Russia's invasion.

But speaking via video link at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier today, he condemned the shooting in Texas and offered his condolences to those affected.

Meanwhile, we've had further reaction from other world leaders:

France's President Emmanuel Macron labelled the shooting a "cowardly attack" - saying he shared Americans' "shock and grief".

Canada's Justin Trudeau said the lives of an entire community had been changed forever by an "unimaginable event".

Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand - which witnessed a mass shooting at two mosques in Christchurch in 2019 - said she looked on such events not as a politician but "as a mother".

Image source, CBS

Texas Governor Greg Abbott is expected to hold a press conference later, to give an update on the state's response to the Robb Elementary School shooting.

It is scheduled to begin at 12:30 local time, which is 18:30 in the UK.

He will be joined by other state officials including Republican senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, and schools commissioner Mike Morath. Police chiefs Daniel Rodriguez and Pete Arredondo are also expected to speak at the press conference.

Earlier, Abbott condemned the attack as "senseless", saying he and his wife Celia mourned "this horrific loss and urge all Texans to come together".

In 2021, the Republican governor signed a law that ended the requirement for Texans to secure a license to carry handguns.

More details are emerging about how the attack unfolded yesterday. The shooter first shot his grandmother, crashed a vehicle near the school and then barricaded himself into classroom as he fired at students and teachers, a spokesperson for the Texas Department for Public Safety has said.

Local law enforcement then received a call about a crashed car and an individual with a weapon making his way into the school, Lt Chris Olivarez told NBC, external.

"School officers and state troopers were first on scene. They heard gunshots from the classroom and tried to enter, but they were met with gunfire from the shooter. Some of them were shot," he said.

"They began breaking windows, trying to evacuate children and teachers.

"At that point, the shooter made entry into a classroom, barricaded himself into that classroom and began shooting numerous children and teachers, having no regard for human life."

Local officers as well as state troopers were eventually able to force their way into the classroom, he said.

"They were met with gunfire as well but they were but were able to shoot and kill the suspect," he said.

Olivarez said the shooter used a rifle, was equipped with "multiple ammunition" and was wearing a tactical vest - a form of body armour.

He lived with his grandparents, was unemployed and had attended a local school, he added.

We've had more names confirmed of the 19 children who were killed - along with two teachers.

Family members of Alexandria Aniyah "Lexi" Rubio have confirmed her death on social media. Her cousin described her as a "bright life in everybody's life".

A relative of Makenna Lee Elrod posted that she was among the victims - after Makenna's father said his daughter was missing.

A cousin of Maite Rodriguez has confirmed her death on Facebook, calling Maite a "beautiful angel".

Third-grade student Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez was also killed, family members told KHOU, a CBS-affiliated TV station.

Read more about the victims of this attack here

Image source, Lopez family

The BBC has spoken to the cousin of 10-year-old Xavier Lopez, who was one of the children killed in the shooting.

Barely able to hold back tears over the phone, Lisa Garza said that she and her family were devastated after they learnt of the death of “sweet, playful” Xavier.

She had spent time with him over Easter while on a visit from Arlington, Texas - and he seemed so happy enjoying the holidays with his family, she said. Xavier loved to dance and was an avid social media user, especially TikTok.

The entire community in the little town of Uvalde is “at a loss” and “hurting badly”, she said.

She added that she has other small cousins at the same school, some of whom were injured but survived. One of them is being treated at a hospital in San Antonio.

She said she was in touch with her relatives in Uvalde and the community were trying to support each other. “We are a very tight family.”

Sarah Smith
Reporting from Uvalde

Image source, Getty Images

The huge international media presence outside Robb Elementary School is evidence of how this tragedy has touched and saddened people all over the world.

Police, FBI and state troopers are also here in force, working in what is now a crime scene as well as a primary school, entirely sealed off behind yellow police tape

I spoke to the parent of an eight-year-old boy who was at the school yesterday and escaped unharmed. His father told me his son still doesn’t know that five or six of his friends have been killed - he doesn’t know how to tell him.

More details are coming from the police here about what happened inside the school. All the children who were killed were inside one classroom, which the gunman had barricaded himself inside before he was shot by law enforcement officers.

Some children who were injured are still being treated in hospital. Their parents are waiting to hear how serious their injuries are.