Image source, EPA

Robb Elementary School is part of Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, which outlines on its website, external its policy of preventative security measures.

According to the document, these include four dedicated police officers - including a chief, a detective and two officers. It appears that one of these was present in the school at the time of the attack. Sgt Erick Estrada of Texas Department of Public Safety told CNN, external the shooter was initially "engaged by an Uvalde ISD police officer who works here at the school".

Among the security measures listed for schools in the district are perimeter fencing, training and drills in emergency protocols for staff and students, and random visits from sniffer dogs. Teachers are instructed to keep classroom doors locked.

More reaction now from veteran Texas Senator John Cornyn.

"No parent, child, or teacher should ever have to wonder whether it’s safe to go to school," he said in a lengthy thread on Twitter.

Cornyn added this was an "excruciatingly painful time for the tight-knit Uvalde community - and for all Texans".

Elsewhere in the thread, he said his "heart goes out" to all those receiving medical treatment.

Various hospitals have confirmed they are treating children and adults from the school shooting.

The Uvalde Memorial Hospital posted on Facebook that 13 children had been taken to hospital "via ambulances or buses".

A 66-year-old woman and a 10-year-old girl were in a critical condition at a hospital in San Antonio, hospital officials said.

Some parents were at the Robb Elementary campus on Tuesday morning, watching with pride as their children held up their honour roll certificates at an awards ceremony.

Amerie Jo Garza was among the young pupils recognised for her high marks. Hours later she would be dead.

She had celebrated her 10th birthday just two weeks ago, and was shot while trying to call emergency services, her grandmother Berlinda Irene Arreola told The Daily Beast.

Amerie was "super-outgoing" and a "teacher's pet", she added.

A family member wrote on Facebook: "Please don't take a second for granted. Hug your family. Tell them you love them."

Image source, Getty Images

Uvalde is a small city in south Texas. It lies about 80 miles (129 km) west of San Antonio and around 70 miles from the US-Mexico border.

It has a population of about 15,000 and more than 80% of the city identify as Hispanic or Latino, according to data from the US Census Bureau, external.

More than a quarter of city is made up of children, far above the national average.

Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro described Uvalde on Twitter as a “wonderful, tight-knit community".

Image source, .

We've had a glimpse at how local newspapers are writing about the killings this morning.

Here are three front pages people are waking up to in Texas:

Image source, San Antonio Express-News

Image source, Dallas Morning News

Image source, Houston Chronicle

Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas has faced criticism from opponents following a tweet he posted on Tuesday, external that social media users dubbed 'the prayer tweet'.

In it, Cruz said he and his wife Heidi were "fervently lifting up in prayer the children and families in the horrific shooting in Uvalde".

Critics pointed out Cruz's opposition to legislation to curb gun violence - and called on him to change his position and take action. Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticised his scheduled appearance at a National Rifle Association (NRA) event in Texas on Friday. "You can do more than pray," she said.

Former US President Donald Trump is also due to talk at the pro-gun event.

Cruz's fellow Texas Senator John Cornyn will no longer attend the event, his office has said. But it claimed he had made the decision before Tuesday's shooting. Cruz, or a spokesperson for him, is yet to make such a statement.

Schools in the San Antonio area have been increasing security precautions in response to the shooting.

Several school districts said they would increase the police presence on campuses this week.

Some of them, like Sabinal Independent School Disctrict, external, stress that while they believe the incident in Uvalde was isolated, they want families and staff to feel safe.

South San Antonio Independent School District , externalsaid no backpacks would be allowed at campuses for the next two days, and access would be limited to parents and guardians with "proper identification".

Image source, Getty Images

Few issues in the US are more politically polarising than gun policy. And Texas, a state that leans strongly conservative, is a reminder of that.

Polling suggests that public support for gun control in the state is notably lower than at the national level.

According to the Texas Politics Project, external, 44% of Texans support stricter gun law. That's in a state with relatively loose restrictions in place at the moment.

Additionally, 40% support a ban on semi-automatic weapons like the one used in the Uvalde shooting.

By comparison, 2021 data from the Pew Research Center, external shows that about 53% of Americans are in favour of more stringent gun measures and 63% support bans on assault-style weapons.

In both cases, there is a marked difference in views based on political party affiliation, with Democrats strongly pushing for more gun control and Republicans strongly against.

Texan Senator Ted Cruz has called the Robb Elementary School shooting "an act of evil and mass murder".

When asked for his views on gun controls, the senator criticised Democrats and "a lot of folks in the media" for calling for restrictions on constitutional rights to gun ownership.

He insisted gun control policies would not prevent acts of mass murder.

US lawmakers have been sharing their thoughts on the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, or as Speaker Nancy Pelosi described it - the "coldblooded massacre of little schoolchildren" and teachers.

Pelosi posted a thread of tweets, external in which she said the gunman had "stolen the futures of children", and condemned US politicians who do little to enforce gun control.

"For too long, some in Congress have offered hollow words after shootings while opposing all efforts to save lives," Pelosi said, before calling for "commonsense [sic], life-saving legislation" to be brought into law.

Republican Senator Susan Collins, who represents Maine, has urged Congress to look at "enacting a yellow flag law based on the one we have".

The legislation Collins speaks of came into effect in Maine in July 2020, and allows police with a medical professional’s assessment to seek a judge’s permission to confiscate guns and other weapons from people who pose dangers to themselves or others.

Echoing Collins' sentiments, Connecticut's Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said he was "determined" to work with his Republican colleagues "to save lives" in the face of the shooting, even if it meant "compromise".

It's shortly before 7am local time in Uvalde, where a community stricken by this deadly shooting will be waking up to more details about the 21 innocent people killed, and more than a dozen injured.

After the news broke on Tuesday, residents gathered outside a civic centre waiting for updates from the authorities.

Among those there to offer support to grieving friends and neighbours were couple Adele and Paul Martinez. They said their hearts were broken for the families affected.

Since our last post on the initial list of children and teachers killed, more victims have now been identified by their families.

All of the following were schoolchildren:

Ellie Garcia's father confirmed, external the fourth grader was among the dead. He said she was "a doll and the happiest ever".

Jaliah Nicole Silguero's mother said in a Facebook post, external that her daughter was one of the 19 children killed. "Fly high baby girl," she wrote.

Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, who appears to be Jaliah's cousin based on photographs shared by the family, was named as a victim by his aunt. "Still can’t believe that we’re never gonna see you again," she wrote on Facebook, external.

Fourth-grader Tess Marie Mata was named by her sister, external, who described her younger sibling as a "precious angel".

Nevaeh Bravo's name was confirmed by her cousin, external, who said the schoolchild was "flying high" and asked for the family to be kept in people's prayers.

Volodymyr Zelensky has sent his condolences to the families of children killed in the "awful shooting in a Texas school".

The Ukrainian President was speaking from Kyiv to the World Economic Forum in Davos, via video link.

He said it was "terrible to have victims of shooters in peaceful times".

Vanessa Buschschluter
Latin America and Caribbean Editor, BBC News

Image source, Reuters

Uvalde's population is mainly Hispanic. According to US Census data, more than 80% of its residents identify as Hispanic or Latino.

The Mexican border is only about 70 miles (112km) away and links to the neighbouring country are strong.

Mexico's foreign ministry acted quickly in the wake of the shooting to offer its condolences to the families of the victims and any help to its nationals who may have been affected.

It said its consulate in Eagle Pass, external was in contact with the police in order to identify any Mexican victims.

The consulate has also been tweeting phone numbers the Mexican community in Uvalde can call for assistance.

The shooting is being widely covered in Mexico, a country which itself is battered by high levels of violence and which has in the past urged the US to stem the flow of illegal weapons from the US into Mexico.

The suspected shooter has been named as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos.

Governor Greg Abbott said Ramos had been a student at Uvalde High School and lived in the city of around 15,000.

Roland Gutierrez, a state senator, said that Ramos had purchased the guns he used on his 18th birthday.

Officials have not revealed a motive for the shooting, but he acted alone, said the school district's police chief, Pete Arredondo.

Two teachers and 19 young children were killed in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday - with more than a dozen people also injured.

Uvalde Memorial Hospital posted on Facebook that 13 children had been taken to hospital "via ambulances or buses".

A 66-year-old woman and a 10-year-old girl were also in a critical condition at a hospital in San Antonio.

The shooting is the deadliest such incident since the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting in Connecticut, in which 20 children and six staff were killed.

Reality Check

Texas has long had some of America’s least restrictive gun laws, but under Governor Greg Abbott, it has relaxed them even further.

Last year the state passed a law which allowed people to carry a concealed handgun without a permit, although people still need a licence to carry guns in most schools or colleges.

The official minimum age to buy a handgun in Texas is 21, but you can buy a rifle (like the AR-15 used in the Uvalde school shooting) at 18.

Texas law also allows 18 to 21-year-olds to request to buy a handgun from a licensed dealer if they feel under threat, for example, from family violence or stalking.

Private businesses can prohibit the carrying of guns on their premises, but another recently introduced law in Texas bans government agencies from signing contracts with businesses that “discriminate against the firearm industry”.

Governor Abbott has also signed a law which forbids local officials from enforcing new, more restrictive, federal gun rules.

According to the gun control advocacy group Giffords, Texas is in the bottom category (F) for states with the highest levels of gun deaths and least restrictive gun laws., external

Image source, Vatican Media

Pope Francis has said he is "heartbroken" by the Texas school shooting, and is praying for the victims and their families.

During his weekly audience in the Vatican, he said it is time to say "enough" to the trafficking of weapons.

The crowd in St Peter's Square applauded when the Pope called for a commitment "so that tragedies like this cannot happen again”.

In 2015, he said people who manufacture weapons or invest in weapons industries are hypocrites if they call themselves Christian.

Image source, Reuters

Here is a brief timeline of how the shooting at Robb Elementary School unfolded on Tuesday:

11:32 - The shooting begins when the gunman crashes his car outside the school and runs into the building.

Elisha Mata told the New York Times that her nephew was in the school. Staff turned off the lights and told everyone to be quiet. Doors were locked and students escaped through a side exit, she said, where they hid in a backyard.

11:43 - The school announces it's on lockdown "due to gunshots in the area".

12:17 - The school announces there is an active shooter on site.

Teams of Border Patrol agents race to the school, including 10 to 15 members of a SWAT-like tactical and counterterrorism unit, Jason Owens, a top regional official with the Border Patrol, told the Associated Press.

12:23 - Scene is still active. Parents are told to pick up children at Sgt. Willie Deleon Civic Centre.

13:06 - The suspected shooter - Salvador Rolando Ramos, 18, of Uvalde - is killed by police at the scene.

AP reports that a US Border Patrol official who was nearby when the shooting began rushed into the school and shot and killed the gunman, who was behind a barricade.

Two border agents were reportedly shot in an exchange with the gunman. One agent was shot in the head, officials say, adding that both were now in a stable condition in hospital.

The first child victim to be identified on Tuesday was 10-year-old Xavier Lopez. His family confirmed the news via ABC's Dillon Collier.

Meanwhile, Veronica Luevanos said her daughter Jaliah Nicole Silguero was also among the schoolchildren killed. "I'm so heart broken", she wrote on Facebook.