At least 19 children, 2 adults killed after shooter opens fire at Texas elementary school (2024)

Matthew McConaughey is speaking out about the shooting in Uvalde, Texas — the actor's hometown.

"Once again, we have tragically proven that we are failing to be responsible for the rights our freedoms grant us," McConaughey wrote in a statement just after midnight that appeared on his social media platforms.

He said that people need to "rearrange our values" so that people can find common ground "above this devastating American reality that has tragically become our children's issue."

"The true call to action now is for every American to take a longer and deeper look in the mirror, and ask ourselves, 'What is it that we truly value? How do we repair the problem? What small sacrifices can we individually take today, to preserve a healthier and safer nation, state, and neighborhood tomorrow?'" he wrote. "We can't exhale once again, make excuses, and accept these tragic realities as the status quo."

By Li Cohen

A recent CBS News poll found 54% of Americans want laws covering the sale of guns made more strict. Thirty percent said gun laws should be kept as they are, and 16% want them to be less strict.

The poll was conducted after themass shooting in Buffalo, New York, nine days ago and before the massshooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, Monday.

As they have for years, Americans remain starkly divided along partisan lines on laws covering the sale of guns. Most Democrats favor gun laws that are more strict, while most Republicans do not, preferring that gun laws either be kept as they are or made less strict than they are now.

Views differ some by gender, too. Women (60%) were more likely than men (46%) to say they supported stricter gun laws.

By Stephen Smith

The man who killed 19 children and two teachers in Texas bought his guns legally days before the attack and soon after his 18th birthday, a law enforcement briefing said.

He bought one AR-style rifle from a federally-licensed gun dealer in the Uvalde area on May 17, according to a state police briefing given to Sen. John Whitmire. The next day, he bought 375 rounds of ammunition, and bought a second rifle on May 20.

Officers recovered one of the rifles from the shooter's truck and the other was found in the school, according to the briefing. It says the shooter dropped a backpack with several magazines full of ammunition near the school entrance, and that he was wearing a body-armor style vest but that it had no hardened plates inside.

By The Associated Press

Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales represents the city of Uvalde, the scene of America's latest deadly mass shooting.

Gonzales told "CBS Mornings" on Wednesday that right now, the focus shouldn't be on gun control policy, but instead should be focused on the families of the 19 children and two adults who wereshot and killed at Robb Elementary School.

"I'm happy to debate policy, not today. I mean, today, we, my community is hurting. You know, politicians like to divide us. Leaders unite us and we need to be united right now as Americans because what happened in Uvalde, Texas can happen anywhere," he said. "Right now, I've got families that don't, that can't identify their children. I've got folks that have to bury their children. I mean, these are the things that we're working with."

By Stephen Smith

Lt. Christopher Olivarez, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety, joined "CBS Mornings" to give an update on the deadly school shooting at Robb Elementary School.

He said the gunman exchanged fire with officers at the scene and barricaded himself in a classroom, and "just started shooting children and teachers in the classroom and having no regard for human life."

Watch his full account of what happened in the video below.

Tony Montalto, whose daughter Gina was killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, says there are public safety measures that people on both sides of the aisle can agree on. He joined CBS News' Lana Zak to talk about some ways to help prevent such tragedies.

Former President Barack Obama released a statement on Twitter on Tuesday night, calling for action to prevent further gun violence:

Across the country, parents are putting their children to bed, reading stories, singing lullabies — and in the back of their minds, they're worried about what might happen tomorrow after they drop their kids off at school, or take them to a grocery store or any other public space.

Michelle and I grieve with the families in Uvalde, who are experiencing pain no one should have to bear. We're also angry for them. Nearly ten years after Sandy Hook — and ten days after Buffalo — our country is paralyzed, not by fear, but by a gun lobby and a political party that have shown no willingness to act in any way that might help prevent these tragedies.

It's long past time for action, any kind of action. And it's another tragedy — a quieter but no less tragic one — for families to wait another day. May God bless the memory of the victims, and in the words of Scripture, heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds.

By Erin Pflaumer

Congressman Tony Gonzales, who represents a district that includes Uvalde, Texas, spoke with CBS News following Tuesday's shooting, saying, "It's absolutely gut-wrenching."

"We are hurting in Uvalde," he told CBS News' Lana Zak. "It's just heartbreaking. Children are the most innocent thing that we have in life and we have to protect them with everything we have."

He said one of his staff members has children who attend a school in the area, but they were not injured. Watch the full interview in the video above.

By Erin Pflaumer

President Biden condemned the shooting in an address from the White House on Tuesday night, calling for stricter gun laws to prevent such shootings from occurring again.

"I hoped when I became president I would not have to do this — again," Mr. Biden said. "Another massacre. Uvalde, Texas. An elementary school. Beautiful, innocent 2nd, 3rd and 4th graders."

"To lose a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped away — there's a hollowness in your chest and you feel like you're being sucked into it and are never gonna be able to get out. You're suffocating. And it's never gonna be the same," Mr. Biden added.

He then turned to gun legislation: "As a nation we have to ask, when in God's name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God's name will we do what we all know in our gut needs to be done?"

Mr. Biden cited the many mass shootings — including school shootings in Florida and Michigan, and the recent mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York — that have occurred since a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School almost 10 years ago, in December 2012.

"I am sick and tired of it," he said. "We have to act."

By Victoria Albert

School district superintendent Hal Harrell said Tuesday night that the school year has ended and all activities are canceled throughout the district. According to the school's calendar, the school year was previously slated to end on Thursday.

Harrell said grief counseling will be made available to the community, and called for prayers to help the community through the incident.

"We're a small community," he said. "And we'll need your prayers to get through this."

In a letter sent to Uvalde CISD parents and faculty later Tuesday night, the district confirmed that the school year was over for the entire district.

"The Graduation Ceremony will be addressed at a later time," the letter said.

By Victoria Albert

Four years ago,Manuel Oliver's17-year-old son Joaquin was among the 14 students and three staff members killed in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. On Tuesday, he addressed the shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

Oliver said he feels "very angry." He, along with numerous other parents of Parkland victims and survivors, have been working for years to address gun violence in the U.S.

"We've been fighting against this. We were trying to prevent this. We knew that it was going to happen, we just don't know where," he said.

"'We believe that more guns are the solution' — you will hear these politicians sending their thoughts and prayers and some of them will say, 'Our hearts are with the families,'" Oliver said. "Well, guess what? The families don't need your freaking hearts. They need their kids. And their kids are not there anymore."

Read more here.

By Li Cohen

Speaking Tuesday night at an event, Vice President Harris condemned the shooting and called for policy changes to ensure it never happens again.

"I would normally say in a moment like this — we would all say, naturally, that our hearts break. But our hearts keep getting broken," Harris said. "You know, I think — there are so many elected leaders in this room, you know what I'm talking about: Every time a tragedy like this happens, our hearts break — and our broken hearts are nothing compared to the broken hearts of those families. And yet it keeps happening."

"As a nation, we have to have the courage to take action," Harris added. "And understand the nexus between what makes for reasonable and sensible public policy to ensure something like this never happens again."

Harris said President Biden would speak further on the issue later Tuesday night.

By Victoria Albert

Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on Congress to enact bipartisan gun reform Tuesday, calling the proposed legislation "commonsense" and "life-saving."

"Words are inadequate to describe the agony and outrage at the cold-blooded massacre of little schoolchildren and a teacher at Robb Elementary School today," Pelosi said in a statement. "This monstrous shooting stole the futures of precious children, who will never experience the joys of graduating from school, chasing the career of their dreams, falling in love, even starting a family of their own."

"The hearts of all Americans are broken as we pray for the families left forever shattered and a community left forever scarred by the unspeakable grief of losing a loved one," she added. "We also extend our sympathies to all those who have lost a loved one to gun violence over time, as this horrible crime deepens their suffering."

By Zoe Christen Jones

Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut spoke on the Senate floor on Tuesday several hours after the shooting. The Democratic senator was formerly a representative from a district that included Sandy Hook Elementary School, where a2012 mass shootingleft more than two dozen dead.

"I am here on this floor to beg — to literally get down on my hands and knees and beg my colleagues," Murphy said. "Find a path forward here. Work with us to find a way to pass laws that make this less likely. I understand my Republican colleagues may not agree to everything I support, but there is a common denominator we can find. There is a place where we can achieve agreement..."

He concluded: "What are we doing? Why are we here? What are we doing?"

By Sophie Reardon

President Biden ordered the U.S. flag to be flown at half-staff until sunset on May 28 "as a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence." Mr. Biden is expected to speak about the shooting later Tuesday night.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott also ordered the state's flag to be flown at half-staff.

By Victoria Albert

The Brooke Army Medical Center said it had received two adult patients from the shootingwho are in critical condition.

By Victoria Albert

President Biden has been briefed on the school shooting and will speak about it this evening when he returns to the White House, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

"His prayers are with the families impacted by this awful event," Jean-Pierre tweeted.

The president will deliver his remarks from the Roosevelt Room of the White House at 8:15 p.m. ET.

By Victoria Albert

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said 14 students and one teacher were killed in the shooting. Abbott described the suspect as an 18-year-old male from Uvalde, who he said is believed to have entered the school with a handgun and possibly a rifle.

"He shot and killed — horrifically, incomprehensibly — 14 students and killed a teacher," Abbott said.

By Victoria Albert

The attack came just one day after the FBI released a report documenting a 52.5% increase in active shooter incidents in the U.S. from 2020 to 2021. Over four years, from 2017 to 2021, there was a 96.8% increase, the bureau said.

In 2021, the FBI designated a total of 61 shootings in 30 states as "active shooter incidents," resulting in 103 people killed and 140 wounded, excluding the gunmen. It was the highest number of deaths from such incidents since 2017.

Just over a week before Tuesday's shooting, on May 14, an 18-year-old gunman opened fire at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, New York, killing 10 people and wounding three others.

By Victoria Albert