Texas shooting live updates: 18 children and 2 adults killed at an elementary school in Uvalde

The U.S. Conference of Mayors released a statement Tuesday, offering condolences to the families of the children and the teacher killed in the shooting.

"We cannot begin to understand their grief or that of the entire Uvalde community. We hope that those who were injured will recover and that the residents of Uvalde and all those affected by this tragedy will soon be able to begin the healing process," said U.S. Conference of Mayors Executive Director Tom Cochran.

Cochran urged Congress to take action on gun control.

"We've said it before and we'll say it again, this should not be happening in our country. What is it going to take for Congress to do something about it? How many young children – babies – must be murdered?" he said.

The mayors called on all states to pass gun legislation to protect residents.

Emergency blood drives have been set up to help support the victims of the shooting.

University Health System, the largest transfuser of blood in the San Antonio area, is encouraging the community to donate blood to ensure hospitals and centers have enough supply in the days ahead.

"Your donation can help ensure we have supplies immediately available for the victims of this tragic shooting," University Health said in a tweet.

Additionally, Uvalde's primary blood bank, the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center, has organized a blood drive for Wednesday.

President Biden had stern words for the gun lobby Tuesday evening in remarks made from the White House following the shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that claimed the lives of 18 children.

Biden opened his remarks by saying, "To lose a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped away."

"As a nation we have to ask, 'When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?' " Biden said. "When in God’s name are we going to do what we all know in our gut needs to be done?”

Biden added: "We have to act. And don't tell me we can't have an impact on this carnage."

NAACP President Derrick Johnson released a statement addressing the shooting, expressing his frustration with the incident and the lack of action from Congress on gun control.

"There's no statement. There are no words. I'm shattered for the community and frustrated by the lack of action by the government that should be working for the people," Johnson said. "Every time it's just more thoughts and prayers — the only thing this Congress seems to be able to do successfully."

"Congress, do your job. Don't just post a tweet, pass a bill. Kids are dying," he added.

The Golden State Warriors and the Dallas Mavericks may be facing off in a pivotal NBA game tonight, but for Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, "Any basketball questions don't matter."

Kerr used his time behind the mic on Tuesday night in Texas to call for senators to take up gun reform, specifically HR 8, following the shooting in Uvalde.

"When are we gonna do something? I'm tired — I'm so tired of getting up here and offering condolences to the devastated families that are out there. ... I'm tired of the moments of silence," said Kerr, who was visibly emotional, placing his head in his hands and pounding his hands on the desk. "Enough. There's 50 senators right now who refuse to vote on HR 8, which is a background check rule that the House passed a couple years ago. ... And there's a reason they won't vote on it. To hold onto power."

Watch Kerr here:

Instagram's parent company, Meta, says it has removed an account associated with the shooter from the photo-sharing platform.

The company has designated the Uvalde shooting a "violating event" under its policies, which means it is working with law enforcement and removing any posts praising or supporting the shooter or the shooting.

Meta is also removing copycat accounts that have been popping up pretending to be the shooter.

NPR viewed some of the accounts, which used names similar to those from the account associated with the shooter. Some also posted pictures reportedly taken from that account.

The emergency department at Uvalde Memorial Hospital received 14 patients and two children who were dead when they arrived, according to the hospital’s CEO, Tom Nordwick.

Eleven of those patients were children. Five of those children were transferred to hospital trauma centers in San Antonio because of the severity of their injuries. A sixth child might still be transferred, Nordwick said.

Four patients were discharged and one will likely be discharged Tuesday night.

Two children, a boy and a girl, remain at the hospital for treatment of their injuries.

“Our staff did remarkably well,” Nordwick said, noting that his hospital is small and only has 25 inpatient beds. He commended his medical staff for holding together and remembering what they learned in disaster drills.

“Every hospital does disaster drills and you hope you never have those things that happen but today we did,” he said. “I'm sure that they've got a lot of stuff bottled up.”

During an event Tuesday evening, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke on the shooting, calling for public policy changes to ensure something like this never happens again.

"The president and I are monitoring the situation closely. While we do not know all the details, we do know that there are parents who have lost children, families who have lost children and many others who have been injured," Harris said.

"As a nation, we have to have the courage to take action," she 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 will speak more on the shooting later this evening.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., spoke on the Senate floor just hours after the shooting, urging action from his fellow lawmakers on gun control in the United States.

"Sandy Hook will never, ever be the same," Murphy said, referring to the 2012 mass shooting in the state he represents. "This community in Texas will never, ever be the same. Why? Why are we here? If not to try to make sure that fewer schools and fewer communities go through what Sandy Hook has gone through. What Uvalde is going through."

"What are we doing? There were more mass shootings than days in the year. Our kids are living in fear every single time they set foot in the classroom because they think they're going to be next," he added.

Murphy concluded his speech by saying: "What are we doing? Why are we here? What are we doing?"

Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz shared their condolences on Twitter Tuesday following the mass shooting that claimed the lives of at least 14 children.

See their tweets:

Amanda Gorman, the young poet who burst onto the national stage at President Joe Biden's inauguration, posted a short poem to Twitter on Tuesday evening after news of the shooting in Uvalde.

Schools scared to death.

The truth is, one education under desks,

Stooped low from bullets;

That plunge when we ask

Where our children

Shall live

& how

& if

President Biden ordered flags at the White House and other government buildings to be flown at half-staff to honor the victims of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting.

Biden is expected to address the country to discuss the shooting at about 8:15 p.m. ET.

The small city of Uvalde, Texas, is the kind of place where “interconnections are thick” and no one would have expected a mass shooting at the local school, says Marc Duvoisin, the editor-in-chief of the nearby San Antonio Express-News.

The city – best known as the hometown of actor Matthew McConaughey – is deep in the Texas Hill Country and had seen a lot of population growth in the last couple of years, Duvoisin said.

“A lot of people moved in from other states, drawn to the kind of scenic beauty and the small-town feel of Uvalde, and hardly expecting to confront something like this at their local school,” he said. “I could see a local real estate agent, or the head of the refrigerator repair company, sharing information about a brother or relatives who work at the school or who work at the hospital," Duvoisin added.

“It's a place where interconnections like that are thick and there was enormous anxiety, and prayers were being shared on social media as people who knew each other or had connections were coming together," he said.

Local reporter Brian Kirkpatrick described Uvalde as a peaceful farming community where school and football were central to community life.

“Uvalde is one of those typical Texas towns that largely revolves around Friday night football, there's a lot of civic pride for your Friday night football games,” he said. “These kinds of towns are very close-knit because of that, and that includes their schools, they're a central part of the community.”

“So when something happens to a school, it really affects everybody here because a lot of folks that grow up here, you know, live and die here. So it's that kind of connected community," he added.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called the mass shooting at a Uvalde elementary school a "senseless crime" in a statement he tweeted Tuesday afternoon.

"Texans are grieving for the victims of this senseless crime & for the community of Uvalde. Cecilia & I mourn this horrific loss & urge all Texans to come together," Abbott tweeted. "I've instructed @TxDPS & Texas Rangers to work with local law enforcement to fully investigate this crime."

Read the tweet:

President Biden will speak about the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday evening at the White House, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Twitter.

His remarks are expected at 8:15 p.m. ET.

Biden, who is flying back to Washington from Asia, has been briefed and is getting updates, she said.

“His prayers are with the families impacted by this awful event,” Jean-Pierre said.

The suspect in the shooting today at Robb Elementary acted alone and is now dead, the chief of police at Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District said today.

Chief Pete Arredondo called the shooting a "heinous crime."

The suspect carried out the attack at 11:32 a.m. CT, Arredondo said a news conference Tuesday afternoon. He was taken into custody at 1:06 p.m. CT.

Dario Lopez-Mills

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AP

Gov. Greg Abbott told reporters that 15 people, including 14 children and one teacher, were killed in a school shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, this afternoon.

Speaking at a press conference in Abilene, Abbott said the suspected shooter is dead and identified him as an 18-year-old male who he said was reported to be a attending Uvalde High School.

The governor said it's believed that he abandoned his vehicle and entered into the Robb Elementary school with a handgun and, maybe a rifle, but said this has not been confirmed.

The suspect allegedly shot his grandmother before he entered the school, where 600 students are enrolled.

Officials at University Memorial Hospital in Uvalde confirmed two individuals were dead on arrival. They offered no additional details about the deceased.

Thirteen children were transported to the hospital, two of whom have been transferred to facilities in San Antonio, more than 80 miles away. One child is pending transfer.

A 66-year-old woman and a 10-year-old girl were also taken to University Hospital in San Antonio, according to local news stations. The hospital confirmed that the 66-year-old is in critical condition.

Read more about the school and the police response.