Fourteen children dead in US school shooting - latest updates

Fourteen children and one teacher have been killed in a shooting at a school in Texas and the 18-year-old gunman is dead, state governor Greg Abbott said. Children at the school are reportedly aged between six and 10.

Mr Abbott said a local man opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, about 85 miles west of San Antonio.

It was the deadliest school shooting in Texas history and occurred four years after a gunman fatally shot 10 people at Santa Fe High School in the Houston area. “He shot and killed, horrifically, incomprehensibly, 14 students and killed a teacher,” said the governor, adding that two officers were shot and wounded but were expected to survive.

The gunman was a resident of the community and entered the school with a handgun, and possibly a rifle, and opened fire, Mr Abbott said. He said the gunman was likely to have been killed by responding officers but that the events were still being investigated.

Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District chief of police Pete Arredondo said at a news conference that the gunman acted alone. It was not immediately clear how many people, in addition to the dead, were hurt but Mr Arredondo said there were “several injuries”.

Earlier, Uvalde Memorial Hospital said 13 children were taken there, and another hospital reported a 66-year-old woman was in a critical condition. Robb Elementary School has an enrolment of just under 600 students and Mr Arredondo said it serves students in the second, third and fourth grade. He did not say which grades the children that were shot were in.

A heavy police presence surrounded the school on Tuesday afternoon, with officers in heavy vests diverting traffic and FBI agents coming and going from the building. White House press