UWALDE, Texas (AP) — Days after a local man broke into an elementary school and killed 19 people. children and two teachers before the officers managed kill he, signs of sorrow, solidarity and local pride everywhere in Uvalde.
Many wearing burgundy, color for Uwalde School District. As well as light blue ribbons adorn the giant oak trees that shade the city’s central square, where mourners come to lay flowers at the fountain and write a message on wooden crosses with the names of the victims. front of Kindergarten on one of in cityx main streets, 21 wooden chairs are empty.
Each in predominantly Hispanic city of about 16000 people seems know someone whose life is turned upside down down having lost family member or close friend in in attack at Robb Elementary Schoolthat was one of deadliest of kind.
Joe Ruiz, pastor of Templo Cristiano, said the teacher who friendly with his wife is herself former Teacher Uvalde – summarized up in the communitymood best speaking people “cried out all” they could now just tired and in need of rest.
The police have come under fire for waiting more than 45 minutes resist 18-year- the old shooter, Salvador Ramos, in the next class, where he staged a massacre.
As the case is being investigated attack continues, including Ramos reasons for wear it out, some residents have expressed anger towards the police. Among them, 24year- the old carpenter Juan Carranza, who said he looked attack spread out on all sides street from school. next day, he called the officers cowards.
Stephen McCraw, who head of the Texas Department of Public Safety said on Friday that school district police chief Pete Arredondo, made “wrong decision“wait so long before sending officers to locked classrooms. He said to Arredondo, who was in accusation of law enforcement response during the siege, believed that Ramos had barricaded himself in two adjacent classrooms and that children were no longer on risk. Arredondo, who graduated from Uvalde High School and recently elected to city council, has not spoken publicly since McCraw criticized his decision making, and his house now has police protection.
The Oasis Outback, where Ramos bought his guns, has stayed open and is having a barbecue. restaurant did my usual busy friday night business. gun shop in back of his sporting goods department was temporarily closed out of respect for the families of the victims, according to posted sign.
Oasis employee who declined to give her full name said store receives angry calls with accusations of this for in the attack but the phone numbers of the callers were not from area.
Support for gun rights are strong in Uvalde, about halfway between San Antonio and the border. city of Del Rio. But several parents and relatives of the victims are calling for change.
“I just not know how people I can sell this type of gun for an 18 year old child. What is he going to use it for but for this goal? said Syria Arismendi, a fifth grade teacher whose niece Eliana Garcia was killed. She said in her dining room shortly before Eliana’s lunch great-Grandmothers and grandfathers, also Residents of Uvalde, arrived.
Javier Carranza, 43-year-old gun owner and army veteran whose daughter, Jacklyn, was killed, said it was “kind”. of ridiculous” to sell such firepower to an 18-year-old and that more thorough background checks are needed.
Uvalde sits among the flat fields of cabbages, onions, carrots, corn and peppers, but mechanized farming has replaced many jobs. Construction material companies are among the most desirable employers.
city is home to the border guard station, which manages the highway checkpoint and controls freight trains in what suddenly happened one of the busiest corridors for illegal crossings. Huge camp of Haitian migrants who appeared up under the bridge in Del Rio last year made headlines around world.
Many residents can trace their family presence in Uvalde in three or four generations, creating cherished feeling of community. On the one Friday night of every month stores stay open late and food vendors occupy the central square outside neoclassical courthouse.
“Uvalde Strong” messages adorn store windows, t-shirts and lawn signs. Fewer curbs and sidewalks common the further one gets from the central square, with roosters walk on cracked pavement near Robb Elementary School.
Ruiz, pastor of the Templo Crisitano, whose children and grandchildren live in Uvalde asks. new parishioners about their origins to get to know them better.
Until Tuesday, Uvalde’s biggest tragedies were accidental road deaths.
“We had people killed, but not on mass scale like it,” said Tony Gruber, pastor of Baptist Temple.
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Per more AP coverage of Shooting at Uvalde School: https://apnews.com/hub/uvalde-school-shooting
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