Texas gunman barricaded 19 students and two teachers in classroom before killing them

The twisted Texas school gunner who massacred 19 children and two adults callously barricaded them in their classroom, preventing them from escaping.

Salvador Ramos then opened fire with an AR-15 he legally bought on his 18th birthday, systematically killing everyone.

When he was taking the children from Robb Primary School in Ulvadle hostage, a heroic 10-year-old bravely tried to save her classmates as she attempted to call 911 for help.

Amerie Jo Garza had spent Tuesday morning celebrating her appointment to the roll of honor.

But less than two hours later, Ramos had blocked all escape routes before pointing his gun at her face.

“You’re going to die,” he told Amerie Jo and other children, their grandmother Berlinda Irene Arreola said.

Before the teen could be linked to the police, Ramos killed her.

“Instead of grabbing it (her phone) and breaking it or taking it from her, he shot her. She was sitting right next to her best friend. Her best friend was covered in her blood,” added the heartbroken grandmother.

“She died a hero trying to get help for herself and her classmates.”

Arreola remembered her granddaughter as “super outgoing” and a “teacher’s pet” who enjoyed excelling in her classes.

She said she was not photographed until 10am holding up her certificate of honor. Then, just 90 minutes later, she was dead.

The children, all under the age of 11, had excitingly concluded their final days of school before heading into summer when Ramos entered their classroom.

A nine-year-old miraculously survived after being shot in the leg.

The unnamed boy’s grandmother said the massacre occurred in his classroom.

She said: “He’s scared right now. He said he was scared but fine.

“It didn’t do any damage, hopefully no nerve damage and stuff, but he’s just been released and we thank God for that.

“We pray for all the children kidnapped by this mass murderer.”

Nineteen children and two teachers were killed in the shooting, the worst school shooting in US history since the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre, which killed 26 children.

Hospital officials said another 15 students and four adults were injured in the carnage.

Ramos was killed by police at the scene.

The other victims were named as Xavier Lopez, 10, Uziyah Garcia, nine, Eliahana’ Elijah Cruz’ Torres, 10, Makena Lee Elrod, Nevaeh Bravo and Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez.

Also among the victims are Lexi Rubio, Rojelia Torres, Jayce Carmelo Luevanos and Jailah Nicole Silguero.

Eva Mireles, 44, and Irma Garcia, mother of four, were the two teachers who were shot.

At one point, parents had to go to a specially set up family reunification center to obtain DNA swabs to confirm their relationship with their children.

Michelle Ramirez said her nine-year-old daughter narrowly died because she was at a dentist’s appointment when the gunman opened fire.

“I could not have imagined if I would have sent my daughter. I would have gone insane,” she said.

Lt. Chris Olivarez, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, revealed how Ramos carried out the killing by barricading the children and teachers inside.

“That just shows you all the evil from this shooter,” Olivarez said. As the shooting occurred, officers walked around the school, smashed windows and attempted to evacuate children and staff.

He said they were then able to force entry into the classroom where the shooter was.

“It’s a small classroom that seats between 25 and 30 students, plus two teachers,” Olivarez said.

“So we don’t have an exact number of how many students were in that classroom, but it could vary.

“It was a classroom environment, a typical classroom environment, where there are mass groups of kids in this classroom with nowhere to go.”

All victims have been removed, identified and their families notified, the lieutenant said.

When asked if school was a goal, Olivarez said there were “many unanswered questions.”

He added: “We’re trying to establish that, so we’re working with the FBI right now to look back to see if there’s any indicators, any red flags looking at social media.

“What we do know about the shooter is that he lives here in Uvalde, he attended one of the local high schools, he lived with his grandparents, was unemployed, no boyfriends, no girlfriend that we can identify at this point, no criminal record , no gang affiliation either.”

Former Wendy’s restaurant worker Ramos has been described as a self-harming loner who was bullied for his clothes.

However, he saved almost £3,000 to buy two AR-15 guns – one on May 17 and the other three days later – after turning 18 last week.

On May 18, Ramos also bought hundreds of rounds of ammunition, Texas State Senator John Whitmire revealed.

The suspect dropped a backpack containing several magazines full of ammunition near the school’s entrance, the senator added.

At the school, police found what appeared to be seven 30-round magazines.

Ramos was eventually stopped by a border guard manning a nearby post and rushed into the school when he heard gunfire.

The two exchanged shots, with Ramos being shot dead. The agent was wounded but was able to escape from the school.

Now it has become known that the teenager was known to the police because of his violent arguments with his drug-addicted mother.

He no longer lived with her and had moved in with his grandmother, who was in the hospital fighting for her life.

Ramos shot her before leaving for school after an argument at her home after failing to graduate from high school.

Today President Joe Biden asked Congress to pass a gun safety law.

“We know that sensible gun laws cannot and will not prevent every tragedy,” he said.

“But we know that they work and have a positive impact. When we passed the assault weapons ban, the mass shootings went down. When the law expired, mass shootings tripled.”

Despite the crisis, politicians are expected to go on hiatus tomorrow and not return until next week to discuss possible gun law reforms.

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, who delivered an impassioned plea for law change to fellow politicians just hours after the shooting, dismissed the often-cited mental health issues.

“We have no more mental illnesses than any other nation in the world,” he said.

“There is no evidence that there are more mentally ill people here than in Europe. The difference is that in the United States of America, people who are having homicidal thoughts can walk down the street to a Walmart and get an assault weapon more easily than buying a cat or dog.

“Owning pets in this country comes with more bureaucracy than owning assault weapons.”

World leaders condemned the shooting of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose country is fighting the Russian invasion, saying it was “terrible to have gunmen victims in peaceful times”.

Zelenskyi said remotely during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that he was “deeply saddened by the news of the murder of innocent children in Texas.”

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she was “appalled”.