A woman meditates in front of crosses with the names of children killed outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas May 26, 2022. DARIO LOPEZ-MILLS/AP
You have to hate your childhood to attack an elementary school armed with an assault rifle. A few days before a graduation he didn’t want to attend, Salvador Ramos, 18, blew the lives of 19 children, ages 9 to 11, ruining that of their families, his grandmother and losing hers. He joins the list of young people who are at odds with society, mass murderers even before he is 20 years old. In 1999, 13 people died in the Columbine (Colorado) shooting: The country was in a state of shock for weeks. Thirteen dead is eight fewer than in Uvalde.
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In front of Robb Primary School, at the exit from Uvalde, the “Bienvenidos” sign is covered with flowers and balloons. The inhabitants come with their families, who deposits a bouquet of flowers, who deposits a teddy bear. On GoFundMe, the family support fund keeps beating, like the hearts of parents. A few hours after the massacre, on Tuesday May 24, they were asked for DNA samples. The bodies of some children, pulverized by the bullets, are unrecognizable.
It’s graduation season, graduation ceremonies, big deals in an area where “everyone knows everyone”. The day before the murder, the seniors had come to greet the little ones at the elementary school, dressed in their graduation gowns, a tradition in the county. In the morning, Xavier Lopez, 10, and Jose Flores, the same age, posed for photos – their last – with their plaques. Education is an important issue for minorities, especially Hispanics. A high school diploma is a hope of access to the American dream. Salvador Ramos had skipped too many classes to qualify for the year-end awards.
“It’s time to die”
Uvalde has 15,000 inhabitants, 78% Latinos. The old center consists of one-story wooden houses covered with crosses, welcome messages, paints and flowers. Located 85km from the Mexican border, immigration is old (only 10% of residents were foreign-born) and all are bilingual. “A faith community, workers and farmhands,” summarizes one of the district commissioners, Ronald Garza. And quite prosperous, judging by the number of shiny tractors displayed by dealers at the town’s entrance.
Uvalde’s economy has also benefited from the reinforcement of security at the border, the first checkpoint of which is 7 km away. On Tuesday, it is also border police who called local police to the rescue to confront Salvador Ramos, who had barricaded himself in a class. The killer could stay in place for over an hour without being neutralized. An eternity for the parents who had begun to gather outside the facility, barred from entering by the police who, instead of going after the assassin, brutalized the fathers who tried to rush in. A mother told the Wall Street Journal that she was handcuffed but was able to free herself, jump the fence and get her children.
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