Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the suspect, identified as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, was also apparently killed by police officers who came to the scene, and that two of those officers were shot. He said their injuries were not serious.
Authorities said the suspect acted alone.
At a news conference hours after the shooting, Abbott said 14 schoolchildren were killed, along with a teacher. But Texas Senator Roland Gutierrez later told CNN, citing police, that the death toll had since risen to 18 students and three adults.
The incident occurred ten days after another 18-year-old opened fire on a grocery store in a predominantly black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, killing 10, in what authorities described as a racially motivated hate crime.
Official details of the midday shooting at Robb Elementary School in Yuvaldi, Texas, about 128 km west of San Antonio, were not immediately clear.
“He fatally and incomprehensiblely shot 14 students and killed a teacher. Mr. Ramos, who fired the shot, is believed to have been killed by the officers who dealt with the incident,” Abbott told a news briefing.
Abbott added: “It is believed that he left his car and entered Robb Primary School in Yuvaldi armed with a pistol, and may also have been in possession of a rifle, but this has not yet been confirmed.”
Meanwhile, the White House said US President Joe Biden, who has ordered flags to be flown at half-mast daily until May 28 in mourning, plans to address the nation about the shooting at 8:15 pm EST.
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