Children aged five to ten and some adults were shot in the morning by a student from the city’s high school, just a few days before the end of the semester.
More than a dozen people are being treated in hospital for injuries in connection with the act, which Stefan Åsberg points out is the deadliest school shooting since the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012.
– The city’s local hospital urges residents to donate blood, says SVT’s correspondent who is on site in Texas.
How do you proceed in the investigation when the perpetrator is dead?
– Above all, they want to secure any motives behind the shooting. If the act, for example, can be linked to some organization or racist motives. It is the first step, but right now the whole area is so paralyzed by shock that they try to take more care of parents, relatives and friends in this school area, says Stefan Åsberg.
Spanish-speaking society
He adds that most of the school’s students come from Spanish-speaking families as the school is located about 100 km from the Mexican border. The perpetrator was also part of the small community, according to state Gov. Greg Abbott.
– Right now, there do not seem to be any parallels between this act and the shooting in Buffalo that occurred a little more than a week ago, says Stefan Åsberg.
The flag on a half pole
Shortly after President Joe Biden learned of the incident, he ordered that the American flag be hoisted on all public buildings, military bases and naval vessels in the country.