UVALDE, US: Frustrated onlookers urged police officers to charge into the Texas elementary school where a gunman’s rampage killed 19 children and two teachers, witnesses said Wednesday, as investigators worked to track the massacre that lasted upwards of 40 minutes and ended when the 18-year-old shooter was killed by a Border Patrol team.
“Go in there! Go in there!” nearby women shouted at the officers soon after the attack began, said Juan Carranza, 24, who saw the scene from outside his house, across the street from Robb Elementary School in the close-knit town of Uvalde. Carranza said the officers did not go in.
Javier Cazares, whose fourth grade daughter, Jacklyn Cazares, was killed in the attack, said he raced to the school when he heard about the shooting, arriving while police were still gathered outside the building.
Upset that police were not moving in, he raised the idea of charging into the school with several other bystanders.
“Let’s just rush in because the cops aren’t doing anything like they are supposed to,” he said. “More could have been done.”
“They were unprepared,” he added.
Minutes earlier, Carranza had watched as Salvador Ramos crashed his truck into a ditch outside the school, grabbed his AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle and shot at two people outside a nearby funeral home who ran away uninjured.
Officials say he “encountered” a school district security officer outside the school, though there were conflicting reports from authorities on whether the men exchanged gunfire. After running inside, he fired on two arriving Uvalde police officers who were outside the building, said Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson Travis Considine. The police officers were injured.
After entering the school, Ramos charged into one classroom and began to kill.
He “barricaded himself by locking the door and just started shooting children and teachers that were inside that classroom,” Lt. Christopher Olivarez of the Department of Public Safety told CNN. “It just shows you the complete evil of the shooter.”
All those killed were in the same classroom, he said.
Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw told reporters that 40 minutes to an hour elapsed from when Ramos opened fire on the school security officer to when the tactical team shot him, though a department spokesman said later that they could not give a solid estimate of how long the gunman was in the school or when he was killed.
“The bottom line is law enforcement was there,” McCraw said. “They did engage immediately. They did contain (Ramos) in the classroom.”
Meanwhile, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation said the Border Patrol agents had trouble breaching the classroom door and had to get a staff member to open the room with a key. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing investigation.
Carranza said the officers should have entered the school sooner.
“There were more of them. There was just one of him,” he said.
Uvalde is a largely Latino town of some 16,000 people about 75 miles (120 kilometers) from the Mexican border. Robb Elementary, which has nearly 600 students in second, third and fourth grades, is a single-story brick structure in a mostly residential neighborhood of modest homes.
Before attacking the school, Ramos shot and wounded his grandmother at the home they shared, authorities said.
Neighbor Gilbert Gallegos, 82, who lives across the street and has known the family for decades, said he was puttering in his yard when he heard the shots.
Ramos ran out the front door and across the small yard to the truck parked in front of the house. He seemed panicked, Gallegos said, and had trouble getting the truck out of park.
Then he raced away: “He spun out, I mean fast,” spraying gravel in the air.
His grandmother emerged covered in blood: “She says, ‘Berto, this is what he did. He shot me.’” She was hospitalized.
Gallegos, whose wife called 911, said he had heard no arguments before or after the shots, and knew of no history of bullying or abuse of Ramos, who he rarely saw.
Investigators also shed no light on Ramos’ motive for the attack, which also left at least 17 people wounded. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Ramos, a resident of the small town about 85 miles (135 kilometers) west of San Antonio, had no known criminal or mental health history.
“We don’t see a motive or catalyst right now,” said McCraw of the Department of Public Safety.
Ramos legally bought the rifle and a second one like it last week, just after his birthday, authorities said.
About a half-hour before the mass shooting, Ramos sent the first of three online messages warning about his plans, Abbott said.
Ramos wrote that he was going to shoot his grandmother, then that he had shot the woman. In the last note, sent about 15 minutes before he reached Robb Elementary, he said he was going to shoot up an elementary school, according to Abbott. Investigators said Ramos did not specify which school.
Ramos sent the private, one-to-one text messages via Facebook, said company spokesman Andy Stone.
Grief engulfed Uvalde as the details emerged.
The dead included Eliahna Garcia, an outgoing 10-year-old who loved to sing, dance and play basketball; a fellow fourth-grader, Xavier Javier Lopez, who had been eagerly awaiting a summer of swimming; and a teacher, Eva Mireles, whose husband is an officer with the school district’s police department.
“You can just tell by their angelic smiles that they were loved,” Uvalde Schools Superintendent Hal Harrell said, fighting back tears as he recalled the children and teachers killed.
The tragedy was the latest in a seemingly unending wave of mass shootings across the US in recent years. Just 10 days earlier, 10 Black people were shot to death in a racist attack at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket.
The attack was the deadliest school shooting in the US since a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012.
Amid calls for tighter restrictions on firearms, the Republican governor repeatedly talked about mental health struggles among Texas young people and argued that tougher gun laws in Chicago, New York and California are ineffective.
Democrat Beto O’Rourke, who is running against Abbott for governor, interrupted Wednesday’s news conference, calling the tragedy “predictable.” Pointing his finger at Abbott, he said: “This is on you until you choose to do something different. This will continue to happen.” O’Rourke was escorted out as some in the room yelled at him. Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin yelled that O’Rourke was a “sick son of a bitch.”
Texas has some of the most gun-friendly laws in the nation and has been the site of some of the deadliest shootings in the US over the past five years.
“I just don’t know how people can sell that type of a gun to a kid 18 years old,” Siria Arizmendi, the aunt of victim Eliahna Garcia, said angrily through tears. “What is he going to use it for but for that purpose?”
President Joe Biden said Wednesday that “the Second Amendment is not absolute” as he called for new limitations on guns in the wake of the massacre.
But the prospects for reform of the nation’s gun regulations appeared dim. Repeated attempts over the years to expand background checks and enact other curbs have run into Republican opposition in Congress.
The shooting came days before the National Rifle Association annual convention was set to begin in Houston, with the Texas governor and both of the state’s Republican US senators scheduled to speak.
Dillon Silva, whose nephew was in a classroom, said students were watching the Disney movie “Moana” when they heard several loud pops and a bullet shattered a window. Moments later, their teacher saw the attacker stride past.
“Oh, my God, he has a gun!” the teacher shouted twice, according to Silva. “The teacher didn’t even have time to lock the door,” he said.
The close-knit community, built around a shaded central square, includes many families who have lived there for generations.
Lorena Auguste was substitute teaching at Uvalde High School when she heard about the shooting and began frantically texting her niece, a fourth grader at Robb Elementary. Eventually she found out the girl was OK.
But that night, her niece had a question.
“Why did they do this to us?” the girl asked. “We’re good kids. We didn’t do anything wrong.”
Texas school massacre: Onlookers say more lives could have been saved had police moved in quickly
https://arab.news/bme4c
Texas school massacre: Onlookers say more lives could have been saved had police moved in quickly
- Onlookers begged police gathered outside the school building to rush in urgently
- Authorities say about 40 minutes elapsed from when Ramos opened fire to when he was shot dead
Russia launches barrage of 99 drones and missiles on Ukraine’s energy system, officials say
Ukraine’s state-owned grid operator, Ukrenergo, said Friday’s attack deliberately targeted thermal and hydroelectric power plants across central and western regions
KYIV: Moscow launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure Friday, with a mass barrage of 99 drones and missiles hitting regions across the country, Ukraine’s armed forces said.
Air raid warnings rang out across the nation, with 10 Ukrainian regions coming under fire, the country’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said.
Russia has escalated its attacks on Ukraine in recent days, launching several missile barrages on the capital, Kyiv, and hitting energy infrastructure across the country in apparent retaliation for recent Ukrainian aerial attacks on the Russian border region of Belgorod. Such sporadic attacks, however, have been common throughout the war.
Large-scale blackouts have already affected Ukraine’s eastern city of Kharkiv, where 700,000 people lost power after the city’s thermal power plant was hit in a drone and missile attack on March 22.
In the winter of 2022-23, Russia targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, causing frequent blackouts. Many in Ukraine and the West expected that Russia might repeat that strategy this winter, but Russia instead initially focused its strikes on Ukraine’s defense industries.
Ukraine’s state-owned grid operator, Ukrenergo, said Friday’s attack deliberately targeted thermal and hydroelectric power plants across central and western regions.
In a statement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Ukraine’s Kaniv and Dniester hydroelectric power stations had come under attack and accused Moscow of risking an ecological disaster similar to the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in June 2023.
Both Kyiv and Moscow have accused the other of destroying the dam, but the various Russian allegations — that it was hit by a missile or taken down by explosives — fail to account for a blast so strong that it registered on seismic monitors in the region.
The dam’s destruction led to deadly flooding, endangered crops, threatened drinking water supplies for thousands and unleashed an environmental catastrophe.
Zelensky also warned that other countries would be threatened if the dams were hit. Dnister Hydroelectric station, located near the city of Novodnistrovsk, Ukraine, is approximately 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the border with Moldova.
“Not only is Ukraine under threat, but Moldova too,” Zelensky said. “The water will not stop in front of the border.”
DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private electricity operator, also said that three of its thermal power plants had been damaged in the attacks. It announced emergency power shutdowns in the city of Odesa, leaving several neighborhoods without power.
Five people, including a 5-year-old girl, were wounded during the attack in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, said local Gov. Serhii Lysak.
He later said that another man had been killed and one more injured in a separate drone attack Friday.
Elsewhere, Ukrainian police said rescuers had recovered the body of a 66-year-old woman from a building in the Mykolaiv region that was hit by a Russian missile Thursday night.
The bombardment in the west of Ukraine caused the Polish Armed Forces to scramble its own aircraft, the country’s operational command said on social media.
Last week, Warsaw demanded an explanation from Moscow after one of its missiles strayed briefly into Polish airspace during a major missile attack on Ukraine, prompting the NATO member to activate F-16 fighter jets.
Romania’s defense ministry also said on Friday that an investigation has been launched after fragments that appeared to be from a drone were identified on its territory Thursday evening in an agricultural area of Braila county, close to the border with Ukraine.
It did not provide additional details, although since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, NATO member Romania has confirmed drone fragments on its territory on several occasions.
Belgorod also came under fire Friday, Russia’s Ministry of Defense wrote on social media. It said that it shot down 15 Ukrainian shells, with falling debris damaging a number of residential buildings. No casualties were reported.
Regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov later said on social media that one man had died as the result of a separate drone attack which struck an apartment block.
Daesh says four members arrested over Moscow attack
- Moscow has detained 12 people and charged eight with “terror-related offenses” over their alleged roles in the attack
- A Moscow court has remanded the four main suspects in custody until May 22
BAGHDAD: The Daesh group said Friday four of its members had been arrested after they attacked a concert hall near Moscow killing 143 people, a day after Russia blamed Ukraine.
On March 22, gunmen opened fire at the Crocus City concert hall near Moscow, setting the venue alight and wounding 80 people.
Moscow has detained 12 people and charged eight with “terror-related offenses” over their alleged roles in the attack. They include four suspects from Tajikistan who are accused of carrying it out, Russian state media said.
Daesh swiftly claimed the attack, although Moscow has said repeatedly that the attackers had links to “Ukrainian nationalists” — a claim Kyiv rejects.
In the latest issue of its weekly Al-Nabaa magazine published Friday on Telegram channels, the group said its fighters had been hunted down by ground and air forces.
The operation ended when the men were surrounded in “a forest,” Daesh said, adding that they were now in “captivity.”
-- a date likely to be extended until their trial.
Russia has been a repeated target of attack by Daesh, in retaliation for its suppression of unrest in Muslim-majority regions and its support for President Bashar Assad’s government in the civil war in Syria.
France asks for foreign police and military help with massive Paris Olympics security challenge
- The Interior Ministry said Friday that the request for foreign security assistance was made in January, seeking nearly 2,185 reinforcements
- The officers are sought to help with Games security and “the spectator experience” and to “strengthen international cooperation,” the ministry said
PARIS: France says it has asked 46 countries if they would be willing to supply more than 2,000 police officers to help secure the Paris Olympics this summer, as organizers finalize security planning for the French capital’s first Games in a century while on heightened alert against potential attacks.
The Interior Ministry said Friday that the request for foreign security assistance was made in January, seeking nearly 2,185 reinforcements. The officers are sought to help with Games security and “the spectator experience” and to “strengthen international cooperation,” the ministry said.
“This is a classic approach of host countries for the organization of major international events,” the ministry added.
It noted that France sent 200 of its gendarmes to soccer’s World Cup in Qatar in 2022 and also welcomed 160 officers from other European security forces for the Rugby World Cup that France hosted last year.
Separately, the French Defense Ministry has also asked foreign nations for “small numbers” of military personnel who could help with “very specific” tasks at the Games, including sniffer dog teams, said Col. Pierre Gaudillière, spokesman for the army general staff.
Poland’s defense minister said his country will be sending soldiers to the Paris Games. The Polish armed forces delegation will include dog handlers and “its main goal will be to undertake activities related to the detection of explosives and counteracting terrorist phenomena.” the minister, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, posted on X.
Security is the biggest challenge for Paris Games organizers in a city that has been repeatedly hit by deadly attacks by Islamic extremists and which is expecting as many as 15 million visitors for the July 26-Aug. 11 Games and Paralympics that follow.
Security concerns are notably high for the opening ceremony, which will involve boats along the Seine River and huge crowds watching from the embankments.
France’s government increased its security alert posture to the highest level in the wake of the recent deadly attack at a Russian concert hall and Daesh’s claim of responsibility.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced the decision in a post on X, saying authorities were “taking into account Daesh’s claim of responsibility for the (Moscow) attack and the threats weighing on our country.″
EU parliament urged to probe Russian propaganda network
- Moscow also paid money to MEPs to promote Russian propaganda, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said
- The EU parliament’s political groups now want the assembly to probe the latest claims
BRUSSLES: The European Parliament came under pressure on Friday to investigate a Russia-financed network that wielded influence across Europe and involved EU lawmakers.
The Czech Republic said on Wednesday its spies discovered the network had been spreading Russian propaganda through the Prague-based Voice of Europe news site.
Moscow also paid money to MEPs to promote Russian propaganda, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said on Thursday.
The EU parliament’s political groups now want the assembly to probe the latest claims.
Valerie Hayer, who heads the centrist Renew grouping, wrote to parliament president Roberta Metsola to demand “a full and transparent internal investigation.”
“If sitting MEPs or candidates in the upcoming European elections have taken money from the Russian government or their proxies, they must be exposed and action taken,” she said.
The Renew group also called for an “urgent debate” in the parliament.
The Greens said there needed to be a “swift and thorough” investigation.
“This is how (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is trying to get away with his war in Ukraine.... It’s a direct attack on the very fabric of our democracy,” said Terry Reintke, one of the lead candidates for the Greens in the European elections in June.
“The politicians who have received money from Russia should be severely punished, both politically and legally,” she added in a statement.
A spokesperson for the parliament said it was “currently looking into the findings of the Czech authorities regarding outlet ‘Voice of Europe’ in coordination with its institutional partners.”
The spokesperson added that the parliament already prohibits access to the institution for media that are EU sanctions lists.
EU lawmakers face strict rules regarding independence and ethics and can face penalties — financial and otherwise — if they violate them.
The European politicians involved have not been named but the Greens and a Czech daily claimed they came from Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands and Poland.
Fasting left me in awe of discipline required to observe Ramadan
- Writer describes being left in a ‘post-hunger state’
LONDON: Ramadan holds multiple points of significance for the Muslim world. Perhaps most famous for its month-long fast, it is also believed to have been when the first verses of the Qur’an were revealed to Muhammad.
Neither Muslim, nor someone who had before — at least knowingly — fasted, the request from Arab News to do one and write about it left me with several questions.
Why? What would there be to write about besides feeling hungry and thirsty? And would I buckle and gorge on the Sainsbury’s grocery delivery I had lined up for the proposed day?
It turned out that having successfully gone from dawn to dusk without breaking the fast, I did indeed have some self-control when it came to eating.
Perhaps more importantly, it provided an opportunity to gain a greater understanding of why friends I know do it, and what it offers to the Muslim community, not to mention leaving me in awe of the physical and mental will required to fast for the full month.
Waking up a little after 3:30 a.m., I followed the instructions provided by my colleague Zaynab: “Eggs, banana, porridge.” I gave the dates a miss, mainly through forgetfulness.
At this point I should state that the absence of food or water for one 14.5-hour stretch did not leave me overly nervous. In fact, given it was to be a single day, I would say to write anything on it was, if anything, quite bizarre considering the famines gripping swathes of the world.
Speaking to a friend and Arab News colleague Tarek, I did, however, question how faithful people were when it came to missing out on any drink during daylight hours.
“No, not one drop, sir,” he said before agreeing that given a propensity for human social engagement to inform some form of consumption, this period of abstinence obviously affected social relations.
He added: “But there are other effects, including dizziness, fatigue, lethargy, lack of focus, and cravings — one day is fine but it is doing it consistently that makes it tough.”
Tarek’s reflections came about five hours into my own fast, and having followed Zaynab’s recommendations, I can confirm that I was not feeling any pangs of hunger at this stage, but by about midday I was finding my attention drawn more toward water.
I spoke to other observant Muslim friends, and one thing that came across was that while there was a general uniformity toward the observation of the fast, it was not monolithic.
For instance, one friend said that they did without food for the whole period, but abstaining from water was somewhat dependent on the time of year that Ramadan fell: if in the summer, they would do without all drinks but water.
Another friend, Nabila, said she was stricter than most of her friends and family, additionally doing without music as part of her observation of the holy month.
She added: “The way I see it is that it is one month. For the rest of the year we can do what we want, but through that one month of observation I gain a lot and I become more focused on some of the ills of society; that in turn helps me readjust my engagement with the world.”
Nabila’s focus on those undergoing forced fasts, with this year’s Ramadan coinciding with the largest assault on Gaza in a generation, was shared by others I spoke to or heard.
Speaking to the BBC, Dr. Amjad Eleiwa, the deputy director of the emergency department at Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital, said that Palestinians in Gaza had “already been fasting for months,” with others noting the “dark shadow” Israel’s war had cast over what Nabila said should be a joyous time.
She added: “It’s not easy, though. I have little or no energy and I struggle with work. You won’t see me out. It is not easy and anyone who says it is, well, they’ve probably not committed.”
Equally, however, Nabila noted that the breaking of the fast each day brought its own reward, describing the anticipation immediately before eating as a feeling “of excitement, that ends in a sense of euphoria … I can’t really describe it.”
As my own, solitary day of fasting came to an end, I found myself feeling, as it was suggested I might, almost in a post-hunger state. How did I break my fast? A yogurt.