Every death in the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, happened in a classroom

All 19 children and two teachers killed in the Robb Elementary School massacre in Texas were in a single fourth-grade classroom where the gunman barricaded himself as local police officers tried to smash windows to shut students free, officials said.

Tuesday’s horrific incident began when Salvador Ramos, an unemployed and increasingly aggressive 18-year-old who had recently dropped out of high school, shot and killed his grandmother, with whom he lived in a modest bungalow in Uvalde, decorated with a religious cross and a Christmas wreath was decorated.

He then drove away in a truck but crashed into a ditch near Robb Elementary, a school with about 600 mostly Hispanic students that school records said was just two days away from summer vacation.

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Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Lt. Chris Olivarez said Wednesday that someone called 911 to report seeing the crash and a gunman running toward the school. Local Uvalde police and school district police approached Ramos, but he opened fire, leaving two officers with non-life-threatening injuries, Olivarez said.

Ramos, wearing a tactical vest and carrying a rifle and large amounts of ammunition, continued to run onto school grounds, down a hallway and into the classroom of veteran teacher Irma Garcia. He barricaded himself inside and fired the rifle, forcing local police officers to call in tactical units, Olivarez said.

While Olivarez couldn’t say how long the wait for backup was, Uvalde councilor and firefighter Chip King said he eventually arrived to establish a perimeter around the school and just 30 minutes later the suspect was “neutralized.”

Uvalde Police also said the shooting began at 11:32 a.m. and said in one of their earliest announcements on Tuesday that the suspect was “in custody” at 1:06 p.m

When the suspect barricaded himself in the fourth-grade classroom, local officials smashed windows to save as many people as possible, Olivarez said.

When tactical units finally rammed the classroom door, Ramos fired at them, hitting one officer, who suffered minor injuries. The teenager was eventually shot dead, allowing officers to see the real horror left behind: the bodies of 19 children and two fourth grade teachers.

According to online reports from the victims’ parents, the slaughter happened in the classroom of Mrs. Irma Garcia, who has taught at Robb Elementary School for 23 years and is a mother of four. Jennifer Lugo, whose daughter Ellie Garcia was killed, posted online that the class was being “held hostage.” Garcia’s family confirmed that she died along with her students.

Courtesy of Berlinda Irene Arreola/Uvalde CISD

A second fourth grade teacher, Eva Mireles, whose partner is a school district police officer, also died. She has taught with Mrs Garcia for five years, according to the Uvalde CISD website.

Among the young fourth-grade victims was “super-social” Amerie Jo Garza, a “teacher’s pet,” who died trying to dial 911, her grandmother, Berlinda Irene Arreola, told The Daily Beast.

Just that morning, she was beaming for a photo as she held up a colorful school certificate inducting her into the Robb Elementary School roll of honor.