PBS News Hour

WILLIAM

THE NATION'S RECURRING NIGHTMARE HAS HAPPEN AGAIN. TEXAS GOVERNOR GREG ABBOTT SAYS A GUNMAN KILLED 14 CHILDREN AT A TEACHER AT AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TODAY. IT APPEARS THE 18-YEAR-OLD SHOOTER WAS KILLED BY POLICE. GUNFIRE BROKE OUT THIS AFTERNOON IN THE CITY OF UVALDE, ABOUT 85 MILES WEST OF SAN ANTONIO. POLICE STORMED THE SCHOOL WITH AMBULANCES FOLLOWING CLOSE BEHIND. THE GOVERNOR SPOKE IN ABILENE, TEXAS. >> WHEN PARENTS DROP THEIR KIDS OFF AT SCHOOL, THEY HAVE EVERY EXPECTATION TO KNOW THAT THEY WILL BE ABLE TO PICK THEIR CHILD UP WHEN THAT SCHOOL DAY ENDS, AND THERE ARE FAMILIES WHO ARE IN MORNING RIGHT NOW IN THE STATE OF TEXAS -- FAMILIES WHO ARE IN MOURNING RIGHT NOW, AND THE STATE OF TEXAS IS MOURNING WITH THEM. FOR MORE, I'M JOINED BY A REPORTER WITH "THE AUSTIN STATESMAN" WHO IS HEADED TO THE SCENE NOW. I'M SORRY WE HAVE HAD TO TROUBLE YOU ON THIS HORRIBLE DAY. I KNOW YOU'RE EN ROUTE TO THE SCENE BUT HAVE BEEN TALKING WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT. CAN YOU GIVE US THE LATEST OF WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN HEARING FROM THEM? >> ONE OF THE THINK THEY ARE TRYING TO FULLY AND BROADLY UNDERSTAND IS WHAT PRECIPITATED THIS VIOLENCE. WE ARE TOLD THAT THIS GUNMAN, WHO IS AN 18-YEAR-OLD MAN, SHOT AND INJURED HIS GRANDMOTHER. ONE THING THAT IS CLEAR TO ME AS IF THAT HAPPENED AT A SEPARATE LOCATION OR IF SHE WAS SHOT AND INJURED AT THE SCHOOL, BUT AUTHORITIES ARE CONFIRMING NOW THAT THE GUNMAN SHOT AND KILLED 14 STUDENTS AS WELL AS A TEACHER FATALLY. IN ADDITION TO THAT, AUTHORITIES ARE TRYING TO ASCERTAIN THE EXTENT OF THE OTHER CHILDREN WHO WERE INJURED. THEY HAVE BEEN TAKEN TO HOSPITALS BOTH IN UVALDE AS WELL AS 80 MILES AWAY TO SAN ANTONIO WHERE THERE ARE, OF COURSE, MORE MAJOR MEDICAL FACILITIES. WHEN WE ARE TALKING ABOUT AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BEING THE SIDE OF A MASSACRE LIKE THIS, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT CHILDREN WHO ARE 8, 9, PERHAPS 10 YEARS OLD. HAVE OFFICIALS SAID ANYTHING MORE ABOUT SPECIFICALLY WHO THE VICTIMS ACTUALLY ARE? >> NOT EXACTLY. I THINK THAT IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THEY ARE TRYING TO - AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, AND THIS IS VERY REMINISCENT OF MY TIME REPORTING IN SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, TEXAS, THE SITE OF A MASS SHOOTING IN 2017 BECAUSE UVALDE IS SUCH A SMALL TOWN -- KEEP IN MIND, 16,000 PEOPLE -- WORD IS FLOWING THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY THIS EVENING. I'M GETTING REPORTS FROM THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED THERE THAT THE NAMES OF THE CHILDREN ARE BEGINNING TO CIRCULATE THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY, A COMMUNITY THAT AS YOU CAN IMAGINE IS JUST RIPPED APART TONIGHT. I CANNOT IMAGINE BEING A PARENT AND WAITING FOR THAT KIND OF WORD OUT OF YOUR CHILDREN'S SCHOOL TO BECOMING OUT. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE WE KNOW ABOUT WHAT LAW ENFORCEMENT MIGHT HAVE SAID ABOUT THIS YOUNG MAN? HE WAS A LOCAL RESIDENT, AND THE FACT THAT HIS GRANDMOTHER WAS IN TOWN, SO HE IS NOT A STRANGER TO THIS TOWN, IT SOUNDS LIKE. >> NOT A STRANGER TO THIS TOWN. HE HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS A LOCAL. AUTHORITIES HAVE SAID VERY LITTLE ABOUT HIM, ALTHOUGH THEY DO SAY THAT HE APPARENTLY ENTERED THE SCHOOL WITH OBVIOUSLY AT LEAST ONE HANDGUN BUT ALSO POSSIBLY A RIFLE. THAT IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THEY ARE CONTINUING TO STUDY RIGHT NOW. I DO ALSO WANT TO TELL YOU THAT IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT AUTHORITIES MAY IN FACT BE ESTABLISHING A MOBILE MORGUE OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL SO THEY CAN BEGIN THE PROCESS TONIGHT AND TOMORROW OF REMOVING THE DEAD FROM THIS VERY TRAGIC SCENE. I KNOW YOU HAVE COVERED MASS SHOOTINGS IN YOUR STATE MANY, MANY TIMES OVER THE PAST, AND OBVIOUSLY, THE GRIEF AND THE SORROW THAT IS COURSING THROUGH THIS COMMUNITY AND THE SHOCK, NO DOUBT, HAS GOT TO BE TREMENDOUS, BUT I IMAGINE EVEN FOR YOU, THE SENSE OF DEJA VU THAT WE ARE GOING THROUGH THIS YET AGAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. YOU ARE RUSHING TO GO COVER YET ANOTHER MASS TRAGEDY. >> ONE OF THE THINGS THAT IS SO PROFOUND TO ME IS THAT VERY OFTEN WHEN WE THINK OF GUN VIOLENCE, WE THINK OF THIS UNFOLDING IN MAJOR CITIES OR EVEN SUBURBS, BUT WHEN YOU LOOK AT TWO OF THE MORE RECENT MASS SHOOTINGS THAT HAVE UNFOLDED IN TEXAS, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT PRETTY RURAL AREAS. UVALDE, REALLY, A SMALL TOWN, 60,000 PEOPLE, REALLY NOT EVEN IN THE SHADOW OF SAN ANTONIO. 80 MILES FROM SAN ANTONIO. AND THINKING ABOUT THE CHURCH SHOOTING IN 2017. IT UNDERSCORES IN MY MIND THAT THIS GUN VIOLENCE IS NOT JUST A CITY OR URBAN EPIDEMIC BUT IS UNFOLDING IN SMALL COMMUNITIES ACROSS AMERICA AS WELL. TONY IS AN INVESTIG