A gunman has shot dead 18 young children and three adults at an elementary school in the US state of Texas, in the deadliest US school shooting since the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting in Connecticut, which left 20 children and six staff killed.

Texas State Senator Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio said on Tuesday he was briefed by state police on the latest fatalities at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, The Associated Press reported.

“I was just briefed by the Texas Rangers, 18 children have passed on,” Gutierrez told CNN, adding three adults had also been killed.

Additionally, three people wounded in the attack reportedly were hospitalized in serious condition.

US President Joe Biden denounced the US gun lobby and vowed to end the nation’s cycle of mass shootings.

“It’s time to turn this pain into action for every parent, for every citizen of this country,” Biden said, his voice heavy with emotion.

“It’s time for those who obstruct or delay or block commonsense gun laws — we need to let you know that we will not forget,” he said.

The militant, identified by law enforcement as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, was also killed, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a news conference earlier in the day, shortly after the attack in Uvalde.

The incident is the latest in a spree of deadly shootings in America, where horror at the cycle of gun violence has failed to spur enough action to end it.

The governor said Ramos was a student at Uvalde High School. Uvalde Police Chief Pete Arredondo said it appears that Ramos acted alone.

Arredondo said there were “several injuries.” University Health officials said a 10-year-old girl and a 66-year-old woman were being treated at University Hospital and were in critical condition.

Abbott said the gunman was believed to have shot his grandmother before heading to Robb Elementary School at around noon, abandoning his vehicle and entering with a handgun, and possibly also a rifle.

Source: Agencies (edited by Al-Manar English Website)