Authorities say the death toll from the shooting at a Texas elementary school has risen to at least 19 children and two adults.

State Sen. Roland Gutierrez said he was briefed by state police on the latest fatalities at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, who said three people wounded in the attack are hospitalized in serious condition.

The 18-year-old gunman identified as Salvador Ramos is dead, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said. The local man opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, about 85 miles west of San Antonio.

”He shot and killed, horrifically, incomprehensibly, 14 students and killed a teacher," said the governor.

Gov. Abbott also said the suspect apparently shot his grandmother before he entered the school.

The gunman was a resident of the community and entered the school with a handgun, and possibly a rifle, and opened fire, Abbott said. He said the shooter was likely killed by responding officers but that the events were still being investigated.

AP reports that the 18-year-old shooter was killed by a Border Patrol team. 

“We have to act,” Biden told the nation Tuesday night from the White House, after years of failure to pass new gun laws.

He spoke after arriving home from a five-day trip to Asia that was bookended by “horrific” mass tragedy. Just two days before he left on his trip, he met with victims’ families after a hate-motivated shooter killed 10 Black people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.

Uvalde Memorial Hospital said earlier Tuesday that 13 children were taken by ambulance or bus to that facility and another hospital reported a 66-year-old woman was in critical condition. It was not immediately clear how many people, in addition to the dead, were injured in the shooting.

Earlier, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District had said an active shooter was reported at the school, which has an enrollment of just under 600 students.

A heavy police presence surrounded the school Tuesday afternoon, with officers in heavy vests diverting traffic and FBI agents coming and going from the building. School and city officials did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

The district said that the city's civic center was being used as a reunification center.

The shooting in Texas came less than two weeks after a gunman opened fire at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, killing 10 Black shoppers and workers in what officials have described as a hate crime.

Uvalde is home to about 16,000 people and is the seat of government for Uvalde County. The town is about 75 miles from the border with Mexico. Robb Elementary is in a mostly residential neighborhood of modest homes. There is a funeral home across the street from the school.

Uvalde Memorial Hospital said in a Facebook post that it was caring for “several students” in its emergency room, but it did not provide information on their injuries. Another hospital, University Health, said it was treating a child and an adult patient from Robb Elementary, but their conditions weren’t immediately available.

Earlier, the district said that all schools in the district were locked down because of gunshots in the area.

Uvalde is about 85 miles (135 kilometers) west of San Antonio.

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