Students, staff will not return to Robb Elementary School in Uvalde after mass shooting

Students and staff will not be returning to the Uvalde, Texas elementary school where a gunman shot and killed 21 people.

Classes at Robb Elementary were set to end for the year on May 26, just two days after alleged gunman Salvador Ramos entered the school through an unlocked door and barricaded himself inside a classroom. The 18-year-old suspect unleashed more than 100 rounds of gunfire during the attack, fatally striking two teachers and 19 students.

Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent Hal Harrell said Wednesday that the school will remain closed for the foreseeable future, confirming no more classes would take place at the site of the bloodshed.

Harrell did not address rumors on whether the elementary school would be razed.

Balloons are seen wrapped around a tree in caution tape at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. (Brandon Bell/)

“Students and staff will not be returning to the Robb Elementary campus,” he said in a statement Wednesday night. “We are working through plans on how to serve students on other campuses and will provide that information as soon as it is finalized. We are also working with agencies to help us identify improvements on all UCISD campuses.”

Investigators are currently probing why a self-locking door at Robb Elementary failed to engage after a teacher pulled it shut in the minutes before the shooting occurred, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.

The superintendent also emphasized officials’ priority is the well-being of the members of the school’s community.

“First and foremost, we are going to continue to provide counseling and support to our families and staff for the foreseeable future,” Harrell said. “We know that our lives will never be the same, but we also know that we will join together to honor the lives we lost and build a stronger Uvalde for those who remain.”

He concluded: “I will continue to pray for our community and believe that better days are ahead. We grieve together, we pray together, we grow together.”

Ramos was shot and killed by a responding border patrol agent. A motive behind the attack remains unknown.