Two minors wounded in shooting at Uvalde’s Memorial Park Thursday night
Two minors were being treated for gunshot wounds at San Antonio hospitals after Uvalde police said they were shot at Uvalde Memorial Park on Thursday evening.
Police responded to the park, less than a mile from Robb Elementary School where the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history happened on May 24, around 5:30 p.m. The conditions of the victims were unknown, according to police.
Four people were in custody and being questioned by investigators, according to Uvalde police.
While police in Uvalde did not release any details about the circumstances surrounding the shooting, the Texas Department of Public Safety said on Twitter that it suspects the incident was gang-related.
Gov. Greg Abbott also said in a written statement Thursday night that authorities believe the shooting to have ties to gang activity.
“I immediately called Mayor [Don] McLaughlin and County Judge [William] Mitchell to offer the state’s full support and resources as law enforcement hunts down the gang members,” Abbott said in his statement.
He said Texas DPS is deploying an additional six trooper units to the county to increase patrols in gang hot spots around the clock and coordinate with the city in anti-gang efforts.
Police are asking anybody with information, photos or videos to contact Uvalde police at 830-278-9147 or through the department’s Facebook page.
Texas State Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D-San Antonio) said that “between two and six people” were shot, according to Austin-based NBC affiliate KXAN-TV. Only the two minors taken to area hospitals have been confirmed.
On May 24, a lone gunman killed killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School.
Students just returned to the classrooms Tuesday for the first time since the shooting happened.
The park where Thursday’s shooting happened is not a memorial site for the school shooting victims. The shooting happened at a public green space called Uvalde Memorial Park, the city police department’s public information officer, Jessica Zamora, confirmed to The Associated Press.
“It was at our local park,” Zamora said, “The name of the park is Uvalde Memorial Park just like our hospital is Uvalde Memorial Hospital. I guess that’s where people unfortunately are getting confused.”
A Uvalde visitor’s guide published in 2020 states that the greenspace was named Uvalde Memorial Park in 1927 and dedicated to men from the community who fought in World War I. Its name is unrelated to the 2022 shooting, the AP reported.
Uvalde is about 350 miles southwest of Fort Worth. Police were asking people in the region to avoid the area of Uvalde Memorial Park.
This story was originally published September 8, 2022 at 7:28 PM.