Border Patrol agents, often vilified by progressive members of the Democratic Party, were among the first to arrive on the scene of the mass shooting at an elementary school in Texas on Tuesday. One Border Patrol agent is reported to have "shot and killed" the 18-year-old gunman.
The active shooter incident has, thus far, left at least 19 children and two adults dead.
Marsha Espinosa, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, tweeted: "U.S. Border Patrol Agents responded to a law enforcement request for assistance [for] an active shooter situation inside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. Upon entering the building, Agents & other law enforcement officers faced gun fire from the subject, who was barricaded inside."
The agents placed "themselves between the shooter and children on the scene to draw the shooter's attention away from potential victims and save lives," she continued. "At least one Border Patrol Agent was wounded by the shooter during the exchange of gunfire. On-and-off duty Border Patrol Agents arrived on the scene to assist with transferring students safely to their families and providing medical support."
About 80 border agents responded to the mass shooting at the elementary school in the city of Uvalde, close to the U.S.-Mexico border.
According to the Associated Press, one agent who was on the scene early "rushed into the school without waiting for backup and shot and killed the gunman, who was behind a barricade, according to a law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about it."
The agent was reportedly injured but "able to walk out of the school."
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who oversees Border Patrol agents, was briefed on the shooting Tuesday afternoon.
Last month, the Biden administration completed a 500-page report on the investigation into Border Patrol agents accused (by the Biden administration) of whipping illegal Haitian migrants last year. The report has not yet been released. President Joe Biden, at the time of the incident, said the agents would "pay" for their alleged actions.
Though the agents in question were recently cleared of criminal wrongdoing, they remain under administrative investigation that could ultimately mean their termination six months after the alleged "whipping" incident took place.
