“We stand side by side those mourning the loss of their loved ones.”
By David Hellerman, World Israel News
Israeli officials offered condolences after a gunman killed 19 students and two adults in a Texas elementary school on Tuesday.
The 18-year-old murderer, Salvador Ramos, had gone room to room in the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, near San Antonio before being killed by a Border Patrol agent.
Authorities said Ramos also shot his grandmother before making his way to the school. Officials said she survived.
Officials added that Ramos — a former student at the school — acted alone but have not revealed a motive.
Israeli officials expressed their condolences.
“Israel mourns together with the American people the horrific murder of innocent children and teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett tweeted.
“Our prayers are with the victims, their families and the American people,” he added.
President Isaac Herzog tweeted his sorrow, saying, “Our hearts are broken. The death of a child is a tragedy beyond measure, let alone the killing of 19 innocent children and two adults.”
Israel’s Consul-General in Houston, Livia Link, tweeted, “We are heartbroken to learn of the unfolding tragedy in Uvalde, TX. We stand side by side those mourning the loss of their loved ones.”
Other Israeli officials expressing their condolences were Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Internal Security Minister Omer Barlev.
The massacre came 10 days after a white supremacist killed 10 people in a Buffalo, NY supermarket.
The Uvalde rampage was the deadliest U.S. school attack since 2012, when Adam Lanza killed 20 children and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. after murdering his mother at home.