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Beto O’Rourke interrupts Gov. Abbott’s news conference on Texas school shooting

O’Rourke told Gov. Greg Abbott that the shooting was “totally predictable” and that he was “doing nothing.”
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Beto O’Rourke, a Democratic candidate for Texas governor, approached the stage during Gov. Greg Abbott’s news conference Wednesday, confronting him over the Robb Elementary School shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead.

O’Rourke told Abbott the shooting was “totally predictable” and that he was “doing nothing.”

"This is on you until you choose to do something different," O'Rourke continued.

Democrat Beto O'Rourke interrupts a news conference headed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in Uvalde, Texas on May 25, 2022.
Democrat Beto O'Rourke interrupts a news conference headed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in Uvalde on Wednesday. Liz Moskowitz for NBC News

O’Rourke was shouted down by several of the officials on stage with one calling him a "sick son of a b----" as he was escorted out by police.

Following O’Rourke's disruption, the governor said the focus should be on the "healing and hope" of the victims.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said: "I was just about to say, there will be plenty of time to discuss and analyze what happened yesterday and do everything that we can within our power to hopefully prevent it from happening again."

"But now's the time ... to focus on these families as the governor just said," he added.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott holds a press conference at Uvalde High School on in Uvalde, Texas on May 25, 2022.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott holds a news conference Wednesday at Uvalde High School in Uvalde.Liz Moskowitz for NBC News

Earlier in the news conference, Abbott said the shooter, Salvador Rolando Ramos, 18, had posted several social media warnings shortly before Tuesday's shooting.

One Facebook message, according to the governor, said Ramos intended to shoot his grandmother. A second said he had shot her, Abbott said. The grandmother is hospitalized in critical condition.

Ramos' third social media message was posted about 15 minutes before he arrived at the elementary school. According to Abbott, Ramos wrote: "I'm going to shoot an elementary school."

The governor said the shooter had no known mental health history and other than the social media posts, “there was no meaningful forewarning of this crime."

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke speaks to the media after interrupting a press conference held by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in Uvalde, Texas on May 25, 2022.
Beto O'Rourke, a Democratic candidate for governor, speaks to the media Wednesday after he interrupted Gov. Greg Abbott's news conference in Uvalde, Texas.Liz Moskowitz for NBC News

Ramos was killed when law enforcement confronted him at the school. A motive for the shooting remains unclear.

Among those killed were at least five fourth-grade students and a third grader. Family members have started to identify the children. Two teachers, Eva Mireles, who taught fourth grade, and her co-teacher, Irma Garcia, were also killed.

Seventeen others suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the shooting, Abbott said.