A shooting at a primary school in Texas
has left 14 pupils and a teacher dead, the
state governor said.
The 18-year-old gunman, who aban-
doned his car before entering Robb Ele-
mentary School in Uvalde, about 85
miles (135km) west of San Antonio, was
also dead, Greg Abbott, the governor,
said last night. “He shot and killed hor-
rifically, incomprehensibly, 14 students
and killed a teacher,” Abbott said.
“It is being reported that the subject
shot his grandmother right before he
went into the school.”
The ringleader of a gang that smuggled
£20 million of cannabis into Britain has
been running a residential home for
vulnerable children despite Ofsted’s
obligation to vet company directors.
Billy Kenber
Senior Investigations Reporter
Drugs gang boss is running home for vulnerable children
John Smith, 66, who was sentenced
to 14 years in prison in the late 1990s,
co-owns an Essex children’s home that
receives taxpayer-funded fees of nearly
£70,000 a month.
An investigation by The Times has
found scores of inexperienced owners
who have opened children’s homes
charging as much as £1,000 a day. The
homes look after vulnerable childrenwho have been taken into care and may
have complex needs.
Other new proprietors include a
cocktail bar owner, an electrician, a call
centre expert, a taxi operator, a family
of opticians, several property develop-
ers and a member of a religious group
whose leader claims to be able to cure
HIV and make blind people see.
Although the home owned by Smithis rated “good”, inspectors have deemed
many of the homes run by these other
owners to be substandard.
Inspection reports have said that
poor leadership and a failure to recruit
qualified staff have meant that homes
are not keeping children safe. At one,
run by a solicitor, Ofsted found that at
one time none of the staff on duty had
more than a few weeks’ experience.The homes have brought in more
than £52 million in fees paid by local
councils since 2017, according to an
analysis by Spend Network. Failing
homes have continued to have children
in their care despite Ofsted’s concerns.
A report on children’s services in
England this week highlighted the
massive profits being made by private
Continued on page 7, col 4times investigation
Wednesday May 25 2022 | thetimes.co.uk | No 73792 2GMini, midi or maxi?
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(based on 7 Day Print Pack)Abbott said that the assailant had a
handgun and possibly a rifle, and
named him as Salvador Ramos, a local
resident.
Thirteen children were taken by
ambulance or bus to Uvalde Memorial
Hospital, officials said. A heavy police
presence surrounded the school yester-
day afternoon, local time, as officers in
protective vests diverted traffic and FBI
agents came and went.
The city’s civic centre was being used
to reunite families. Pete Arredondo, a
local chief of police, said that the gun-
man had acted alone.
Uvalde is about 75 miles from theborder with Mexico. Robb Elementary
is in a mostly residential neighbour-
hood of modest homes.
The attack was the deadliest school
shooting in Texas history, and the
deadliest primary school shooting na-
tionally since 2012, when 20 children
and six teachers were killed at Sandy14 pupils killed in Texas
primary school shooting
Hook in Newtown, Connecticut, also
by a lone gunman. Subsequent efforts
to pass national gun controls failed.
Less than two weeks ago, a gunman
opened fire at a supermarket in Buffalo,
New York, killing ten black shoppers
and workers in a racially motivated
hate crime. The alleged gunman in
Buffalo is said to have been a white
supremacist who deliberately targeted
a black neighbourhood.
President Biden was due to address
the nation last night after returning
from his Far East trip.
‘Another Sandy Hook’: America shaken
by atrocity, pages 32-Keiran Southern Los Angeles
Teacher and teenage gunman also dead
Windfall tax
will fund help
for families hit
by rising bills
Steven Swinford, Oliver WrightBoris Johnson will announce within
days a multibillion-pound package to
help households with the cost of living,
funded partly by a windfall tax on oil
and gas companies.
The Times has been told that “70 to
80 per cent” of the funding will be
targeted at the poorest households.
Increases in the warm homes discount
and winter fuel allowance are expected,
and council tax bills may be cut.
The “mix and match” approach will
also create “universal” measures to
help all households, possibly including
a VAT cut on energy and fuel.
The energy regulator Ofgem has said
that household energy bills will in-
crease by another £800 in October, to
£2,800. Average bills will have risen by
119 per cent in a year.
The package, which is expected to
cost about £10 billion, will be funded in
part by a windfall tax on the excess
profits of oil and gas companies, likely
to come into effect in the autumn.
Senior figures in Downing Street had
opposed the scheme but Johnson is
understood to have sided with Rishi
Sunak, the chancellor, to support the
tax despite cabinet opposition.
They are expected to compromise
with a “graded” approach under which
companies will be taxed less if they
invest more in the UK. A government
source said there would be “substantial
safeguards” to protect investment.
Johnson and Sunak may meet as
soon as today to finalise the plans
before an announcement tomorrow,
the last day before parliament goes into
recess for a half-term break.
However, a government source said
that the publication today of Sue Gray’s
report on lockdown-breaking parties
could knock the plans off track.
Johnson intends to make a statement
to the Commons, hold a press confer-
ence and meet Tory backbenchers to
limit the damage from the report,
which is said to be “damning”.
He is expected to repeat his apology
and say that he takes responsibility for
Continued on page 2, col 3Parents gathered at the civic centre in Uvalde, Texas, for news of their children after a teenage gunman went on a rampage at Robb Elementary School yesterday
MARCO BELLO/REUTERSSalvador Ramos,
18, was identified
as the gunman