Fact check roundup: What’s true and what’s false about the mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas – USA TODAY

Uvalde says goodbye to teacher and her husband

Mourners gathered at a Catholic church in Uvalde, Texas, to say goodbye to slain teacher Irma Garcia and her husband, Joe, who died two days later from an apparent heart attack after visiting his wife's memorial. (June 1) (AP Video: Cody Jackson, Allen Breed)

AP

An array of sometimes conflicting information has emerged sincea mass shooting left19 elementary school students and two teachers deadand injured17 others,at aUvalde, Texas, elementary school. Officials' statements about the day of the shooting have shifted, policymakers and voters have debated gun controland high levels of emotion about the shootinghave all combined to create an environment ripe for the spread of misinfomation.

USA TODAY's fact check team has analyzed an array of false and misleading claims related to the Uvalde tragedy, including assertions about the gunman, the nature of theshootings and gun policy in the U.S.

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Here's a rundown of our Uvalde fact checks.

Claim:An off-duty Border Patrol agent killed the Texas school shooting suspect

Our rating: False

Tens of thousands of users online shared a post claiming that off-duty CBP officer Jacob Albaradotook down the suspected gunman atRobb Elementary School. However, Albarado was not part of the tactical team that shot Salvador Ramos. Hehelped children evacuate from the building, but he never went inside the school.Read more.

Claim:ICE is conducting immigration enforcement at the scene of the Texas shooting

Our rating: False

Immigration and Customs Enforcement was at the scene to provide assistance to victims and families and did not conduct immigration enforcement-related activities on site, officials said.Read more.

Claim:Image shows Sen.Ted Cruzuses a Twitter templateformass shootings

Our rating: Altered

USA TODAY found no evidence that Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has a Twitter template he uses in response to mass shootings.The tweets in theimage are manipulated versions of a May 24 tweet Cruz shared in response to the Uvalde shooting. The collage presentedin the claim showssupposed identical tweets, but thoseare not found on any of Cruz's Twitter accounts. Read more.

Claim:Texas shootingsuspect Salvador Ramos was transgender

Our rating: False

The viral postat the heart of this claim misidentifies an image ofa transgender woman as Salvador Ramos, the Uvalde, Texas, shooting suspect.A mugshot includedin the post does show Ramos, however. We also found no evidence Ramos was transgender.Read more.

Claim:Texas elementary school shooting suspect, Salvador Ramos, was an 'illegal alien'

Our rating: False

The Texas governor and a state senator confirmed the shooting suspect was a U.S. citizen, born in North Dakota. Read more.

Claim:The US has had 288 school shootings while other countries had two or less

Our rating: Missing context

The United States has a significantly higher number of school shootings than other countries, but a claim uses outdated statistics to make the point.The data cited in the post tallies only shootings from 2009 to 2018. One database of shootings before and after thattime framepushes the tally past 2,000 school shootings in the U.S.Read more.

Claim:The NRA bannedguns at its annual conference

Our rating: Partly false

Tens of thousands of peoplesharedclaims that the National Rifle Associationhad banned guns at a conference held the weekend after the Uvalde shooting, but this wasn't the case. The NRA authorizes visitors to the conference to legally carry firearms and did not order any bans or limitations on itspolicy. Rather, the Secret Service enforced its own ban on guns at an event where former President Donald Trump spoke. Read more.

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Fact check roundup: What's true and what's false about the mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas - USA TODAY

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