Where is Uvalde, Texas, and how much of a Hispanic population does it have?

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(CNN Spanish) --

The Robb Elementary School, where the suspect - identified as Salvador Ramos - opened fire and killed at least 19 children and two adults is located in Uvalde, a city that belongs to Uvalde County, in the center-south of Texas, located about 136 km west of San Antonio and about 112 km east of Del Río.

The suspect resided in this city and had attended Uvalde High School.

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A majority Hispanic population

According to census data, as of July 2021, Uvalde County had an estimated population of 24,729, made up of the majority of Hispanics or Latinos (72.7%).

For its part, Robb Robb Elementary School includes students in second through fourth grades and had 535 students in the 2020-21 school year, state data shows.

Of the total number of students, about 90% are Hispanic and about 81% are economically disadvantaged.

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"It's a small town," said Lalo Diaz, the county justice of the peace. It's the kind of place where everyone knows everyone, Diaz said, noting that he knows the families of several victims.

Diaz is working to get the bodies of the victims to Uvalde as soon as possible.

He is coordinating with the two funeral homes in Uvalde so that the victims return to their families today or tomorrow.

All 21 victims are currently at the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office in nearby San Antonio.

The shooter is being held in a neighboring county and will not be transferred to Bexar County until all of the victims have been processed first, Diaz said.

“Our first priority was to identify the victims,” Diaz said.

Diaz was called to the scene a few hours after the shooting and was expecting only a couple of victims.

“I got there and I thought it was 2 or 3 people and when they told me it was 16 kids… You can't believe what is happening in your community,” he said.

"Before this, the biggest was four people who died in a car accident," Diaz said.

"You never think you'll be doing 21 investigations at once."

"When I have to sign 21 death certificates," Diaz said, "my heart will sink."

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Former Robb Elementary School principal Ross McGlothlin said that when he was principal of the school, in 2015 and 2016, he served students in third and fourth grades.

They come from all over the city of Uvalde, as the city separates some students by grade levels at some campuses, McGlothlin said.

"Uvalde is a great little town," McGlothlin said.

"It's a quiet, friendly community, farmland to the south and ranches to the north, it's the gateway to Texas Hill County."

"This is just one sad example that this can absolutely happen anywhere," he added.

San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller comforts families Tuesday outside the civic center after the deadly shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

Dario Lopez-Mills/AP

Adela Martinez and her husband, Paul Martinez, could feel the pain and sadness spreading through their city, they said.

“We are like a big family here.

Can something like this be expected (shootings) in big cities like New York but in Uvalde?

If this happened here, now I think it could happen anywhere,” said Adela Martinez.

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Eric Levenson, Andy Rose, and Shimon Prokupecz contributed to this report.

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