VALDOSTA — Lowndes County’s sheriff was in Texas last Friday when he stopped on a street in front of a school. He couldn’t have known, but only days later, the school would be the site of a slaughter.

“There’s no reason to shoot up little children,” Sheriff Ashley Paulk said Wednesday. “It takes a disturbed person to fight defenseless students.”

The school was in Uvalde, Texas, and was the site of a mass shooting Tuesday when an 18-year-old gunman barricaded himself in a classroom with an AR-type rifle and killed 19 children and two teachers, authorities said.

Investigators did not immediately disclose a motive but identified the assailant as Salvador Ramos, a resident of the community about 85 miles west of San Antonio.

Paulk said a friend of his owns land in the region and he has been hunting in the area around Uvalde many times.

“(Uvalde) is a nice little town, about the size of Adel,” he said, “but a little more spread out.”

Paulk is making efforts to keep problems from erupting at schools in Lowndes County. More deputies will be posted for security Saturday for Lowndes High School graduation ceremonies at Martin Stadium, according to a sheriff’s office statement.

“The sheriff stresses that there have been no active threats made for the graduation; however, following nationwide events, the precaution is warranted,” the statement said. “Sheriff Paulk asks those in attendance to notify any member of law enforcement at the event if they see anything they deem suspicious.”