US: 19 children among 21 killed in Texas school shooting
In one of the worst school shootings in America, an 18-year-old gunman killed 21 people, including 19 children at a school in Texas that had students in grades second-fourth. Several others were grievously injured before the police killed the assailant. This is the second mass shooting in the US in the past 10 days, prompting President Joe Biden to denounce the country's gun lobby.
The gunman, identified as Salvador Ramos, first shot his grandmother, who is alive but in a critical condition. He then went to Robb Elementary School in Uvalde--a small community about an hour from the Mexican border--with two assault rifles that he had bought after he turned 18 recently. He also abandoned his vehicle on the way. His motive has not been ascertained yet.
"When in God's name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?" Biden said at the White House shortly after returning from a five-day trip to Asia. He added, "I am sick and tired. We have to act." Biden also ordered the flags at the White House, federal buildings, and military posts be flown at half-staff as a mark of respect.
I’m addressing the nation on the horrific elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. https://t.co/8WI1nWHu6R
— President Biden (@POTUS) May 25, 2022
On May 14, an 18-year-old had opened fire at a grocery store in New York's Buffalo killing 10 African-Americans. The next day, one was killed and five injured when a man fired at a Taiwanese-American congregation in a California church. Tuesday's incident is the deadliest since the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting in Connecticut, in which 26 people including 20 children were killed.
Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, appealed for concrete action to stop the violence. "This isn't inevitable, these kids weren't unlucky. This only happens in this country and nowhere else. Nowhere else do little kids go to school thinking that they might be shot that day," Murphy said, adding, "Work with us to find a way to pass laws that make this less likely."
Across the country, parents are putting their children to bed, reading stories, singing lullabies—and in the back of their minds, they’re worried about what might happen tomorrow after they drop their kids off at school, or take them to a grocery store or any other public space.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) May 25, 2022
Several initiatives to reform gun regulations in the US have failed in the Congress despite many such incidents of mass shootings. The National Rifle Association has been fighting against stricter US gun laws. The US suffered 19,350 firearm deaths in 2020, up nearly 35% compared to 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s latest data.
