An 18-year-old shooter opened fire at an elementary school in Texas on Tuesday, killing at least 18 children as he moved from classroom to classroom, according to officials. It was the latest grisly incident for a nation beset by a run of mass shootings. The perpetrator was eliminated by law enforcement.Â
According to state Senator Roland Gutierrez, who was informed by state police of Shooting, the death toll also included three adults. However, it was unclear if that figure included the perpetrator or how many others were injured.Â
This was the bloodiest shooting at a U.S. elementary school since a shooter killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, over a decade ago.
“My heart is shattered today,” said Hal Harrell, superintendent of the school system, as he announced the cancellation of all school activities until further notice. Because we are a tiny town, we will need your prayers to get through this Shooting.Â
The incident occurred just 10 days after a fatal, racist rampage at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, which contributed to a years-long pattern of mass murders at churches, schools, and supermarkets. And the chances for any change in the nation’s gun restrictions were as bleak as they did follow the tragedy at Sandy Hook.
In his statement to the country hours after the assault Shooting, President Joe Biden seemed ready for battle and demanded additional gun control measures.Â
When in the name of God are we as a nation going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in the name of God will we accomplish what must be done?” US President Biden asked. “Why are we ready to accept this devastation?
Several of the injured by Shooting were brought to Uvalde Memorial Hospital, where staff workers in scrubs and families of the victims could be seen sobbing as they exited the facility.Â
CNN was told by Sgt. Erick Estrada of the Texas Department of Public Safety that the gunman, who was clad in body armour, smashed his car outside the school before entering.
Gutierrez stated that he killed his grandmother before entering the school with two military-style Shooting weapons he had purchased for his birthday. He stated, “That was the first thing he did on his 18th birthday.”Â
The Governor named the assailant Salvador Ramos and stated that he was a resident of the town located around 135 kilometres west of San Antonio.
Mr. Gutierrez stated that Ramos had signalled on social media that an assault may be imminent, stating that “he advised the children to be vigilant.”
A law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the incident stated that a Border Patrol agent who was nearby when the shooting began rushed into the school without waiting for backup and shot and killed the gunman, who was hiding behind a barricade.
The agent was injured but able to walk away from the school, according to a law enforcement source. Pete Arredondo, the police chief of the school district, stated that the attacker acted alone.
It was initially unclear how many individuals were injured, however, Arredondo stated that there were “several injuries.” Earlier, Uvalde Memorial Hospital reported that thirteen children were brought there. According to another hospital, a 66-year-old lady is in critical condition.
According to Arredondo, Robb Elementary School educates second, third, and fourth-graders and has a student body of little under 600. The ages of the youngsters that were shot were not provided. This was the final week of school before the summer break.
The school was surrounded by heavily armed law enforcement authorities, with cops in tactical vests directing traffic and FBI agents entering and exiting the facility.
The White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated that President Joe Biden was briefed on the incident while returning from a five-day trip to Asia on Air Force One. Biden was slated to give comments at the White House on Tuesday evening.
Uvalde, a city of around 16,000 inhabitants, is located 120 kilometres from the Mexican border. Robb Elementary is located in a predominantly residential area with modest dwellings.
The tragedy in Uvalde was the deadliest school shooting in Texas history, and it added to the tragic total of mass shootings in the state, which has been among the deadliest in the United States over the previous five years.
In 2018, a shooter killed ten individuals at Santa Fe High School in the Houston metropolitan region. A year earlier, a shooter slaughtered more than two dozen people during a Sunday service at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. In 2019, another shooter killed 23 people in a racist assault at a Walmart in El Paso.
The incident occurred days before the annual meeting of the National Rifle Association was scheduled to begin in Houston. Abbott and both of Texas’ U.S. senators were among the elected Republican figures set to appear at a leadership event hosted by the NRA’s lobbying arm on Friday.
Since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, the gun control discussion in Congress has fluctuated. Republican opposition and the power of outside groups such as the National Rifle Association have continually impeded legislative efforts to significantly alter U.S. gun laws.
A year after Sandy Hook, West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin and Pennsylvania Republican Patrick J. Toomey devised a deal to enhance the nation’s background check system. As the bill was about to be taken to the Senate floor for a vote, it became evident that it lacked the 60 votes necessary to overcome a filibuster.
Then-President Barack Obama, who had made gun control a top priority of his administration in the wake of the Newtown tragedy, referred to Congress’ inaction as “a very awful day for Washington.”
In 2017, the House of Representatives passed two pieces of legislation to extend background checks on weapons purchases. One bill would have eliminated an exception for online and private transactions. The alternative would have prolonged the review period for background checks. Both bills stagnated in the 50-50 Senate, where the Democrats require at least 10 Republican votes to break a filibuster.
