TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING: FAMILIES MOURN LOST LOVED ONES AS MORE VICTIMS IDENTIFIED

Footage on social media appears to show a man walking with a rifle within the grounds of Robb Elementary School, Uvalde.

Wed 25 May 2022:

A gunman opened fire in a primary school in the US state of Texas, killing at least 19 children and two adults.

The attack happened just days before the school year ended at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, a tiny town in the state’s south. Salvador Ramos, an 18-year-old shooter, was shot and killed by police.

A suspect, identified by police as Salvador Ramos, opened fire in the elementary school, Texas state senator Roland Gutierrez, who was briefed by state police, told reporters.

Suspect had a handgun, an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and high-capacity magazines, investigators say.

Described by one pupil as an ’emo’, his lisp also made him a target, according to the Washington Post, with classmates claiming he endured gay slurs. Another said he was mocked for his clothing.

A former classmate, who asked not to be identified, told CNN he and Ramos were somewhat ‘close’ and used to play Xbox together. The killer was a fan of the shooting and combat game Call of Duty.

On his since removed Instagram account, Ramos is believed to have shared a photo of two AR15-style rifles just three days before the killing at Robb Elementary school, while the bio on his TikTok page chillingly read: ‘Kids be scared irl’ (in real life).

Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Chief of Police Pete Arredondo said the shooting began at 11:32 local time on Tuesday, and that investigators believe the attacker “did act alone during this heinous crime”.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the shooter, whom he named as Salvador Ramos, abandoned a vehicle before entering the school to “horrifically, incomprehensibly” open fire.

The Associated Press news agency reports that a US Border Patrol official who was nearby when the shooting began rushed into the school and shot and killed the gunman, who was behind a barricade.

Ramos bought two rifles on his 18th birthday, Gutierrez told reporters after he was briefed by Texas Rangers. Two assault-style rifles were reportedly purchased from a store in Uvalde County on his birthday. “That was the first thing he did on his 18th birthday,” Gutierrez said, adding that Ramos had hinted on social media that an attack could be coming. “He suggested the kids should watch out,” he said.

‘I’m sick and tired. We must act’: Biden

Biden opens his speech talking of the children who had watched their friends die “as if on a battlefield” and parents who will never see their children again.

“[These] parents will never be the same again,” he said. “To lose a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped out.”

Biden, himself, lost an infant daughter in a car crash and his adult son to cancer.

He says it’s time for the US to take action. “I’m sick and tired. We have to act. Don’t tell me we cannot have an impact on this carnage.”

Biden made an impassioned plea for US elected representatives to pass “common-sense” gun control legislation.

“When, in God’s name, are we going to stand up to the gun lobby,” he asked.

Biden noted that it had been 10 years since he had been to Sandy Hook, where 26 people were killed, 20 of them children.

Nancy Pelosi joins call for legislative action after ‘monstrous’ shooting

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says it is time for Congress to join together to enact gun control legislation after what she described as the “monstrous” shooting in Uvalde.

“Across the nation, Americans are filled with righteous fury in the wake of multiple incomprehensible mass shootings in the span of just days,” Pelosi said in a statement.

“For too long, some in Congress have offered hollow words … while opposing all efforts to save lives. It is time for all in Congress to heed the will of the American people and join in enacting the House-passed bipartisan, common-sense, life-saving legislation into law.”

Texas shooting follows record year for attacks in 2021

The latest shooting comes just a week after a white gunman killed 10 Black people in a racist attack on a Buffalo supermarket.

The FBI has said 2021 was the worst year ever for gun attacks.

The Reuters news agency has compiled a list of some of the most serious recent shootings:

New York: April 12 – In one of the most violent attacks in the history of New York’s transit system, 23 people were wounded when a 62-year-old man activated a smoke bomb and opened fire on the subway. He was taken into custody the next day.

Oxford, Michigan: November 30, 2021 – Four students were killed, and seven other people were wounded after a teenager opened fire at a high school in Oxford, Michigan.

Indianapolis: April 16, 2021 – A former FedEx employee who had been under psychiatric care shot eight people dead and injured several others at an Indiana facility of the shipping company before taking his own life.

Los Angeles: March 31, 2021 – Four people were killed, one of them a child, in a shooting at an office building in suburban Los Angeles before the suspect was taken into custody.

Boulder, Colorado: March 22, 2021 – A mass shooting at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, left 10 people dead, including a police officer.

Atlanta, Georgia: March 16, 2021 – Eight people, including six women of Asian descent, were shot dead in a string of attacks at day spas in and around Atlanta. A white male suspect was arrested.

Guns overtook car crashes to become the leading cause of death for US children and teenagers in 2020, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last month.

On Monday, an FBI report found that “active shooter” rampage attacks have doubled since the coronavirus began in 2020.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent