Texas Shooting : At least 21 dead in shooting at Texas elementary school

 An 18-year-old shot and killed at least 18 children and three adults at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, the governor said on Sunday.He also said the gunman was dead, possibly shot by police.

(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) According to the governor of Texas, a shooting occurred at an elementary school in the state on the 24th, killing at least 21 people. Governor Greg Abbott said at a news conference that the suspect "horribly and incomprehensible" shot at least 18 children and killed three adults. Federal investigators believe the death toll may rise further.

Abbott said the suspect, named Salvador Ramos, from a mostly Latino community in the state, also died after the incident and is believed to have been shot by police. U.S. President Joe Biden has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff at the White House, military posts, naval ships and U.S. embassies as a sign of condolences for the victims of senseless violence.

U.S. President Joe Biden, who just wrapped up his Asia trip, addressed the nation on Tuesday (May 24) night, and said in a trembling voice that he wished he would not have to make such remarks when he took office. "Another massacre at an elementary school in Texas. They are beautiful and innocent second, third and fourth graders." He continued: "As a country, we have to ask: When will we stand Coming out against the gun lobby?"

"I'm tired of this situation," Biden said. "We have to act. Not to mention we can't do something about the Holocaust, for God's sake we have to have the courage to stand up against the gun industry."

Details of the shooting

The shooting occurred in the small Texas city of Uwald, which is home to about 16,000 people. Abbott said the 18-year-old suspect, a resident of the town, is believed to have a pistol and a rifle with which he shot the victim. It was not immediately clear if more people were injured in the shooting.

Earlier on the 24th, a hospital reported that two people had died in the shooting. Uwald Memorial Hospital said it had admitted 13 children and was treating them. The primary school, with pupils aged between five and 11, has an enrolment of just under 600 pupils.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said after the tragedy: "Enough. Our hearts keep breaking. We must have the courage to act." Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who supports gun rights ) said on Twitter that he and his wife were "praying for the children and families of Uwald's horrific shooting."

Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, where the Sandy Hook shooting occurred, impassionedly called on authorities to take concrete action to prevent further violence. "It's not inevitable, these kids are not unlucky," he told the Washington Senate meeting. "It only happens in this country, nowhere else. Little kids anywhere else don't think about it when they go to school. They could be shot that day."

Tuesday's shooting was one of the deadliest attacks on U.S. elementary schools since 28 people were killed in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, nearly a decade ago. Less than two weeks ago, a white gunman killed 10 black people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York State's second-largest city. Biden called the Buffalo shooting a terrorist attack.

Mass casualty shootings and gun violence are frequent in the United States. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 19,350 firearm homicides were reported in 2020, a nearly 35 percent increase from the previous year. Still, the U.S. Congress has yet to pass gun control measures.

(Reuters, AFP, Associated Press) 

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