Texas School Shooting: 19 Children Killed
After rushing into a Texas elementary school on Tuesday, a teen gunman killed at least 19 children and two adults. The Texas school shooting is the latest instance of gun-fueled mass murder in the United States. It’s the country’s bloodiest school shooting in nearly a decade. Several people injured, including children. Many of them are in critical condition.
Texas School Shooting Suspect
Governor Greg Abbott stated that the suspect, Salvador Ramos, was reportedly killed by police officers and that the policemen were hit by gunfire, though their injuries were not serious.
The 18-year-old had also shot his own grandmother before fleeing the scene. He crashed his car and unleashed a violent spree at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
America’s Gun Problem
Hours later, US President Joe Biden urged Americans to stand up to the politically strong US gun lobby, which he blamed for stalling the passage of harsher “common-sense” gun safety legislation.
The shooting was the latest in a series of horrific school shootings that have periodically revived a furious debate between supporters of stricter gun control and those who oppose any action that could jeopardise Americans’ constitutional right to bear arms.
As of Tuesday, the Gun Violence Archive, an independent data collection organisation, had tallied 212 mass shootings this year.
A mass shooting is defined as an incident in which four or more persons are shot or killed, excluding the shooter.
As for school shootings, according to Education Week, 2021 had 34 such incidents at educational institutions. In 2020, there were 10 shootings. Both 2019 and 2018 recorded 24 shootings.
So far this year, 27 school shootings have taken place.
Reaction of Politicians
In a speech to the nation following the tragedy, Biden urged action to combat gun violence.
Vice President Kamala Harris said earlier that people normally declare in moments like this, “our hearts break — but our hearts keep getting broken … and our broken hearts are nothing compared to the broken hearts of those families.”
“We have to have the courage to take action … to ensure something like this never happens again,” she said.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz described the Uvalde shooting as “truly horrific”, but said gun reforms were not the way to prevent such crimes.
He told reporters that curtailing the rights of “law-abiding citizens… does not work.” It’s ineffective. It does not deter crime.” He claimed that “going after convicts” is what prevents such crimes, and he chastised other politicians for using gun control to “promote their own political agenda.”
