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| Representational image Depositphotos |
The United States awoke to the horrific aftermath of its latest mass school shooting, in which a gunman stormed into an elementary school in Texas and killed 19 children and two teachers.
The gunman opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, where children aged seven to ten are taught, before being killed by police, according to officials.
Investigators say the 18-year-old suspect identified as Salvador Ramos, had a handgun, an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, and high-capacity magazines. Before the rampage, the teen is suspected of shooting his grandmother, who survived.
The horrific incident occurred on Tuesday (May 24, early May 25 in India), and it was the country's worst school shooting in nearly a decade.
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| 8-year old Uziyah Garcia was among those killed in Tuesday's shooting at Robb Elementary School on May 24 in Uvalde, Texas, (Photos provided by his grandfather Manny Renfro via AP) |
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After shooting his grandmother, he fled the scene and crashed his car near the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, about 130 kilometres west of San Antonio, according to authorities. There, he went on a bloody rampage that ended when he was shot and killed by police.
According to Erick Estrada of the Texas Department of Public Safety, who spoke to CNN, a Uvalde school district police officer who worked at the school saw Ramos emerge from the vehicle carrying a rifle and wearing body armour. Mr Estrada said the officer "engaged" the suspect but was unable to stop him. Two more officers from the Uvalde Police Department attempted to stop Ramos but were unsuccessful and requested assistance.
A number of the deceased children have been identified. The two adults who died were both teachers.
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American President Biden ordered flags flown at half-staff daily until sunset on Saturday in observance of the tragedy. "As a nation, we have to ask, 'When in God's name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?'" Biden said on national television, suggesting reinstating a US ban on assault-style weapons and other "common-sense gun laws".
Mass shootings in the United States have periodically sparked public outrage and calls for tougher background checks on gun purchases and other weapons prohibitions prevalent in other countries, but such proposals have repeatedly failed in the face of Republican-led opposition.
This year alone, there have been 27 school shootings in the United States. Young schoolchildren practice what to do if a gunman enters their classroom on a regular basis. It's only been ten days since a mass shooting in New York killed ten people.
Tuesday's shooting in Texas was one of the deadliest school shootings in the United States since a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in December 2012, killing 26 people, including 20 children. The School Shooting of 2018, in which a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killed 17 students and teachers, was the second deadliest until Tuesday.
According to a University of Michigan research letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine last month, firearms overtake motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of death for US children and adolescents in 2020.
Two Texas funeral businesses are assisting the families of the victims of the Uvalde school massacre by providing free funeral services. Hours after the incident, Hillcrest Memorial Funeral Home and Rushing-Estes-Knowles Mortuary in Uvalde issued a statement to assist the families.
"We have fought as a community, and we will pull together as one now in our hour of need." Hillcrest will assist families with NO COST funerals for all those involved in today's horrific events. Please pray for our wonderful small town. "#UvaldeStrong," the funeral home said in a Facebook statement.