Texas [US], May 25 The death toll in the mass shooting incident at a school in Texas rose to 21 including 19 children and two adults.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has extended his heartfelt condolences over the mass shooting. Taking to Twitter, the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Abdulla Sahid said, “Deeply saddened to know about the horrific & indiscriminate firing at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas that killed 19 people, including 18 children. Heartfelt condolences to the parents, siblings, family members, friends & community members bearing this unimaginable anguish.”
The incident took place on Tuesday (local time) after an 18-year-old gunman opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The gunman was later killed by law enforcement officers, CNN reported.
The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (UCISD) in Texas said they are cancelling all school activities after the shooting at Robb Elementary School.
This is the deadliest attack since the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed, according to CNN.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden asked Americans to stand up to the gun lobby and urged the members of Congress for immediate gun control legislation as he highlighted that the ‘sensible gun laws’ need to be passed in the wake of the Texas school shooting.
“When we passed the Assault Weapons Ban (in 1994), mass shootings went down. When the law expired [in 2004], mass shootings tripled. The idea that an 18-year-old kid can walk into a gun store and buy assault weapons, it’s just wrong,” Biden said.
As a mark of respect for the victims, the President ordered that the flags will fly at half-mast at the White House and other public places until Saturday.
Following his return from Asia, Biden will address the nation on the school shooting incident this evening at 8:15 p.m. ET from the White House.
Likewise early report from Taxas an 18-year-old gunman killed 14 children and 1 teacher in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The shooter also died.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said that an elementary school shooter is an 18-year-old male from Uvalde. “It’s believed that he abandoned his vehicle and entered into the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde with a handgun and he may have also had a rifle, but that is not yet confirmed according to my most recent report,” Abbott said as quoted by CNN.
The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (UCISD) in Texas said they are cancelling all school activities after the shooting at Robb Elementary School.
“All district and campus activities, after-school programs, and events are cancelled,” the district tweeted.
The district also announced that they will soon hold a news conference.
According to UCISD, the shooter on Tuesday was at Robb Elementary School at 12:17 pm (US time) and law enforcement was on site.
This is the deadliest attack since the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed, according to CNN.
Upon this incident, White House new press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre informed that President Joe Biden has been briefed on the school shooting in Texas.
“President Biden has been briefed on the horrific news of the elementary school shooting in Texas and will continue to be briefed regularly as information becomes available,” she tweeted.
“His prayers are with the families impacted by this awful event, and he will speak this evening when he arrives back at the White House,” Jean-Pierre added.
Local police had previously said that a suspect was taken into custody, following the attack in Texas.
US President Joe Biden asked Americans to stand up to the gun lobby and urged the members of the Congress for an immediate gun control legislation as he highlighted that the ‘sensible gun laws’ need to be passed in the wake of Texas school shooting in which 19 were killed including 18 children.
Authorities said an 18-year-old gunman opened fire at an elementary school in south Texas. “When we passed the Assault Weapons Ban (in 1994), mass shootings went down. When the law expired [in 2004], mass shootings tripled. The idea that an 18-year old kid can walk into a gun store and buy assault weapons,it’s just wrong.” US President said hours after the deadliest school shooting in Texas.
Suggesting to reinstate the assault weapons ban and other “common-sense gun laws, Biden said, “We have to act,” he said pointing to Congress members “It’s time for those who have struck or delayed or blocked the common-sense gun laws, we need to let you know that we will not forget,
Addressing the presser, Biden hoped that when he became the President, he would not have to do this, again.
Biden drew on his own experience with grief, having lost his first wife and young daughter in a car accident in 1972 and an adult son to cancer in 2015.
“To lose a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped away,” he said. “There’s a hollowness in your chest you feel like you’re being sucked into it … you’re never quite the same”.
US President asked the nation to pray for them and “give the parents and siblings strength in the darkness they feel right now as a nation.”
US President mentioned the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, and said, “Since then they have been over 900 incidents of gun fires reported on school grounds.”
He spoke of the shooting in Buffalo ten days ago and lamented that in both incidents an 18-year-old was able to purchase a gun and commit such heinous crimes.
Earlier in the day, Biden was briefed about the shooting aboard Air Force One as he returned from a trip to Asia, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Twitter. He called Texas Governor Greg Abbott to offer any assistance needed.
“His prayers are with the families impacted by this awful event,” Jean-Pierre said.
In a statement issued before he landed, Biden ordered the flags at the White House and at U.S. federal and public buildings to be flown at half-mast until Saturday
In an emotional address following the school shooting incident in Texas, the US Vice President Kamala Harris condemned the attack on Wednesday while calling for “action and taking a stand”.
“Enough is enough. As a nation, we have to have the courage to take action and have the courage to take a stand,” she said, calling the attack a ‘heartbreaking tragedy’. Addressing a room full of American leaders, she urged everyone to understand the nexus between what makes for reasonable and sensible public policy to ensure something like this never happens again.
Not disclosing the details of the incident, she condoled the deceased and expressed sympathy for the people of Uvalde, saying “we stand with you and grieve with you.”
Meanwhile, First Lady Jill Biden also responded to the incident, saying “Lord, enough.” “Stunned. Angry. Heartbroken,” she stated in her tweet.
The death toll has reached 21, including 19 children and two adults, in the shooting incident at a Texas elementary school, CNN reported.
Earlier, on Tuesday, an 18-year-old gunman killed 14 children and one teacher in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The shooter also died.
This is the deadliest attack since the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed, according to CNN ANI
