Deadliest US school killing in nearly a decade prompts Biden call for action

A gunman murdered 19 children and two teachers in the deadliest U.S. school shooting for nearly a decade, prompting President Joe Biden to urge Americans to confront the country’s gun lob and pressure Congress to tighten gun laws.
Authorities said Salvador Ramos, 18, on Tuesday shot his grandmother, who survived, before fleeing and crashing his car near Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and killing at least 21 people before being killed, apparently shot police.

I’m addressing the nation on the horrific elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. https://t.co/8WI1nWHu6R
— President Biden (@POTUS) May 25, 2022
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Officers saw the gunman, clad in body armor, emerge from the crashed vehicle carrying a rifle. They said he acted alone; the motive was unclear.

In a televised speech Biden, his voice rising to a crescendo, said: “As a nation, we have to ask when in God’s name we’re going to stand up to the gun lob, when in God’s name we do what we all know in our gut needs to be done.”
A woman is escorted outside the SSGT Willie De Leon Civic Center after a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. REUTERS/Nuri Vallbona
A Democrat, Biden accused the gun lob of blocking enactment of tougher firearm safety laws. He ordered flags flown at half-staff daily until sunset on Saturday in observance of the tragedy. read more
“I am sick and tired of it. We have to act,” he said without going into specifics.
Mass shootings have frequently led to public protests and calls for stricter background checks on gun sales and other firearm controls common in other countries, but such measures repeatedly fail in the face of strong Republican-led opposition.

These kinds of mass shootings rarely happen elsewhere in the world.
Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen? Where in God’s name is our backbone to have the courage to deal with it?
It’s time to turn this pain into action.
— President Biden (@POTUS) May 25, 2022
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The school houses second, third and fourth grade children, meaning pupils would likely have ranged in age from 7 to 10.
“My heart is broken today,” school drict superintendent Hal Harrell told reporters late in the day, his voice quaking with emotion. “We’re a small community and we need your prayers to get us through this.”
Outside the town civic centre, where families were told to gather. The silence was broken repeatedly screams and wailing. “No! Please, no!” one man yelled as he embraced another man. (Reuters)
The community, deep in the state’s Hill Country region about 80 miles (130 km) west of San Antonio, has about 16,000 residents, nearly 80% of them Hispanic or Latino, according to U.S. Census data.
Hours after the shooting, police had cordoned off the school with yellow tape. Police cruisers and emergency vehicles were scattered around the perimeter of the school grounds. Uniformed personnel stood in small clusters, some in camouflage carrying semi-automatic weapons.

Tonight, there are parents who will never see their child again. Parents who will never be the same.
To lose a child is to have a piece of your soul ripped away forever.
I ask the nation to pray for them — to give them strength in the darkness.
— President Biden (@POTUS) May 25, 2022
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DEADLIEST SINCE 2012
The rampage was the latest in a series of mass school shootings that periodically reignite a fierce debate between advocates of tighter gun controls and those who oppose any legislation that could compromise the right of Americans to bear arms guaranteed the U.S. Constitution. read more
It was the deadliest school shooting since a gunman killed 26 people, including 20 children, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in December 2012.
Democratic U.S. Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a leading advocate for legislation to restrict the proliferation of guns, told reporters: “I just don’t understand why people here think we’re powerless.”

As a nation we must ask: When in God’s name will we stand up to the gun lob?
When in God’s name will we do what needs to be done?
I’m sick and tired of it. We have to act.
— President Biden (@POTUS) May 25, 2022
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“There’s just not a coincidence that we’re the high-income-world’s deadliest nation and we have the loosest gun laws. You know, guns flow in this country like water. And that’s why we have mass shooting after mass shooting,” he said. read more
Firearms became the leading cause of death for U.S. children and adolescents starting in 2020, surpassing motor vehicle accidents, according to a University of Michigan research letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine last month.
Tuesday’s horrors were reflected on the Facebook page of Robb Elementary School, where posts earlier this week showed the usual student activities – a field trip to the zoo and a save-the-date reminder for a gifted-and-talented showcase.
On Tuesday, a note was posted at 11:43 a.m.: “Please know at this time Robb Elementary is under a Lockdown Status due to gunshots in the area. The students and staff are safe in the building.” A second post said: “There is an active shooter at Robb Elementary. Law enforcement is on site.” Finally, a note was posted advising parents they could meet their children at the civic center.