Texas school shooting after 18-year-old man killed 19 children and 2 adults
US President , Joe Biden has condemned the Texas shooting at Robb Elementary School that left 21 people dead, including 19 children.
The gunman, Salvador Ramos, wearing body armor, equipped with a handgun and possibly a rifle shot his grandmother on Tuesday, May 24, before entering the school and opening fire.
U.S. Authorities said the 18-year-old gunman went from classroom to classroom shooting innocent people before he was killed.
The death toll also included 19 children and two adults, one of whom was a teacher.
The gunman entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde with a handgun and possibly a rifle, however officials did not immediately reveal a motive.
A Border Patrol agent who was nearby when the shooting began rushed into the school without waiting for backup and shot and killed the gunman, who was behind a barricade, according to a law enforcement official.
The agent was wounded but able to walk out of the school, the law enforcement source said.
Speaking on the incident, President Biden said;
"As a nation, we have to ask when in God's name we're going to stand up to the gun lobby, when in God's name we do what we all know in our gut needs to be done."
"I am sick and tired of it. We have to act. And don't tell me we can't have an impact on this carnage. I spent my career as a senator and vice president working to pass common sense gun laws.'
'We can't and won't prevent every tragedy, but we know they work and have positive impact. When we passed the assault weapons ban, mass shootings went down, when the law expired mass shootings tripled.'
He said the ability for a teenage gunman, like Salvador Ramos, to be able to 'walk into a gun store and buy two assault weapons is just wrong.;
'What in God's name do you need an assault weapon for except to kill someone?' Biden questioned.
He then accused gun makers of spending 'two decades aggressively marketing assault weapons, which make them the most and largest profit.'
'For God's sake, we have to have the courage to stand up to the industry,' the president said.
Biden pointed out that no other developed nation has the rate of gun violence the US experiences.
'Why? They have mental health problems. They have domestic disputes in other countries. They have people who are lost. But these kinds of mass shootings never happen with the kind of frequency that they happen in America. Why?' he pressed.
'Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen? Where in God's name is our backbone?'
He then called on supporters of tighter gun laws to mobilize in the wake of Tuesday's shooting, while warning opponents of firearm reform;
'For those who obstruct or delay or block the common sense gun laws, we need to let you know that we will not forget.' he said
'Our prayer tonight is those parents lying in bed trying to figure out, will I be able to sleep again? What do I say to my other children? What happens tomorrow?' Biden said.
'May God bless the loss of innocent life on this sad day. And may the lord be near the brokenhearted and save those crushed in spirit because they're going to need a lot of help, a lot of our prayers.' Biden added
It was the deadliest shooting at a US grade school since a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, almost a decade ago.
People consoling each other after the mass shooting at the school
It came just 10 days after a gunman in body armour killed 10 Black shoppers and workers at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, in what authorities say was a racist attack.
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