Texas Elementary School Shooting: Live from Uvalde, Texas
A gunman has killed at least nineteen children and two teachers in a shooting at a Texas elementary school just one week after another gunman killed ten people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.
The gunman, who has been named Salvador Ramos, 18, was reportedly shot dead by police officers at the scene. One of the victims of the shooting has been named Eva Mireles as a fourth-year ESO teacher.
Her aunt said she was “furious that these shootings would continue” in a statement after the attack, adding: “These children are innocent. Rifles should not be readily available to everyone.”
Three children killed in the attack have been named Uziyah Garcia, eight, Xavier Javier López, 10, and Jose Flores, 10.
After the attack, Joe Biden urged Congress to end the “carnage” of armed violence in the United States, saying, “When, in God’s name, will we face the gun lobby?”
The shooter Ramos allegedly shot his grandmother at her home in the morning before smashing her car out of Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. He then ran to school and started firing, according to a Texas state senator, Roland Gutierrez. Biden told the nation it was time to “turn that pain into action” and change gun laws after the massacre.
“Why are we willing to live with this butchery?” he told the White House.
Key points
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The gunman was “harassed as a child” and became “a different person,” says a friend
Texas gunman Salvador Ramos became a “different person” and “got worse and worse” in recent years, according to a school friend.
Stephen Garcia, 18, told the Washington Post that he had been Ramos’ best friend at school, but disconnected from him. “I lost my friend a long time ago,” he said.
“He was the nicest kid, the most shy. I just needed to get out of his shell, he was a person like all of us, he was like a good friend of mine who has never made me happier,” Garcia said.
He described how Ramos had been “hard harassed” at school, “by social media, by games, by everything.”
Mr. Garcia’s family moved in with his mother’s job and Ramos “has just started to be a different person,” he said.
Ramos dropped out of school and started wearing big, black military boots, Garcia said. Speaking about the shooting, Garcia said, “I never expected him to hurt people. I think he needed mental help. And more closeness to his family. And love.”
Holly Bancroft May 25, 2022 10:15 p.m.
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A gunman bought two rifles days after his 18th birthday
The man who killed at least 21 people in a Texas massacre legally bought two rifles in the days following his eighteenth birthday, authorities said.
The shooter, Salvador Ramos, 18, bought one of the rifles at a federally licensed gun shop on May 17, the day after his birthday.
On May 18 Ramos bought 375 rounds of ammunition and then on May 20 bought the second rifle.
Holly Bancroft May 25, 2022 10:01 AM
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“He was a very happy child”
Jose Flores, 10, has been named by the Washington Post as another victim of the shooting at Texas Elementary School.
His uncle Christopher Salazar told the newspaper, “He was a very happy young boy. He loved his two parents … and he loved to laugh and have fun.”
He said hours before Tuesday’s shooting, Jose had received an award for making the honor roll.
(Family photo)
Holly Bancroft May 25, 2022 9:47 AM
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How Republicans reacted to the news of the mass shooting
Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene reacted to the news that 21 people had been shot dead in Texas saying “we don’t need more gun control.”
On Twitter after the horrific attack, Ms Taylor Greene said the United States “needs to take a serious look at today’s state of mental health.” He added: “The American is failing our younger generations for decades to reject good moral values and teachings. We don’t need more gun control. We need to go back to God.”
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who is due to speak at the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting this weekend, said he and his wife were “fervently raising children and families in prayer in the horrific shooting in Uvalde “.
Former Vice President Mike Pence said he was “deeply saddened and heartbroken” by the news, and Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell said he was “horrified and heartbroken.”
Holly Bancroft May 25, 2022 9:32 AM
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Pope Francis says he is “heartbroken” by the shooting in Texas
Pope Francis said Wednesday he was “heartbroken” by the shooting at a Texas school that killed at least 19 children and two teachers, and called for greater gun control.
Crowds in St. Peter’s Square for their weekly general public applauded his call, made a day after the worst school shooting in the United States in nearly a decade.
(AFP via Getty Images)
Holly Bancroft May 25, 2022 9:21 AM
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Sarah Sanders jumps on the Texas shooting to justify the ban on abortions, not guns
Former White House Secretary of State Sarah Sanders, who won the Republican primary for Arkansas governor, used her victory speech Tuesday to call for a ban on abortions while lamenting gun deaths in the United States. Texas School.
“Every life has a value and the most vulnerable among us are the ones we should fight and protect the most,” he added.
“I can assure you that in my administration, this is exactly what we will do. We will make sure that when a child is in the womb, he is as safe as in the classroom, in the workplace, in the nursing home, because every stage of life has value. “
Read the full story here:
Holly Bancroft May 25, 2022 9:15 p.m.
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reacts to the shooting
More international reaction to the mass shooting in Texas as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz offers his condolences to the victims of the attack.
He said in a statement on Twitter that his thoughts were with “the wounded and the bad of the victims” and called the shooting an “inconceivable massacre”.
Read his full comment here:
Holly Bancroft May 25, 2022 9:03 AM
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The Mexican government offers consular advice after the shooting
The Mexican government is in contact with police to determine if any of its citizens have been killed in the shooting.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Mexican government said: “The Mexican consulate in Eagle Pass is in contact with the police to identify the Mexican victims. In addition, the consulate in Eagle Pass and the consulate general of Mexico in San Antonio are in communication with the hospitals to which the wounded were transferred to find out if there are any Mexican citizens among them “.
They added: “The Mexican government strongly condemns this act of violence that has claimed the lives of children and devastated families in a predominantly Hispanic city.”
Holly Bancroft May 25, 2022 9:00 p.m.
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“She was very bubbly, she loved to dance with her siblings, her mother”
Lisa Garza, 54, of Arlington, Texas, mourned the death of her cousin, Xavier Javier López, who was looking forward to a summer of swimming.
“He was just a loving 10-year-old boy, just enjoying life, not knowing that this tragedy would happen today,” he said.
“She was very bubbly, she loved to dance with her siblings, her mother. That just happened to all of us. “
He also lamented what he described as lax gun laws. “We should have more restrictions, especially if these children are not in the right mood and all they want to do is hurt people, especially innocent children who go to school,” Garza said.
(Family photo)
Associated Press Report.
Holly Bancroft May 25, 2022 8:46 AM
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NBA Coach Steve Kerr Condemns Congress for Texas Shootout in Emotional Pre-Match Speech
The Warriors were playing against the Dallas Mavericks in a crucial playoff game, but Kerr, a longtime gun control advocate whose father was killed in a 1984 terrorist attack in Beirut, said that it was time to do more than just keep playing basketball and catch basketball. action.
“I won’t talk about basketball,” began an emotional Kerr, before slapping his hands on the table and shouting, “When are we going to do something ?!”
Read the full story here:
Holly Bancroft May 25, 2022 8:41 AM