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Families continue to mourn in the wake of the horrific assault on Robb Elementary School In Uvalde, Texas where at least 19 children and two adults were killed on Tuesday. Governor Greg Abbott has identified the shooter as Salvador Ramos, 18. It was discovered the gunman waited to purchase the firearms legally on his 18th birthday. “It was the first thing that he did on his 18th birthday, It was the first thing that he did on his 18th birthday, It’s astounding to me,” said Texas State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, District 19 (D-San Antonio).
Only two days prior to the school year ending the gunman crashed his car outside the school before reportedly storming the school and taking nineteen students, two teachers, and wounded seventeen others in what’s supposed to be a learning sanctuary housing second, third and fourth graders. According to authorities, it seems like the gunman acted on his own. Texas law enforcement shared that investigators are looking into if others were aware of his plans.
“He was just a loving 10-year-old little boy, just enjoying life, not knowing that this tragedy was going to happen today, he was very bubbly, loved to dance with his brothers, and his mom. This has just taken a toll on all of us,” Said Lisa Garza, 54, from Arlington, Texas in grieving the death of Xavier Javier Lopez — her cousin who was excited to begin swimming in the summer.
“We should have more restrictions, especially if these kids are not in their right state of mind and all they want to do is just hurt people, especially innocent children going to the schools,” Garza expressed dissatisfaction with the relaxed gun laws in the United States.
“What are we doing?” asked Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut in the chamber imploring his colleagues on the Senate floor. “There have been more mass shootings than days in the year, our kids are living in fear every single time they set foot in the classroom because they think they’re going to be next. What are we doing?” Murphy emphasized.
This shooting comes just over a week after the racially motivated shooting happened at the Tops Friendly Markets in Buffalo, New York. Where an 18-year-old gunman legally purchased his firearms and took the lives of 10 people and injured 3. After being investigated by police for threatening fellow classmates and telling a teacher: “I want to murder and commit suicide.” Later he was released from a mental health evaluation. The shooter was radicalized by the racist conspiracy theory of “white genocide.” He kept an online diary on his plans along with a manifesto of his “far-right beliefs.”
“As much as we want to fortify schools, and I think that is absolutely what we need to do, we need to start asking a lot harder questions — how can this continue to happen?” Jackson said.
Written by Skye Leon
Edited by Sheena Robertson
Sources:
NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth: Uvalde Gunman Bought Two Guns on His 18th Birthday, Texas Senator Says; by
APNews: Families mourn, worry in wake of elementary school shooting; By Jim Vertuno and Heather Hollingsworth; by
ABC News: After yet another mass shooting, lawmaker pleads to his colleagues: ‘What are we doing?‘; by
APNews: Buffalo supermarket shooting: What do we know so far?; by
CNN: Mass shooting at Buffalo supermarket was a racist hate crime, police say; by
The 74: Buffalo Shooting Suspect Made Threat at School But Wasn’t on NY ‘Red Flag’ List; by
Top and Featured Image Courtesy of Victoria Pickering‘s – Creative Commons License
Inset image Courtesy of Mark Bonica‘s – Creative Commons License
