An 18-year-old gunman shot and killed 19 children and at least two adults at an elementary school in Texas, officials said. Governor Greg Abbott initially assumed that 14 children and one teacher had been killed. Texas State Senator Roland Gutierrez later told CNN, citing law enforcement officials, that the death toll had risen to 18 children and three adults. It was later said that at least 19 children and two adults had been shot. The shooter himself was also killed, apparently by police officers at the scene, Abbott said in a first statement Tuesday.
“The suspect is dead,” confirmed the police chief in Uvalde. According to initial findings, the attacker was an 18-year-old young man who had been killed by officials. He did not answer any questions or say how many people were injured or killed in the incident. They want to respect the privacy of the relatives, he said. It is a “heinous” crime. However, the investigators apparently assume that the shooter acted alone in the act. According to Governor Abbott, two police officers were slightly injured in the exchange of fire.
CNN reported that the shooter drove to the school and then entered it with a rifle and pistol. The University Medical Center in San Antonio tweeted that two casualties from the shooting had been admitted, a 66-year-old woman and a 10-year-old girl. Both are in critical condition. At the local hospital in Uvalde are at least 13 injured children treated.
Texas Gov. Abbott said the gunman also shot his grandmother before he went to elementary school, according to CNN.
US President Biden wants to comment on the act after returning from his trip to Asia. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that Biden had been briefed on the “terrible news” and would be kept up to date with the new findings. The President prays for the affected families. A statement was announced for 2:15 a.m. Central European Time. Biden immediately ordered flags to be lowered to half-mast on all public buildings in the United States up to and including Saturday in view of the devastating attack.
Regular school shootings
Shooting sprees, including in schools, occur with sad regularity in the United States. A massacre at an elementary school ten years ago was particularly shocking: In December 2012, a 20-year-old with severe mental health problems in Newtown, Connecticut, first shot his mother. He then went to his elementary school, Sandy Hook Elementary School, and killed 20 school children and six teachers there. He then killed himself.
At the time, the act caused a shock across the country and also triggered horror beyond the borders of the USA. Just over a week ago, a gunman with an assault rifle opened fire in a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, killing ten people and injuring three others. He was arrested at the scene of the crime. According to investigators, the act was racially motivated – eleven of the 13 victims were black.
Call for stricter gun laws
Last year, the FBI counted 61 gun shootings in the United States. The FBI announced on Monday evening (local time) in Washington that this was more than 50 percent more than in the previous year. The number has doubled since 2017.
In 2021, 103 people were killed and 140 injured in rampages. That, too, is an increase of about 50 percent compared to 2020. According to the information, 60 of the 61 shooters were men. The FBI uses a strict definition for the count: it only includes cases in which a perpetrator shoots at people in public in order to kill them.
Even after the crime in Texas, the first voices were raised in favor of stricter gun laws. Connecticut Senator Democrat Chris Murphy said, “It’s only happening in this country and nowhere else. Nowhere else do little kids go to school thinking they might be shot that day.” Murphy added, “It’s our decision whether this goes ahead.” Congress, the US Parliament, is responsible for tightening gun laws.
US Vice President Kamala Harris has also called for new political measures. “Enough is enough,” Harris said in Washington. “As a nation, we must have the courage to act.” Measures must be taken to ensure that such crimes don’t happen again, Harris said – without getting specific. “Our hearts keep getting broken.”