Nineteen children under aged 10 and younger and their two fourth grade teachers were murdered at Robb elementary school in Uvalde, Texas at 11:30 AM on Tuesday. The teachers, who died while shielding their students, were Eva Mireles and Irma Garcia. Ms. Mireles, aged 44, worked in the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District for 17 years. Ms. Garcia, the mother of four, taught at the school for 23 years. All of the victims were in one classroom.
We are slowly learning the names and ages of some of the children who died. Uziyah Garcia, age 9, Xavier Javier Lopez, age 10, Amerie Jo Garza, age 9, Jose Flores, age 10, Tess Marie Mata. Rojelio Torres. Makenna Lee Elrod. Jailah Silguero. Nevaeh Bravo. Say their names. At least three other children are hospitalized.
Robb elementary school is a mostly Latino community about 85 miles west of San Antonio near the Mexico border, The shooter, Salvador Ramos, who was killed by police, was 18-years-old and legally purchased two rifles on his 18th birthday. He also shot and critically wounded his grandmother. According to the Washington Post, Ramos was a “lonely 18-year-old who was bullied over a childhood speech impediment, suffered from a fraught home life and lashed out violently against peers and strangers.” He was regular truant at Uvalde High School and was suspected of self-mutilation. During the shooting he was wearing a vest usually used by SWAT teams. Ramos had no criminal history or gang affiliation.
In an emotional speech, President Biden called for “common sense” gun laws. “As a nation we have to ask, when in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God’s name will we do what we all know in our gut needs to be done?”
After the shooting, Pope Francis issued a statement. “I am heartbroken by the massacre at the elementary school in Texas. I pray for the children and the adults who were killed and for their families It is time to say ‘enough’ to the indiscriminate trafficking of weapons. Let us all make a commitment so that tragedies like this cannot happen again.”
Basketball Coach Steve Kerr Demands Action on Gun Control
Tuesday night, Golden State Warriors basketball coach Steve Kerr spoke about the shooting in a pre-game press conference. Kerr, who has a long history of fighting for gun law reform, refused to discuss basketball. His father was killed in a terrorist attack in Beirut in 1984. You can watch his statement on Youtube.
"Since we left shoot around, 14 children were killed, 400 miles from here. And a teacher. When are we going to do something? I'm tired. I am so tired of getting up here and offering condolences to the devastated families that are out there. I am so tired of the, excuse, I am sorry, I am tired of the moments of silence. Enough!"
Kerr repeatedly referred to H.R.8, a bill, passed in the House of Representatives but stalled by gun advocates in the Senate, that would tighten background check rules for firearm transfers. Directly addressing the Republican Senate Minority Leader, "So I ask you Mitch McConnell, I ask all of you senators who refuse to do anything about the violence and school shootings and supermarket shootings. I ask you: Are you going to put your own desire for power ahead of the lives of our children and our elderly and our churchgoers? Because that's what it looks like. It's what we do every week." Kerr ended slamming the table. "I'm fed up. I've had enough. We can't get numb to this. We can't sit here and just read about it and go, well, let's go have a moment of silence. It's pathetic. I've had enough."
Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd also spoke. "We will truly play with heavy hearts tonight for the community, for the school of Robb Elementary School. As coaches, as fathers, we have kids, people in this room have kids, elementary school; you can just think about what could take place with any of your family or friends at a school."
School Shootings in the United States Compared to Other Countries
Between 2009 and 2018 there were two school shootings in Canada, two in France, 1 in Germany, and none in Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom. In Brazil there were five school shootings since 2001.The last school shooting in Australia was in 2012. It resulted in no deaths and no injuries. In the United States between 2009 and 2018 alone there were 288. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), gun violence killed almost 40,000 people in the United States in 2019.
List of U.S. School Shootings Since 1998
Westside Middle School. March 24, 1998. An 11 year-old and a 13-year old fatally shot four students and a teacher in this Jonesboro, Arkansas school. They were convicted of five murders and ten assaults and imprisoned until they were 21 years of age when they were released. One died in an auto accident and the other was convicted of new crimes and returned to prison.
Columbine High School, April 1999. Two students killed 12 of their peers and one teacher at the school in Lttleton, Colorado, and injured many others before killing themselves.
Santana High School, March 5, 2001. A 15-year-old student opened fire with an eight-shot .22 caliber revolver killing two students and wounding 13 others. He is serving 50 years to to life in prison.
Appalachian School of Law, January 16, 2002. Three people were killed and three wounded at this Virginia school by a former student. The shooter received three life sentences.
University of Arizona School of Nursing, October 29, 2002. A student with academic problems and personal issues at home killed three faculty members in the Tucson, Arizona college before turning the weapon on himself.
Rocori High School, September 24, 2003. A freshman at this Cold Spring, Minnesota high school killed two other students. The shooter was sentenced to life in prison.
Red Lake High School, March 2005. A 16-year-old killed his grandfather and the man's companion at their Minnesota home, then went to nearby Red Lake High School, where he killed five students, a teacher and a security guard before shooting himself.
West Nickel Mines School, October 2, 2006. A gunman took hostages and shot ten girls aged 6–13 at this one-room Amish school in Pennsylvania before committing suicide.
Virginia Tech, April 2007. A 23-year-old student killed 32 people on the campus in Blacksburg, Virginia; more than two dozen others were wounded. The gunman then killed himself.
Louisiana Technical College, February 8, 2008. A nursing student opened fire in a classroom at the Baton Rouge, Louisiana school. The mentally ill woman committed suicide.
Northern Illinois University, February 14, 2008. The shooter, a former student, opened fire with a shotgun and three pistols into a crowd of students killing five and injuring 17 more people before fatally shooting himself.
Chardon High School, February 27, 2012. Three were killed and three wounded at this Ohio school. The shooter was a 17-year-old former student.
Oikos University, April 2, 2012. A gunman shot at people at Oikos University, a Korean Christian college in Oakland, California, killing seven people and wounding three.
Sandy Hook Elementary School, December 2012. A 19-year-old man killed his mother at their home in Newtown, Connecticut, then went to the nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School and killed 20 first graders and six educators. He took his own life.
Santa Monica College, June 7, 2013. Six people were killed, including the suspect, and four others were injured at this California school. The shooter was armed with an an AR-15 type semi-automatic rifle that he assembled from legally purchased components
Marysville-Pilchuck High School, October 24, 2014. A 15-year-old freshman shot five other students at this Washington school, killing four people before shooting himself. His father was convicted of illegally purchasing and owning the gun.
Umpqua Community College, October 2015. A man killed nine people at the school in Roseburg, Oregon, and wounded nine others, then killed himself.
Aztec High School, December 7, 2017. Two students were killed at this New Mexico school. The 21-year-old shooter, who formerly attended the school, committed suicide.
Marshall County High School, January 23, 2018. Two people were killed and fourteen wounded in Benton, Kentucky. The 15-year-old shooter received two life sentences.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, February 2018. An attack left 14 students and three staff members dead at the school in Parkland, Florida, and injured many others. The 20-year-old suspect was charged with murder.
Santa Fe High School, May 2018. A 17-year-old opened fire at a Houston-area high school, killing 10 people, most of them students, authorities said. The suspect has been charged with murder.
Oxford High School, November 30, 2021. Four people died and seven were wounded in the shooting at a Michigan school. The shooters parents face charges of involuntary manslaughter for failing to prevent the shooting.
Robb Elementary School, May 2022. An 18-year-old gunman opened fire Tuesday at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, killing 14 children, one teacher and injuring others. The shooter also died.
Greg Abbott Declares Texas “Second Amendment Sanctuary”
In 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed legislation to protect gun ownership rights in Texas declaring his state a “Second Amendment sanctuary.” The laws gave Texans the right to carry a handgun without a license and tried to exempt Texans from any federal gun control regulations. At the signing ceremony at the Alamo in San Antonio Abbott declared "We gather today at what is considered to be the cradle of liberty in the Lone Star State. We are on hallowed ground … they fought for freedom, they fought for liberty and that included the freedom to be able to carry a weapon." Abbott added, "There is a need for people to have a weapon to defend themselves in the Lone Star State." He did not discuss school safety. In February 2022, Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the National Rifle Association, called Abbott “a tireless defender of the right to keep and bear arms.” Gun-runner Greg is considered a front-runner for the Republican Party 2024 Presidential nomination.
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