Biden speaks on mass shooting: ‘It’s time to turn this pain into action’
The president has delivered remarks at the White House on today’s mass shooting. Footage of the talk can be found here.
“I had hoped when I became president I would not have to do this, again. Another massacre,” he began in an emotional speech.
Biden drew on his own experience with grief, having lost his first wife and young daughter in a car accident in 1972 and an adult son to cancer in 2015.
“To lose a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped away,” he said. “There’s a hollowness in your chest you feel like you’re being sucked into it … you’re never quite the same”
The president took a harsher tone when speaking about the need for “common sense” gun legislation. He spoke of the shooting in Buffalo ten days ago, and lamented that in both incidents an 18-year-old was able to purchase a gun and commit such heinous crimes.
“When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?” he said. “Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen?”
“It is time to turn this pain to the action,” he said. “For every parent, every citizen of this country. We have to make it clear to every elected official in this country: it’s time to act. It’s time for those who obstruct or delay or blocked the common sense gun laws – we need to let you know that we will not forget.”
Biden’s speech came shortly after he returned to the White House from a multi-day trip to Asia.
Joe Biden speaks to the nation about the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA
Thank you for following our coverage of the mass shooting at the Robb elementary school in Uvalde. We are closing this live blog now, and starting a new one which will continue the coverage from London and our US offices. Please join me here:
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has described the shooting as “cowardly” as he said the French people shared the shock and grief of the American people.
19 victims were under age 10. Children and teachers were murdered in a cowardly attack in their Texas school. We share the shock and grief of the American people, and the rage of those who are fighting to end the violence.
19 victims were under age 10. Children and teachers were murdered in a cowardly attack in their Texas school. We share the shock and grief of the American people, and the rage of those who are fighting to end the violence.
Irma Garcia named as second teacher to be killed in elementary school shooting – reports
Several media outlets in the US have named Irma Garcia as the second adult victim of the mass shooting at Robb elementary school in Uvalde.
Her school profile says that she taught at the school for 23 years, and was married with four children. On the school website she says “I am so excited to begin this new school year already” and shares with her pupils that she “loves to BBQ with my husband, listen to music, and take country cruises to Concan.”
According to NBC, her son was told by a friend of his in law enforcement that Garcia had been shielding her students.
Garcia was the co-teacher of fourth-grade teacher Eva Mireles, who was earlier confirmed as one of the adults killed in the attack.
Isaac Herzog, the president of Israel, is among the world leaders who have expressed their condolences after the shooting at Robb elementary school. He has posted to his social media channels:
Horrified to hear news of the murderous rampage at Robb Elementary School in Texas. Our hearts are broken. The death of a child is a tragedy beyond measure, let alone the killing of nineteen innocent children and two adults. Israel joins the people of the United States in grief.
Horrified to hear news of the murderous rampage at Robb Elementary School in Texas. Our hearts are broken. The death of a child is a tragedy beyond measure, let alone the killing of nineteen innocent children and two adults. Israel joins the people of the United States in grief.
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) May 25, 2022
Pope Francis said he was “heartbroken” by the Texas school shooting, and called for greater controls on guns. He said:
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
The crowd in St Peter’s Square for his weekly general audience applauded his appeal, Reuters reports.
Pope Francis delivers his speech this morning in St Peter’s Square, at the Vatican, which included a call for greater gun control. Photograph: Andrew Medichini/AP
It is just gone 3am in Uvalde in Texas. Here is a round-up of what we know so far about the shooting at the Robb elementary school shooting, which has left at least 19 young students and two adults dead:
An 18-year-old suspect, identified by police as Salvador Ramos, opened fire in the elementary school, Texas state senator Roland Gutierrez, who was briefed by state police, told reporters.
The shooting occurred at Robb elementary school in Uvalde, a mostly Latino community about 85 miles west of San Antonio near the Mexico border, around 11.30am on Tuesday.
Fourth-grade teacher Eva Mireles has been confirmed as one of the adults killed in the attack. “I’m furious that these shootings continue,” her aunt said in a statement reported by ABC News. “These children are innocent. Rifles should not be easily available to all.”
Names of the first student victims are also beginning to emerge. Eight-year-old Uziyah Garcia and Xavier Javier Lopez, 10, were confirmed by the Associated Press to have been killed after speaking with members of their families. Amerie Jo Garza, also 10, was identified by family as one of the children killed, according to ABC news. Jose Flores, aged 10, has also been named as a victim by his uncle.
Police said the suspect, Ramos, was killed, apparently shot by arriving officers, after he fled that scene. He had crashed his car near the school. The motive was not immediately clear and it is believed he acted alone. Gutierrez said the suspect shot his grandmother at her home in the morning. She is believed to be in critical condition in hospital, Sgt Erick Estrada told CNN’s Don Lemon.
The suspected gunman bought two rifles on his 18th birthday, Gutierrez told reporters after he was briefed by Texas Rangers. Two assault-style rifles were reportedly purchased from a store in Uvalde County on his birthday. “That was the first thing he did on his 18th birthday,” Gutierrez said, adding that Ramos had hinted on social media that an attack could be coming. “He suggested the kids should watch out,” he said.
Joe Biden addressed the nation on Tuesday night shortly after returning to the White House from a five-day trip to Asia. The president delivered an emotional speech, calling for “common sense” gun laws and said: “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?”
Parents of schoolchildren have had to wait for hours in a parking lot to receive the news that their children are dead after being swabbed for DNA, according to New York Times reporter, Jazmine Ulloa.
Joe Biden speaks after mass shooting at Texas elementary school – video
The Washington Post has reported more on the background of the 18-year-old suspect in the Robb elementary school shooting in Uvalde, identified by police as Salvador Ramos. It quotes someone who knew him, a high school classmate called Nadia Reyes. She says:
He posted videos on his Instagram where the cops were there and he’d call his mom a bitch and say she wanted to kick him out. He’d be screaming and talking to his mom really aggressively.
Reyes, who lives locally, said she was part of a group of Uvalde High School school classmates who had visited Robb Elementary School on Monday wearing their graduation gear.
Those kids were so excited to see us in our cap and gown. They’re looking at us like, ‘I’m gonna be there one day.’ It’s surreal, like we’re in a movie. It’s horrible.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has added to his earlier words [see here] with a tweet offering condolences to the US.
Deeply saddened by the news of the murder of innocent children in Texas. Sincere condolences to the families of the victims, the people of the US and @POTUS over this tragedy. The people of Ukraine share the pain of the relatives and friends of the victims and all Americans.
Deeply saddened by the news of the murder of innocent children in Texas. Sincere condolences to the families of the victims, the people of the US and @POTUS over this tragedy. The people of Ukraine share the pain of the relatives and friends of the victims and all Americans.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 25, 2022
Also offering international condolences to the families of the victims is Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz. He has posted to Twitter:
Terrible news are reaching us this morning from a school in Uvalde, Texas. Our thoughts are with the injured and the bereaved of the victims of this inconceivable massacre for which hardly any words can be found. Our condolence go out to you, @POTUS, and our American friends.
Terrible news are reaching us this morning from a school in #Uvalde, #Texas. Our thoughts are with the injured and the bereaved of the victims of this inconceivable massacre for which hardly any words can be found. Our condolence go out to you, @POTUS, and our American friends.
— Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (@Bundeskanzler) May 25, 2022
Writer and economist Paul Krugman has added his voice to those calling for greater action on gun control after the latest school shooting. He said:
In a different time zone, so I woke up to the Uvalde news. As usual, the people making such things possible are demanding that we refrain from politicising the horror. Hell no. Unrestricted access to deadly weapons is a political choice, and we should say it.
Krugman goes on to point out what he sees as the futility of the “good guy with a gun” argument, saying that at the Buffalo shooting there were armed guards.
In a different time zone, so I woke up to the Uvalde news. As usual, the people making such things possible are demanding that we refrain from politicizing the horror. Hell no. Unrestricted access to deadly weapons is a political choice, and we should say it 1/
Amazingly, the usual suspects are rolling out the "good guy with a gun" argument — we need armed teachers and security guards — even though in both Buffalo and, reportedly, Uvalde there *were* good guys with guns who tried and failed to stop shooters wearing body armor 2/
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has offered his condolences to the relatives of the victims of the Texas school shooting while speaking at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos via video link.
“I would like to express my condolences to all of the relatives and family members of the children who were killed in the awful shooting in a Texas elementary school,” Zelenskiy said as he addressed an event.
“As far as I know, 21 people were killed, including 19 children. This is terrible, to have victims of shooters in peaceful time,” Reuters reports he added.
The president of civil rights organisation the NAACP, Derrick Johnson, has issued a statement imploring lawmakers to act in the wake of another school mass shooting in the US. He said:
There’s no statement. There are no words. I’m shattered for the community and frustrated by the lack of action by the government that should be working for the people. Every time it’s just more thoughts and prayers – the only thing this Congress seems to be able to do successfully. Congress, do your job. Don’t just post a tweet, pass a bill. Kids are dying.
Associated Press reminds us that gun violence bills have stalled in the face of Republican opposition in the Senate in the last year. The House passed two bills to expand background checks on firearms purchases, but both languished in the 50-50 Senate where Democrats need at least 10 Republican votes to overcome objections from a filibuster.
The identity of another of the young victims at the Robb elementary school in Uvalde is being reported by the Washington Post. It has named Jose Flores, aged 10.
His uncle, Christopher Salazar, told the Post: “He was a very happy little boy. He loved both his parents … and loved to laugh and have fun.”
Flores was a baseball fan, and had two brothers and a sister, according to the reports.
Nineteen students and two adults were killed in a Texas elementary school shooting on Tuesday.
Here’s everything we know so far:
An 18-year-old suspect, identified by police as Salvador Ramos, opened fire in an elementary school in Texas, killing at least 19 students and two adults, Texas state senator Roland Gutierrez, who was briefed by state police, told reporters.
The shooting occurred at Robb elementary school in Uvalde, a mostly Latino community about 85 miles west of San Antonio near the Mexico border, around 11.30am on Tuesday.
Police said Ramos was killed, apparently shot by arriving officers, after he fled that scene and crashed his car near the school. The motive was not immediately clear and it is believed he acted alone. Gutierrez said the suspect shot his grandmother at her home in the morning. She is believed to be in critical condition in hospital, Sergeant Erick Estrada told CNN’s Don Lemon.
The suspected gunman bought two rifles on his 18th birthday, Gutierrez told reporters after he was briefed by Texas Rangers. Two assault-style rifles were reportedly purchased from a store in Uvalde County on his birthday. “That was the first thing he did on his 18th birthday,” Gutierrez said, adding that Ramos had hinted on social media that an attack could be coming. “He suggested the kids should watch out,” he said.
Fourth-grade teacher Eva Mireles has been confirmed as one of the adults killed in the attack. “I’m furious that these shootings continue,” her aunt said in a statement reported by ABC News. “These children are innocent. Rifles should not be easily available to all.”
Names of the first student victims are also beginning to emerge. Eight-year-old Uziyah Garcia and Xavier Javier Lopez, 10, were confirmed by the Associated Press to have been killed after speaking with members of their families. Amerie Jo Garza, also 10, was identified by family as one of the children killed, according to ABC news.
Joe Biden addressed the nation on Tuesday night shortly after returning to the White House from a five-day trip to Asia. The president delivered an emotional speech, calling for “common sense” gun laws and said: “It’s time to turn this pain into action.”
Parents of schoolchildren have had to wait for hours in a parking lot to receive the news that their children are dead after being swabbed for DNA, according to New York Times reporter, Jazmine Ulloa.
Relatives are also turning to social media and waiting in a desperate attempt to find their missing children.
The families of people killed in the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting have pleaded for action on gun control in the wake of the killings.
NBA coach Steve Kerr gave an emotional pre-game press conference which he devoted to the events in Texas. He singled out politicians for failing to act on gun control in order to hold on to power and noted the recent shooting in Buffalo.
That’s it from me, Samantha Lock, as I hand you over to my colleague.
