The latest numbers out of Texas say that 19 children, two teachers, and the gunman, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, are dead after a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. Officials report that Ramos was shot and killed by the police. This tragedy is one of the worst school killings in US history, following the 2012 massacre in Sandy Hook, Connecticut.
Shortly after 11 a.m. local time on Tuesday, May 24, it is believed that Ramos crashed his car into a ditch near the school and was seen exiting the vehicle by law enforcement, who attempted to engage him. Ramos was able to evade the officers and enter Robb Elementary, where he began his rampage. According to Department of Public Safety Lt. Christopher Olivarez, "The suspect made entry into the school, and as soon as he made entry into the school, he started shooting children, teachers, whoever's in his way … He was shooting everybody."
Olivarez said that Ramos was armed with a long rifle and wearing body armor, and that he was shot dead by the US Border Patrol tactical team who soon arrived on the scene. It is also being reported that Ramos shot his grandmother before the killings at the school.
Politicians React
President Biden was informed of the massacre while on board Air Force One. After landing in Washington, he made a public address from the Roosevelt Room, posing the question:
"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?"
He then expressed his frustration with the current gun laws, saying, "I am sick and tired of it. We have to act. And don't tell me we can't have an impact on this carnage. I spent my career as a senator and as vice president working to pass common-sense gun laws. We can't and won't prevent every tragedy. But we know they work and have a positive impact. When we passed the assault weapons ban, mass shootings went down. When the law expired, mass shootings tripled."
However, as Liberty Nation's James Fite pointed out, Biden's proposed "assault weapons ban" was not as effective as the president has claimed. Fite wrote:
"A look at murders per year shows that the crime did drop off a bit once the 1994 law passed, after holding fairly steady for the first part of the 90s – but halfway through the ban, murder was on the rise again, only to level off just a couple of years before the proscription ended."
(Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Former President Barack Obama tweeted, "Michelle and I grieve with the families in Uvalde, who are experiencing pain no one should have to bear." He then proceeded to make a political statement about Republicans, saying, "We're also angry for them. Nearly ten years after Sandy Hook—and ten days after Buffalo—our country is paralyzed, not by fear, but by a gun lobby and a political party that have shown no willingness to act in any way that might help prevent these tragedies."
Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina took the opposite view to Biden and Obama, saying that a "reflexive reaction" was the wrong way to go. He said:
"I'm almost certain that in the coming days or weeks, we're going to find out that there were signs that this person was at risk, and we need to have an equal or greater attention on prevention and that's a key part of it."
Tillis continued, "What people immediately want to jump to are red flag laws. Virtually everyone that I've seen here has been one that sweeps up law-abiding gun owners into what I consider to be an overreach. So, the question is can we actually get to policy that could make a difference, but not deny people their Second Amendment rights and give them due process?"
He also lamented the politicization of the shooting:
"That's what we talk about every time something like this comes up and that hopefully will be the discussion if we have one versus what could potentially be the plot of people going into their political corners, which I've seen every time something tragic event like this has happened and the seven and a half years I've been here [in the US Senate]."
This is a developing story. Liberty Nation will keep you updated as more details are released.
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