Shooting at elementary school – attacker shoots 18 children
The incident took place at an elementary school in the city of Uvalde, located about 135 kilometers west of San Antonio. About 600 children are taught here.
According to unconfirmed information, the perpetrator is said to have published pictures of machine guns on Instagram. The account has since been deleted. One user on Instagram wrote that she had received a message from a stranger: “I have a little secret. I want to tell you.” The message apparently came from the now deleted account. Its owner had followed several students from Uvalde in the network. Allegedly, the 18-year-old also tried to shoot his grandmother. According to CNN, she was taken by helicopter to a clinic in San Antonio in critical condition.
US flags at half-mast
In an address to the nation, US President Biden recalled the mass shooting of Sandy Hook in 2012, which killed 20 children and six adults.
“Since then, over 900 incidents of school shootings have been reported. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Santa Fe High School in Texas, Oxford High School in Michigan – the list can be continued as you like,” Biden said. “I’m tired of it and I’m tired of it. We must act. And don’t tell me that we can’t have an impact on this carnage,” he added.
The White House also ordered that the US flag be placed at half-mast at government headquarters and public facilities by May 28.
US Vice President Harris: “Enough is enough”
On social networks, numerous people of public life expressed their grief over the massacre. There have also been renewed calls for stricter gun laws in the country.
Emily Haber, the new US ambassador to Germany, wrote briefly on Twitter :”I have no words. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote: “Worries and prayers are not enough. After years of nothing else, we will become a nation of agonizing cries. We simply need lawmakers who are willing to stop the scourge of gun violence in America murdering our children.”