A teenage gunman murdered at least 19 children and two teachers after storming into a Texas elementary school on Tuesday, the latest bout of gun-fueled mass killings in the United States and the nation’s worst school shooting in nearly a decade.
The carnage began with the 18-year-old suspect, identified as Salvador Ramos, shooting his own grandmother, who survived, authorities said.
He fled that scene and crashed his car near the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, a town about 80 miles (130 km) west of San Antonio.
There he launched a bloody rampage that ended when he was killed, apparently shot by police.
The motive was not immediately clear. Law enforcement officers saw the gunman, clad in body armor, emerge from the crashed vehicle carrying a rifle and “engaged” the suspect, who nevertheless managed to charge into the building and open fire, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Sergeant Erick Estrada said on CNN.
Speaking from the White House hours later, a visibly shaken U.S. President Joe Biden urged Americans to stand up to the politically powerful U.S. gun lobby, which he blamed for blocking enactment of tougher firearms safety laws. (Reuters)
