UN chief 'deeply saddened' by heinous mass shooting at Texas school, extends condolences

UN General-Secretary Antonio Guterres on Tuesday extended his condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims of the Texas school shooting. Guterres said the incident is particularly "heart-wrenching" as those killed were mostly children.

At least 18 children and three others were fatally shot on Tuesday by a teenager in Uvalde, Texas. The shooter was killed by law enforcement officers at the site, said Sergeant Erik Estrada from the Department for Public Safety, Texas. US President Joe Biden in his emotional address to the nation prayed for the victims and their families noting that such "mass shootings rarely happen elsewhere in the world." "To lose a child is to have a piece of your soul ripped away forever," he said, urging Americans to pray "for them (victims)...to give them strength in the darkness." He has also ordered the US flag on all federal buildings be flown half-staff.

At least 27 school shootings have taken place in 2022 alone, and 119 since 2018, Education Week reported. According to the Gun Violence Archive, an independent mass shooting collection website, at least 200 gun-related violence have been reported this year, the last being a racially-motivated massacre in Buffalo, New York. 10 Black people were killed by a gunman who espoused hatred against people of colour.

US Senator pleads for action after mass shooting in texas school

Speaking on the US Senate floor, Connecticut's Senator Chris Murphy did not hold back his emotions. Aggrieved and flustered, Murphy recalled the trauma of the 2012 Sandy Hook incident and the Buffalo supermarket shooting. "What are we doing? Just days after a shooter walked into a grocery store to gun down African-American patrons, we have another Sandy Hook on our hands. What are we doing?" Senator Murphy said. "Our kids are living in fear, every single time they set foot in a classroom because they think they're going to be next. What are we doing? Why do you spend all this time running for the United States Senate? Why do you go through all the hassle of getting this job or putting yourself in a position of authority, if your answer is that as this slaughter increases, as our kids run for their lives, we do nothing," he told the lawmakers with folded hands.

'Act of unspeakable violence': US AG

Meanwhile, US Attorney General Merrick Garland called the deadly school shooting at the Robb Elementary School an "act of unspeakable violence that has devastated an entire community and shaken our country," CNN reported. He further informed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) have jointly responded to the scene. "We join our fellow Americans in mourning this terrible loss and in their resolve to end this senseless violence," AG Garland remarked.

Meanwhile, former US President Bill Clinton called for action on guns as America continues to face a deadly cycle of relentless mass shootings in schools. The incident has reminded many of the Sandy Hook School shooting that killed over 20 children in 2012. "We owe to these families and the families who have experienced similar losses. Enough is enough. Our elected leaders must find common-sense ways to keep our children and communities safe," Clinton said in a statement.

(Image: AP)