Houston (USA), May 25 (PTI) An 18-year-old gunman opened fire inside a classroom at an elementary school in the US state of Texas, killing 21 people, including 19 children, and injuring several others. After this the attacker was killed in police action. Due to the incident, US President Joe. Biden made a passionate appeal to lawmakers to tighten arms laws to prevent such incidents.
Gunshots were heard at Rob Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, 134 kilometers from San Antonio, at about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.
According to Texas Department for Public Safety spokesman Lieutenant Chris Oliverez, all the casualties were within the same classroom.
He told CNN that the attacker locked himself in a room and killed two teachers and 19 children.
“It’s a small class, it can have anywhere from 25 to 30 students, plus there were two teachers there … not an exact number of how many students there were in that class,” Oliverez said.
Investigators say the attacker was armed with a handgun, an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and a high-capacity magazine.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the attacker had been identified as Salvador Ramos, a resident of an area near the school. He said it was not yet clear why the attack took place.
Uvalde police chief Pete Arredondo said the children killed were in the second, third and fourth grades, aged between seven and 10.
“A large number of casualties took place at 11.32 am today at Robb Elementary School,” the official said.
He said the attacker fired single-handedly, who was killed in police firing.
US President Joe. Biden made a passionate appeal to lawmakers to tighten arms laws in the country.
In his address, he asked how long it would take to convince fellow lawmakers that “it is time for action.”
The President tried to console the bereaved nation after the firing incident.
“The little kids saw what happened,” Biden said. The children watched their friends die as if they were on a battlefield.”
He said, “Losing a child is as if a part of your soul has been ripped off….”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said teachers should have weapons to prevent such incidents in the future.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz called the incident “horrific” and said reforming weapons-related laws was not the way to stop such crimes.
According to the non-profit organization Gun Violence Archive, there have been at least 212 major shootings in the US so far in 2022, CNN reported.
