Metro
Gunman kills 19 children, two teachers at Texas elementary school
A teenage gunman killed at least 19 young children and two teachers at an elementary school in Texas on Tuesday, prompting a furious President Joe Biden to denounce the US gun lobby and vow to end the nation’s cycle of mass shootings.
The attack in Uvalde — a small community about an hour from the Mexican border — was the deadliest US school shooting in years and the latest in a spree of bloody gun violence across America.
“It’s time to turn this pain into action for every parent, for every citizen of this country,” Biden said, his voice heavy with emotion.
“It’s time for those who obstruct or delay or block common-sense gun laws — we need to let you know that we will not forget,” he said.
“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?”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, addressing an earlier news conference, named the suspect as Salvador Ramos, an 18-year-old local resident, and a US citizen.
“He shot and killed, horrifically and incomprehensibly,” Abbott said.
Texas Department of Public Safety officials told CNN the gunman is believed to have shot his grandmother before heading to Robb Elementary School around noon where he abandoned his vehicle and entered with a handgun and a rifle, wearing body armor.
More Than Dozen Children Wounded
The gunman was killed by responding officers, the officials said, adding later two teachers also died in the attack.
“Right now there’s 19 children that were killed by this evil gunman, as well as two teachers from this school,” DPS spokesman Lieutenant Chris Olivarez told NBC News.
More than a dozen children were also wounded in the attack at the school, which teaches more than 500, mostly Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students.
Uvalde Memorial Hospital said on Facebook it had received 13 children while University Health hospital in San Antonio said on Twitter it had received a 66-year-old woman and a 10-year-old girl, both in critical condition, and two other girls aged nine and 10.
At least one Border Patrol agent responding to the incident was wounded in an exchange of gunfire with the shooter, Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Marsha Espinosa tweeted.
Footage showed small groups of children weaving through parked cars and yellow buses, some holding hands as they fled under police escort from the school, which teaches students aged around seven to 10 years old.
It was the deadliest such incident since the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting in Connecticut, in which 20 children and six staff were killed.
The White House ordered flags to be flown at half-mast in mourning for the victims — whose deaths sent a wave of shock through a country still scarred by the horror of Sandy Hook.
‘Happens Nowhere Else’
Ted Cruz, a pro-gun rights Republican senator from Texas, tweeted that he and his wife were “lifting up in prayer the children and families in the horrific shooting in Uvalde.”
But Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, where the Sandy Hook shooting took place, made an impassioned appeal for concrete action to prevent further violence.
“This isn’t inevitable, these kids weren’t unlucky. This only happens in this country and nowhere else. Nowhere else do little kids go to school thinking that they might be shot that day,” Murphy said on the Senate floor in Washington.
“I’m here on this floor to beg, to literally get down on my hands and knees and beg my colleagues: Find a path forward here. Work with us to find a way to pass laws that make this less likely.”
The deadly assault in Texas follows a series of mass shootings in the United States this month.
On May 14, an 18-year-old man shot 10 people dead at a Buffalo, New York grocery store.
Wearing heavy body armor and wielding an AR-15 rifle, the self-declared white supremacist livestreamed his attack, having reportedly targeted the store because of the large surrounding African American population.
The following day, a man blocked the door of a church in Laguna Woods, California, and opened fire on its Taiwanese-American congregation, killing one person and wounding five.
Despite recurring mass-casualty shootings, multiple initiatives to reform gun regulations have failed in the US Congress, leaving states and local councils to strengthen — or weaken — their own restrictions.
The National Rifle Association has been instrumental in fighting against stricter US gun laws. Abbott and Cruz are listed as speakers at a forum that is being held by the powerful lobby in Houston, Texas later this week.
The United States suffered 19,350 firearm homicides in 2020, up nearly 35 percent compared to 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its latest data.
Two US Navy pilots were shot down over the Red Sea early Sunday in “an apparent case of friendly fire,” the US military said.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels said later on Sunday they had “targeted” the aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman a day earlier in an operation that led to “shooting down an F-18 aircraft” and thwarting “American-British aggression” against Yemen.
United States Central Command said late on Saturday that both US pilots were recovered alive but “initial assessments indicate that one of the crew members sustained minor injuries”.
This incident, “was not the result of hostile fire, and a full investigation is underway,” CENTCOM said.
The potentially disastrous mistake underscores the dangers of a mission the United States has been involved in for more than a year to counter Yemen’s Huthi rebels.
The Huthis have repeatedly targeted merchant vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, waterways vital to global trade.
CENTCOM said the guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg “mistakenly fired on and hit the F/A-18” fighter aircraft, which Navy pilots had flown off the USS Harry S Truman.
On Saturday the United States said it struck targets including a missile storage facility in Yemen’s rebel-held capital Sanaa, hours after a Huthi rebel missile wounded people in Israel’s commercial hub Tel Aviv.
US forces also shot down multiple Huthi attack drones and an anti-ship cruise missile over the Red Sea, CENTCOM said.
“The operation involved US Air Force and US Navy assets, including F/A-18s,” CENTCOM said.
The Huthis say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel and Hamas have been at war since October 7, 2023.
The death toll from a tragic stampede in Anambra State has risen to 22, local authorities confirmed on Sunday.
The Anambra State Police Command, through its spokesman Superintendent Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed that the police have commenced an investigation into the incident. Ikenga also stated that several injured victims are receiving medical treatment.
“The Commissioner of Police, Nnaghe Obono Itam, visited the hospital where the victims of the tragic stampede that occurred on December 21, 2024, in Okija, Ihiala Local Government Area, are receiving treatment,” Ikenga said. “Regrettably, 22 people lost their lives. The CP commiserates with the families and friends of the deceased and wishes the injured a quick recovery.”
The stampede occurred on Saturday during a rice distribution event at Amaranta Stadium in Okija. The event, organized by the Obijackson Foundation, was intended to provide relief to residents.
A Pattern of Tragedy
The Anambra incident follows a series of similar tragedies across the country. Earlier in December, a stampede at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Maitama, Abuja, claimed 10 lives. A few days prior, a children’s funfair in Ibadan, Oyo State, ended in disaster, with 35 children losing their lives and six others critically injured.
The string of incidents has raised serious concerns about crowd management during large-scale events in Nigeria. Prominent figures, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, have called for urgent reforms.
“It is with a heavy heart and deep sorrow that I receive yet again the heartbreaking news of lives lost in tragic stampedes, this time in Okija, Anambra, and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory,” Atiku wrote on his X handle late Saturday. “It is imperative that those entrusted with the organization of such large-scale events take the utmost care in crowd management, prioritizing the safety and well-being of all participants.”
Peter Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, lamented the incidents as a reflection of the rising desperation caused by hunger in Nigeria.
“I am deeply saddened and distressed by the tragic loss of lives in desperate searches for food,” Obi wrote on X. “While I will not cast blame, I appreciate the organizers of these events for their kind gestures. However, these tragedies reflect the systemic failures that plague our society.”
A Call for Reform
The recent stampedes underscore the urgent need for better planning and safety protocols at public events. Experts and stakeholders are calling on authorities and event organizers to adopt stringent crowd management strategies to prevent future tragedies.
Meanwhile, families of the victims continue to mourn their loss, as the nation grapples with the deepening economic challenges that have driven many to desperation.
A devastating house fire in the Ori-Eru area of Idikan, Ibadan, Oyo State, has claimed the lives of a man, his wife, and their grandson. The incident occurred on Friday at approximately 3:46 PM, leaving the community in mourning.
According to a statement by CSP Olaniyan Jibola of the Mapo Police Division, the fire engulfed the upper floor of a six-room residential storey building.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the victims had used a naked flame to keep their room warm during the cold weather, which tragically led to the fire.
“On arrival, we met the upper floor of a residential building of six rooms on fire. We swiftly swung into action, and the fire was completely extinguished. Unfortunately, the three victims had slept off after putting on the fire and could not escape,” the statement read.
Despite the tragedy, the prompt intervention of the police and a team of Amotekun officials led by Gbenga Akinyemi from the North West Division helped rescue five individuals from the burning building. Fortunately, the fire did not spread to the ground floor or adjacent properties.
The remains of the victims have been recovered, while the rescued individuals are receiving medical attention.
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