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.
Suspected kidnappers on Wednesday night shot a tomato farmer, Daniel Adesida, and abducted his wife during an attack on their residence along Oda Road in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
The incident reportedly occurred around 8:45 p.m., when the gunmen invaded the residence and attempted to whisk away the farmer’s wife.
Sources said Adesida sustained a gunshot injury to his right hand while trying to resist the attackers, who eventually escaped with his wife.
Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Ondo State Command, Abayomi Jimoh, said police operatives swiftly responded after receiving a distress call.
According to him, officers mobilised to the scene, rescued the injured victim and ensured he received medical attention.
“Upon receiving the distress call, police operatives swiftly mobilised to the scene, ensured the injured victim was rescued and taken to the police clinic for medical attention, and secured the area,” Jimoh said.
He added that the Commissioner of Police in the state, Adebowale Lawal, had ordered an immediate manhunt for the fleeing suspects.
“The Commissioner of Police has ordered intensified patrols, bush combing operations and intelligence gathering within the affected area and adjoining communities with a view to apprehending the fleeing suspects,” he stated.
Jimoh assured residents that efforts were ongoing to rescue the abducted woman and bring the perpetrators to justice.
He also urged members of the public to remain vigilant and promptly report suspicious movements or individuals to the nearest police station.
Three workers of a concrete block factory were on Friday morning abducted in the Olojuoro area of Oluyole Local Government Area, Oyo State.
The victims were said to be staff of a concrete block industry owned by Prince Jelili Oyetunde, located within the council area.
Sources told our correspondent that the workers — identified as Adekola Muidini Asanti, Yinka and Saheed — were kidnapped at gunpoint inside a nearby canteen where they had gone to take breakfast before resuming work for the day.
Speaking with journalists on Saturday, the factory owner, Prince Oyetunde, said Closed Circuit Television footage captured the moment the assailants carried out the abduction.
He alleged that the suspected abductors are Baale Alimi Yusuf, Tunde Lawal, Saheed Olawoyin, Ibrahim Shittu and Sule Adigun.
Oyetunde further alleged that one of the suspects carted away a bag belonging to the factory manager during the operation.
He added that both he and the suspected abductors were scheduled to appear before the Oyo State Anti-Land Grabbing Agency next Wednesday, March 4, over a related dispute.
The businessman disclosed that the incident had been reported to the police.
According to him, the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Sanyo Police Station confirmed that the abductors allegedly took the victims to the station and were instructed to release them.
He, however, lamented that the whereabouts of the workers had remained unknown since they reportedly left the station.
“We have visited police stations within Oluyole Local Government and made announcements on different radio stations, but as of this morning, their whereabouts remain unknown,” Oyetunde said.
The Nigeria Union of Journalists has been thrown into mourning following the death of seven journalists in a fatal road accident in Gombe State.
The journalists reportedly died on Monday while returning from the wedding ceremony of a colleague held in Kaltungo Local Government Area of the state.
Findings revealed that the accident occurred after a tyre burst on the bus conveying the journalists, leading to a loss of control and a fatal crash.
Confirming the incident, the Gombe State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Samson Kaura, said seven persons died in the crash, while four others sustained varying degrees of injuries.
Kaura added that the injured victims were rescued from the scene and taken to medical facilities for treatment.
The Director-General, Government House Press and Media Affairs, Ismaila Misili, also confirmed the death toll, describing the incident as tragic and devastating to the state’s media community.
Reacting, the National President of the NUJ, Alhassan Yahya, in a statement, expressed deep sorrow over the deaths, describing the incident as a huge loss to the journalism profession in Gombe State and Nigeria at large.
Yahya said the deceased journalists were dedicated professionals who served the public with courage, integrity and professionalism.
“They were committed practitioners who served the public with courage, integrity and professionalism. Their loss has left an irreplaceable void in our noble profession,” he said.
The NUJ president also expressed the union’s solidarity with the families of the deceased and members of the Gombe State media community.
“We pray that Almighty God grants eternal rest to the souls of the departed and gives their loved ones the fortitude to bear this painful loss,” he added.
Yahya, speaking on behalf of the National Executive Council and journalists across the country, extended condolences to the Gombe State Council of the NUJ, as well as friends and colleagues of the victims.
He further said the tragic incident highlighted the need for improved road safety measures and responsible driving to prevent avoidable loss of lives, especially among journalists who frequently travel in the course of their duties.
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