A teen gunman opened fire at an elementary school in Texas on Tuesday, killing at least 19 children and two adults, causing a furious President Joe Biden to criticise the US gun lobby and vow to end the country’s trend of mass shootings.

The killing in Uvalde, Texas, a little town about an hour from the Mexican border, was the bloodiest school shooting in the United States in years, and it was the latest in a string of horrific gun violence across the country.

With the heavy voice, Biden said, “It’s time to turn this pain into action for every parent, for every citizen of this country.”

It’s time for those who oppose, delay, or impede sane gun measures to know that they will not be forgotten, he said.

“As a country, when in the name of God are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?” When in the name of God will we do what we all know we need to do?”

At a previous press conference, Texas Governor Greg Abbott identified the suspect as Salvador Ramos, an 18-year-old local resident and US citizen.
Abbott added, “He shot and killed in a brutal and incomprehensible manner.”

Officials with the Texas Department of Public Safety told CNN that the gunman shot his grandmother before abandoning his truck and entering Robb Elementary School at midday, armed with a handgun and a rifle and wearing body armor.

Officials stated the gunman was slain by responding officers, and that two adults were also murdered in the attack.

Small groups of children were seen weaving around parked cars and yellow buses, some holding hands, as they escaped the school, which teaches students aged seven to ten years old, under police supervision.

It was the bloodiest school shooting since the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy in Connecticut, which murdered 20 children and six adults.

The White House ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of the victims, whose deaths shocked a nation still reeling from the tragedy at Sandy Hook.

Robb Elementary, which serves over 500 predominantly Hispanic and economically poor pupils, advised parents not to rush in to pick up their children in the aftermath of the attack.
Soon after the incident, the school wrote on its website, “You will be called to pick up pupils once all are accounted for.”