The world has reacted to a deadly shooting at an elementary school in Texas, United States, that claimed the lives of 19 children.
Two adults were also killed when an 18-year-old gunman, Salvador Ramos, opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on Tuesday. Ramos was later killed by law enforcement officers.
The names of those killed during the attack include Uziyah Garcia (8), Xavier Lopez (10), Amerie Jo Garza (10), Jose Flores jnr (10), as well as fourth grade teachers Eva Mireles and Irma Garcia.
According to ABC News, the massacre is the deadliest shooting in Texas history.
News also emerged this morning that the gunman had warned on Facebook that he was going to shoot up a school minutes before the massacre took place.
According to the Republican Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, Ramos made three Facebook posts. Ramos posted that he was going to shoot his grandmother, then that he had shot the woman, and finally that he was going to shoot up an elementary school.
This attack has been widely condemned by world leaders including US President Joe Biden, who described it as a massacre and vowed to act on gun reform.
Former US president Barack Obama, who was in power when the mass shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut occurred in December 2012, also said there was a renewed urgency for America to act on gun reform.
“Nearly 10 years after Sandy Hook — and 10 days after Buffalo — our country is paralysed, not by fear, but by a gun lobby and a political party that have shown no willingness to act in any way that might help prevent these tragedies,” Obama said.
“It’s long past time for action, any kind of action. And it’s another tragedy — a quieter but no less tragic one — for families to wait another day.”
Greece’s Foreign Ministry also issued a statement about the shooting.
“Devastated by the news of the horrific elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that claimed the lives of so many children,” the statement reads.
“In this hour of grief, we extend our heartfelt condolences to the victims’ families and our deepest sympathies to the people and the government of the USA.”
Hillcrest Memorial Funeral Home, which is located across the street from Robb Elementary School, said in a Facebook post on Tuesday evening that it would be assisting families of the shooting victims with no cost for funerals.
Source: ABC News.
