A memorial for the 21 victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting was built outside the Texas Governor’s Mansion on the anniversary of the massacre (Picture: AP)
One year after the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Americans across the country honored the victims and survivors of the massacre.
A total of 19 students and two teachers were killed when a gunman armed with an AR-15 style rifle entered a classroom in Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022.
The shooting became the deadliest school shooting in Texas state history, and the third deadliest in US history.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered all flags in the state to fly at half-mast in remembrance for the victims, survivors, and their families.
A woman cries at the Uvalde memorial in Austin, Texas (Picture: AP)
A child holds a sign displaying each victim’s name at a memorial in Texas (Picture: AP)
‘Our hearts remain with the families and members of the community, with whom Cecilia and I met in the weeks and months after as they grieved and began their journeys of healing,’ Abbott said.
A moment of silence across the state was observed at 11.30am.
Outside the Governor’s Mansion in Austin, grassroots gun violence activist group Moms Demand Action held a protest and memorial honoring the victims.
The 21 victims were also featured in today’s issue of the Houston Chronicle, which included a profile on each child and teacher killed in the Robb Elementary School classroom.
Protesters hold signs outside the Governor’s Mansion in Austin, Texas (Picture: AP)
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden pause at the candles lit for each of the 21 victims of the Uvalde shooting (Picture: AP)
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden also marked the occasion with a speech at the White House, surrounded by 21 white candles symbolizing the 21 victims killed in the shooting.
Biden recalled traveling the south Texas town in the immediate aftermath of the massacre. ”We spent hours with their grieving families who were broken, and will never ever be the same.”
‘Standing there in Uvalde, Jill and I couldn’t help but think that too many schools, too many every day places have become killing fields,’ the President said. ‘How many more parents will live their worst nightmare before we stand up to the gun lobby?’
President Biden called on congress to pass stronger legislation to prevent future mass shootings (Picture: Brendan Smialowski / AFP)
One month after Uvalde, congress passed the Safer Communities Act, a bipartisan bill that funded states’ implementations of red flag laws, intervention programs, and mental health treatment services.
‘We did something afterwards, but not nearly enough,’ Biden said.
The President called on congress to pass common sense gun laws, including banning AR-15 style assault rifles and high capacity magazines.
‘We have to do this to save our children, for the nation we love,’ Biden said.
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A total of 19 students and two teachers were killed when a gunman armed with an AR-15 style rifle entered a classroom in Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022.
