Texas school shooting: Biden calls for change in gun laws; all those killed were in 1 room, say reports

19 children and two teachers were killed in the small town of Uvalde in Texas (US) after an 18-year-old gunman opened fire inside an elementary school.

Austin (Texas, US): In a horrific tragedy, 19 children and two teachers were killed in the small town of Uvalde, west of San Antonio, in Texas after a gunman opened fire inside an elementary school. This is the United State's deadliest school shooting incident in nearly a decade. The gunman was just 18 years old and the youth opened fire at Robb Elementary School, killing at least 21 people. As condolences poured in from across the world, US President Joe Biden said that the fact that a teenager can go into a shop and buy a gun was "so wrong".

"The idea that an 18-year-old can walk into a store and buy assault weapons is just wrong. What in God’s name do you need an assault weapon for except to kill someone?" the POTUS tweeted. 

The idea that an 18-year-old can walk into a store and buy assault weapons is just wrong.

What in God’s name do you need an assault weapon for except to kill someone? — President Biden (@POTUS) May 25, 2022

POTUS had earlier tweeted, "We know common sense gun laws can’t and won’t prevent every tragedy. But we know they work and have a positive impact. When we passed the assault weapons ban — mass shootings went down. When the law expired — mass shootings tripled. (sic)"

The youth opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde town, Texas, 134 km from San Antonio, on Tuesday morning before he was killed by law enforcement officers. All fatalities and injuries took place inside one classroom Uvalde, according to Lt. Chris Olivarez, spokesperson for the Texas Department for Public Safety. The shooter barricaded himself in one room, killing two teachers and 19 children, he told CNN. "Just goes to show you the complete evil from this shooter," Olivarez said, just 10 days since 10 people were killed in a mass shooting in New York.

Investigators say the suspect was armed with a handgun, an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and high-capacity magazines. The deceased children are in the second, third and fourth grades - aged between 7 years and 10 years, he said.

There have so far been at least 212 mass shootings in the US in 2022, according to the nonprofit organisation Gun Violence Archive. This means there have been more mass shootings this year than there have been days in 2022, CNN reported. CNN and the GVA define a mass shooting as a shooting that injured or killed four or more people, not including the shooter. Tuesday's massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvald is the second-deadliest school shooting since 2012, when 26 children and adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

(With PTI inputs)