A shooting at a school in Uvalde, Texas, left at least two children dead and 13 injured on Tuesday afternoon (24). The information was confirmed to the American press by one of the hospitals where the victims were taken.
The shooter was arrested, but police did not provide further information about his identity or possible motivations in the case.
In addition to the children, a 45-year-old man was also hospitalized, according to ABC News.
The mayor of Uvalde, although not confirming the deaths, told the station in a text message that “the situation is very bad”. The city government tried to contact the victims’ families before giving more information to the press.
Uvalde, population 16,000, is about 135 kilometers from San Antonio. Robb School, which according to the American press has just under 600 students enrolled, canceled Tuesday afternoon activities.
This Monday (23), a report released by the FBI, the American federal police, showed that the number of incidents caused by shooters has doubled in the United States in the last three years.
The document records that, in 2018, there were 30 actions perpetrated by one or more individuals with the intention of killing in populated areas. In 2021, that number reached 61.
The speed of growth of episodes also increased. In 2019, the figure remained stable compared to the previous year, in 30 cases – in 2017, there were 31 –, but it rose to 40 in 2020, an increase of 33%. Following that, there was a 52.5% jump in registrations in 2021, according to the FBI report.
Ten days ago, a shooting by an 18-year-old man killed ten black people in the city of Buffalo, New York. Payton Gendron opened fire on supermarket customers, in an action broadcast live on the internet, in which he also published a manifesto to justify the attack, based on racist theories, such as that blacks were taking the place of whites in society.
