A woman killed three children and as many adults this Monday when she opened fire at a school in the southern United States before being shot dead by the police.
Armed with at least two assault rifles and a pistol, the attacker entered the facilities of the private Christian school “The Covenant School” in the morning, local police spokesman Don Aaron explained at a press conference.
The policemen went to the scene and after hearing shots upstairs they went up “immediately” and “killed” the attacker who was pronounced dead at 10:27 (15:27 GMT), he said.
His department clarified on Twitter that the shooter was 28 years old and resided in Nashville.
According to police, the young woman fired numerous shots as she walked through the establishment, which has around 200 students and 40 employees.
“Three students and three adults were fatally injured,” said Aaron, who reported that there are no more victims.
In reaction to the drama, the White House has again called for a ban on assault rifles this Monday.
“Too much is too much,” said White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre, who wondered how many children would have to die “for Republicans in Congress” to ban them.
Several Tennessee state officials expressed dismay on social media, including Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty, who said he was “devastated.”
Slaughter
Deadly shootings are common in the United States, where there are some 400 million firearms in circulation.
In 2012, a man killed 20 children aged 6 and 7, and ten years later, in 2022, an 18-year-old boy killed 19 students and two teachers.
A 2018 mass shooting at a Florida high school sparked a national movement, led by youth, to demand stricter gun control in the United States.
Despite the mobilization of more than a million protesters, the US Congress has not adopted an ambitious law because many congressmen are under the influence of the National Rifle Association (NRA), a pressure group on guns.
In a country where millions of Americans consider carrying a gun a constitutional right, the only recent legislative advances remain marginal, such as the widespread use of criminal and psychiatric background checks in order to purchase a gun.
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