Anger mounted over law enforcement Uvalde’s decision to allow the shooter to remain in a classroom for nearly an hour as officers waited in the hallway and children inside the room called 911 for help in a panic.
President and First Lady Jill Biden wiped away tears while visiting the Robb Elementary School memorials where the shooter killed 19 students and two teachers, laying white roses at the school’s sign.
At Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Uvalde, all the pews were filled when the Bidens attended mass. The Bidens will meet with families of victims, survivors and first responders.
Police say the shooter, Salvador Ramos, 18, entered the school on Tuesday with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle after previously killing his grandmother.
Official accounts of how the police responded to the shootings have been the subject of much discussion. The US Department of Justice said on Sunday it would review local law enforcement’s response to Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin’s request.
Julian Moreno, former pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista and great-grandfather of one of the girls killed, said police made a huge mistake but felt “sorry for them because they have to live with this error of having remained with folded arms”.
The Uvalde shooting has once again put gun control at the top of the nation’s agenda, months before November’s midterm elections, with supporters of tougher gun laws saying that the latest bloodbath represents a tipping point.
Biden, a Democrat, has repeatedly called for major reforms to US gun laws, but he has been powerless to stop the mass shootings or convince Republicans that tougher controls could stem the carnage.
WE NEED HELP
The visit to Texas is Biden’s third presidential trip to the site of a mass shooting, including earlier this month when he visited Buffalo, New York, after a gunman was killed 10 blacks in an attack on Saturday afternoon in a grocery store.
Biden was joined Sunday by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican who opposes new gun restrictions, and other local officials.
“We need help, Governor Abbott,” some in the crowd shouted when Biden arrived at school. Others shouted, “Shame on you, Abbott.”
White House aides and close allies say Biden is unlikely to embark on specific policy proposals or take executive action on guns to avoid disrupting delicate negotiations in the divided Senate.
Senate Democrats also toned down the rtoric as negotiations continued during the chamber’s Memorial Day recess this week.
“We have to be realistic about what we can achieve,” Dick Durbin, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” program on Sunday. Mr Durbin’s Democratic colleagues narrowly control the Senate, which is split 50-50, but need 60 votes to pass most laws.
Vice President Kamala Harris called for a ban on assault rifles during a trip to Buffalo on Saturday, calling them a “weapon of war.”
Leading Republicans like U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, former President Donald Trump and Mr. Abbott have rejected calls for new gun control measures and instead suggested investing in mental health care or to increase safety in schools.
Ramos, who dropped out of high school, had no criminal record or history of mental illness but had posted threatening messages on social media.