Official: Texas gunman bought two assault rifles on 18th birthday

A shooter killed 19 children and two adults at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. The 18-year-old gunman purchased the weapons used in the attack on his 18th birthday, according to Texas state senator Roland Gutierrez. CNN's Adrienne Broaddus reports. #CNN #News

58 comments

  1. Every family who lost their child in this shooting, I’m so sorry for your loss 😢

  2. “Planning funerals instead of summer vacations.” That hit me. Prayers and compassion for the families and community and for our country to make changes.

  3. When these types of terrible things happen I just have no words at all. I just can’t wrap my head around how someone would or could do this. I am deeply sorry for these families.

    1. @Shawn Manson in the current situation it’s incredibly easy. That’s why laws need to change .

    2. @Luke Amato criminals don’t care about the law….. If you want drugs you go get them, if you want a gun you go get it…

  4. My condolences to the family’s who have to suffer through this tragedy. Imagine sending your kid off to school in the morning on the bus or dropping them off and not knowing it’ll be the last time you ever see them alive. I hope and pray that there is something done so that there is some sort of screening to determine who is and is not capable of owning a firearm.

    1. @Farva’sStache If Ford made a vehicle that could drive 2000 feet per second ,crash into 30 cars in a row and kill all the occupants, but leave the drunk driver unharmed…I’d say you’d have a good argument.

    2. @Frank Hi Frank. Here’s a tip. Don’t use words that you can’t spell and don’t know their meaning if you want to sound intelligent or coherent. The word you are looking for is demagoguery. Right off the bat your arguement falls flat because the question you ask has no relation to demagoguery or the situation in Uvalde. The perpatrator of this crime “legally” purchased an AR 15 assault rifle the day of his 18th birthday. Restrictions on weapons purchases work. The 1994 assault weapons ban lapsed in 2004. In that 10-year period, “gun massacres” (six or more gun deaths) declined compared to the decade prior. From 2004-2014, after the assault weapons ban lapsed, the number of gun massacre deaths during the ban (89) increased more than three times (302). Also, the number of gun massacre incidents during the ban (12) nearly tripled (34) during the same 10-year period. These facts run counter to the false NRA talking points that you are parroting. There are plenty of facts that supports implementing gun control measures make people safer (Look at New Zealand for one). Your reliance on hyperbole and the improper use of the word demagoguery contributes to the ineffectual case you present. Kind of like the rest of the right wing gun nuts doing nothing about the plague of mass shootings and the death of innocent men, women and children.

    3. @Joshua Schofield lol. My argument is sound and the scariest of all. Why? It involves the scariest word of all….”responsibility”.

    4. @Kaz Headrest Here is some data I found from CHDS for K-12 school shootings per year, lets look at victims per year to compare how deadly the shooting are: 1994 – 19, 1995 – 12, 1996 – 18, 1997 – 19, 1998 – 17, 1999 – 18, 2000 -11, 2001 – 7, 2002 – 4, 2003 – 9, 2004 – 7. Total 1994-2004 = 124 if I’m not mistaken (if I am is due to typos and since this data is not available on that site as a spreadsheet).
      Let’s look at the following decade – 2005 – 20, 2006 – 18, 2007 – 5, 2008 – 11, 2009 – 4, 2010 – 5, 2011 – 3, 2012 – 34, 2013 – 12, 2014 – 16. Total 128. so roughly the same. Now let’s look at total number of students, let’s the middle year, 1999 and 2009, in 99′ we had 52.9 k-12 students and in 2009 we had 54.8 million. so 124/52.9 = so 2.34 deaths per million students in the first period, and 128/54.8 = 2.33 deaths per million. I don’t see any difference. If we look at the following years there was an increase in victims starting 2018, there was also an increase in non active shooter incidents, whatever that means, starting around 2015. But from this official data I don’t see how that assault weapon ban made a difference. Second, it’s worth talking about what ‘assault rifle’ is, AR-15 isn’t more deadly than a “non assault rifle” such as something like a Ruger Mini 14, which is a semi-auto rifle with wooden stock with none of the assault rifle feature but it shoots the same type of bullets, from the same length barrel, at the same speed, it just doesn’t look as scary but it works just the same.

  5. We refuse to even do the minimum to protect the most vulnerable amongst us. Every American should be ashamed today. Especially those who claim to lead us

    1. @Steven Hughes unfortunately yes, there are crazy nuts out there! Unless of course, you have a better plan?

    2. @Mark Warren There are crazy nuts everywhere, maybe more in America I would concede, but in every country nonetheless. I think a good plan is to make it rather more difficult for them to access deadly weapons.

    3. @Ali B Still NOT Enough laws! They are Obviously NOT strict enough! The FBI should be conducting Personal Interviews with EVERY SINGLE PERSON that applies for a gun. And they should make them wait 6 months AT Least to obtain a firearm. At this Point it’s easier to get a gun than a Driver’s license!!😠😠😠

  6. We have violent video games over here. We have troubled youth. We have violent music. We have all the same issues as there are in the US. Two simple differences. We don’t have an insane gun culture and we have never had a school shooting. When I was a kid I used to love the US but now that I’m older I must admit I’d be embarrassed to go there.

    1. Lol. Americans are so tired of this specious argument. The only two differences are no school shootings and no “insane” gun culture, huh? Well, I guess that settles it then. No point in me bringing up something like demographics…..

  7. They put themselves in this position for the lobbying money, that’s why they work so hard to get that job. Greed wins out over children’s lives.

    1. It doesn’t help, they glorified an 17 year old shooting two people during a protest. They hailed him as a hero. That judge dropped the weapons charge, which was extremely reckless. Texas Governor essentially removed regulations, which would have prevented the legal purchase of the firearms used in this violent carnage.

    2. And when it comes to political fundraising, don’t count on any help from the supreme court. They say money is free speech. .

  8. “We need more security at these schools” says Sue. Unless you plan to have military level security with multiple heavily armed individuals at every door of the school, you’re not going to stop a guy with 2 assault rifles. Is that a school situation you want to walk 6 yr olds into every day? Just step past the heavily armed people and have a good day at school. What we need is to stop acting like idiots, electing idiots and not hand out assault rifles.

    1. @George Neidorf No ammo.Selling,making or buying.Can have your stupid guns just can’t use them.Works in Switzerland.

    2. you can always tell untrained no shooters by comments like this. this kid wasn’t an elite soldier. he was literally shooting 7yo olds. he’s not a warrior he’s a coward. anyone with a decent amount of training would have dropped him before he could have dealt much if any damage. locked doors, a few security officials and these cowards would not want to test it. he picked that school for the same reason the other coward picked an area with virtually no concealed carry; to avoid opposition

  9. This is horrendous, How on earth did this peace of crap walk into a school with those guns. RIP angels. Love from Ireland

    1. more to the point, how did he spent a full 30 minutes in the school before a single border patrol agent went in and shot him. if only a member of staff were armed.

  10. This has absolutely broken my heart. Children? why go after them, what did they do wrong? My of and prayers go out all the families affected.

    1. He appears to have been abused and bullied as a kid. Many of those people become predators themselves

    2. @Joaquin Ayala Rosales That doesn’t justify what he did. I was beaten with a baseball bat, burned with an iron and violently beaten and abused by my Mother. I HAVEN’T Hurt 1 person in my entire 56 years. Being abused is NOT an excuse for murdering innocent children or ANYONE for that matter. I’m SO sick and tired of our Government NOT doing anything to stop people from getting guns and Especially Military grade Assault weapons! It’s sick and our Government is to blame!!

  11. Heartbreaking 💔 my deepest condolences & prayers to the children and to the families,, your in our Hearts ❤️

    1. When I was 12 there was this horrible tragedy where a school bus full of children crashed and killed every one. I remember I went to the funeral and I vividly remember a father to one of the kids. He got up to the casket of his 10 year old and he put his hand on the casket and was quiet for 10 seconds
      Than I think he was saying a prayer
      and after he said “ you are in heaven now, no more pain and no more suffering rest now “ he walked away
      Maybe god can comfort those in deep deep pain and I don’t know why god didn’t prevent this horrible shooting
      He didn’t cause it and, he isn’t responsible for evil that men does every day to each other.
      My only hope is that those babies are with god and the angels right now
      In a place where there’s only joy

  12. God Bless these parents and their children. Twenty lives directly ended, dozens of family and relatives will struggle.
    As for the gunman, he lost his life too. It’s a life and sad, among many other emotions, the kid acted the way he did. When does it end? This incident hits me between the eyes and directly in the heart. Why????

    1. It ends when they secure the schools and place prevention measures to isolate potential threats. Many things that can be done but haven’t been done in every school across the nation.

      I hope the school boards wake up and start thinking of how they can protect thier kids. Even an armed guard patrolling the grounds would suffice. Even I had one at my old high school with police on speed dial.

      I remember when he would be sitting at the front entrance of the school at most times watching who enters. I used to get in trouble for sneaking out to skip school. Even sneaking back in was difficult to be unnoticed.

    2. @h w Forwarded to: White House; ATTN: Joe Biden a.k.a “Let’s Go Brandon”.
      Forwarded: Done✅

  13. This breaks my heart so inhumane poor family’s and children should have never had to go through this.

  14. My heart and thought go out to the families who have to suffer through this tragedy. My heart also goes out to the teachers and other staff members at the school in TX. Please, do something to save lives.

  15. As the NRA and the Republicans always say, Thoughts and prayers! I hope it makes a difference! I know Texans last year made it easier to open carry and have lowered the amount of mental health services across the state. Sooooo thoughts and prayers!!

  16. Think of ALL the things you’ve done since you were eight.

    High school, college, 1st crush, 1st heartbreak, voting, driving a car, drinking a beer, meeting someone, getting a pet, having a child, realizing when your parents were right, realizing when they were wrong, moving out, getting a hobby, and any number of other things you have done

    That’s what was stolen from these kids. What would’ve been lost if you were ended at eight? What has the world lost now that they have been?

    Infuriating and mind numbingly sad.

    1. @Hugh Glass You got a handle on the truth? You know something that most don’t? Then share your great wisdom. Funny how men always have the wrong answers, at the worst time, to questions that have nothing to do with the subject at hand….then claim to be “enlightened”. GTFOH!

  17. When the solution is right in front of you but you just love something so dearly and therefore blame secondary reasons that can only be dealt in the long term!!
    😢😢

    1. The solution is simple: provide armed security at schools and train and arm teachers to protect the children–and you buy a firearm, learn to use it, and take some personal responsibility so that if the situation ever presents itself, you can intercede force on force and at least try to make a difference, it worked for me and my unit in Afghanistan, in Iraq and in Israel, it will work here as well. Don’t wait for others, you Man Up!

  18. To all the families who have lost a love one to gun violence you are in my thoughts and prayers ! I can not imagine your pain ! 😞🙏❤️

  19. These kids didn’t deserve to die like this at all my heart breaks for the family beyond
    May the all rest peacefully

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