This article contains references to suicide.
As the United States reels from one of the nation's deadliest school shootings, there are continued calls to impose tougher gun laws.
This school shooting is the latest in a long line of deadly school attacks in the US over more than two decades.
The shooter killed at least 21 people, including 19 children and two adults, at Robb Elementary School in south Texas. The suspect, identified as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, was apparently killed by police officers responding to the scene.
The Colorado Columbine High School massacre in 1999 was the first significant school shooting in the US. It resulted in the deaths of 12 students and one teacher, and marked the beginning of a series of school massacres in the country. Despite this, strong calls for tougher gun laws in the US have been met with backlash from gun lobbyists.
US President Joe Biden was informed of the latest attack while on an Air Force One flight returning from Tokyo, and called Texas Governor Gregory Abbott to offer any assistance needed in the wake of the "horrific shooting".
US President Joe Biden. Source: Getty / Anna Moneymaker
"I had hoped when I became president I would not have to do this — again," Mr Biden said.
"Beautiful, innocent second, third, fourth graders. And how many scores of little children who witnessed what happened — see their friends die as if they’re on a battlefield, for God’s sake. They’ll live with it the rest of their lives.
"There’s a lot we don’t know yet, but there’s a lot we do know.
"There are parents who will never see their child again, never have them jump in bed and cuddle with them – parents who will never be the same."
Mr Biden called for stronger action against the gun lobby and reiterated a promise he made when running for the presidency — to push for stronger gun safety laws.
"As a nation, we have to ask: 'When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God’s name will we do what we all know in our gut needs to be done?'"
Gun culture in the United States
Researchers have feared the effects of the pandemic on an increase in deadly shootings, according to UCLA Public Affairs Professor Ron Avi Astor.
Professor Astor said the pandemic increased isolation and accompanying mental health problems, as well as a rise in conspiracy theories and radical ideologies.
"Many of us are not surprised. We're very sad, but I think it's pretty much the trajectory that we've been on," Professor Astor said.
"But the pandemic just moved so many more variables that made them so much more intense, that unfortunately, I think unless we act differently now, and press the reset button to really do some self-reflections, we may be seeing a lot more of this in the United States."
Professor Astor said the issue is not a lack of evidence against gun laws, but rather a lack of will to implement changes in policy. He said the issue is being framed as isolated problems, where it's actually a series of issues operating in conjunction with each other.
"I think it's not either a mental health issue or a gun issue, you know, we see with these individuals that are doing it, they're suicidal, they're also homicidal," he said.
"They also have access to lots of lethal weapons, usually not just one."
The other issue is the media's individualistic approach to covering the incidents, which can influence a wave of imitation acts, according to Professor Astor.
"If you cover the perpetrator in a glorified way, and you make them an anti-hero to a certain set of groups, there will be others who say, 'you know what, I might as well go out and have everybody in the world know who I am'," he said.
History of massacres
There have been dozens of shootings and other attacks in US schools and colleges over the years, but until the massacre at Colorado's Columbine High School in 1999, the death tolls tended to be in the single digits.
Since then, the number of shootings that included schools and killed 10 or more people has grown. Texas was the location for the two most recent.
The latest massacre at Robb Elementary School is the deadliest such incident since 14 high school students and three adult staff were killed in Parkland, Florida in 2018, and is the worst elementary school incident since the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut, in which 20 children and six staff were killed.
Below are some of the deadliest school shootings which have occurred in the US.
Robb Elementary School, May 2022
An 18-year-old shooter opened fire on Tuesday at a primary school in Uvalde, Texas, killing 14 children, a teacher and injuring others, Governor Abbott said. The suspect was apparently killed by police.
Santa Fe High School, May 2018
A 17-year-old opened fire at a Houston-area high school, killing 10 people, most of them students, authorities said. The suspect has been charged with murder.
A makeshift memorial for shooting victims outside Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, on 20 May, 2018. Source: The New York Times / The New York Times
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, February 2018
An attack left 14 students and three staff members dead at the school in Parkland, Florida, and injured many others. The 20-year-old suspect was charged with murder.
Umpqua Community College, October 2015
A man killed nine people at the school in Roseburg, Oregon, and wounded nine others, before taking his own life.
Sandy Hook Elementary School, December 2012
A 19-year-old man killed his mother at their home in Newtown, Connecticut, then went to the nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School and killed 20 first-graders and six educators. He took his own life.
Loved ones visit a memorial for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary school a day after the shooting in December, 2012. Source: Getty / SBS
Virginia Tech, April 2007
A 23-year-old student killed 32 people on the campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, in April 2007; more than two dozen others were wounded. The gunman then took his own life.
Red Lake High School, March 2005
A 16-year-old student killed his grandfather and the man's companion at their Minnesota home, then went to nearby Red Lake High School, where he killed five students, a teacher and a security guard before shooting himself.
Columbine High School, April 1999
Two students killed 12 of their peers and one teacher at the school in Littleton, Colorado, and injured many others before killing themselves.
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