Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey has taken to Twitter to reflect on a deadly shooting that claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers in his hometown of Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday.
McConaughey wrote a lengthy message, addressing all Americans and asking them what could be done to finally put an end to a long history of mass shootings in the country.
“Once again, we have tragically proven that we are failing to be responsible for the rights our freedoms grant us", the actor said.
McConaughey, who moved from Uvalde to Longview, Texas at the age of 11, referred to regular incidents of gun violence in the United States as “an epidemic we can control”. The actor believes that all Americans should find “common ground about this devastating American reality".
A girl cries, comforted by two adults, outside the Willie de Leon Civic Center where grief counseling will be offered in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022. - A teenage gunman killed 18 young children in a shooting at an elementary school in Texas on Tuesday, in the deadliest US school shooting in years.
© AFP 2023 / ALLISON DINNER
On 24 May, the shooter, who was later identified by the Texas Department of Public Safety as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, entered the predominantly Hispanic Robb Elementary School in Uvalde at 11:30 and opened fire. It is understood that he went from classroom to classroom, killing at least 19 children and two adults. Ramos was shot dead by a Border Patrol agent who arrived at the scene in response to a 911 call about a shooting at the school. The gunman acted alone, officials said, adding that the motive for his actions is yet to be determined.