Here are the names and details of those who died in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24 at the Robb Elementary School shooting.
- Alexandria Aniyah Rubio, 10
- Alithia Ramirez, 10
- Amerie Jo Garza, 10
- Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez, 10
- Eliahana Cruz Torres, 10
- Eliana “Ellie” Garcia, 9
- Jackie Cazares, 10
- Jailah Nicole Silguero, 10
- Jayce Luevanos, 10
- Jose Flores, 10
- Layla Salazar, 10
- Makenna Lee Elrod, 10
- Maite Rodriguez, 10
- Miranda Mathis, 11
- Nevaeh Bravo, 10
- Rojelio Torres, 10
- Tess Marie Mata, 10
- Uziyah Garcia, 8
- Xavier Lopez, 10
- Eva Mireles, 44, teacher
- Irma Garcia, teacher, 46
I follow Annie Lennox on Instagram and she posted observations from Gloria Steinem dating back to 1999 which address gun culture in the U.S. While other countries might share some of these characteristics, they don’t have the abundance of and ease of access to guns that we have in this country.
Jotting some thoughts of my own here:
“Mental illness” is a simplistic answer and ignores the truth that many, many people live with mental and emotional illnesses and never massacre people or inflict bodily harm on others. Please do not stigmatize people who struggle with mental illness.
Automatic weapons of the type that can kill so many so quickly are not hunting weapons. They are not for protection. They are meant to kill humans efficiently in mass numbers. I grew up with hunters and soldiers all around me. None that I ever knew had these kinds of weapons in their homes. They are battlefield weapons. They, and large capacity magazines, began increasing in sales to non-military and non-law enforcement personnel in the mid to late 1990s.
School shootings ONLY (death totals do not include the shooters, and the injured are not listed here):
COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL, April 1999, 13 dead
RED LAKE HIGH SCHOOL, March 2005, 9 dead
WEST NICKEL MINES AMISH SCHOOL, October 2006, 5 dead
VIRGINIA TECH, April 2007, 32 dead
NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY, February 2008, 5 dead
OIKOS UNIVERSITY, April 2012, 7 dead
SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, December 2012, 27 dead
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA, May 2014, 6 dead (includes both gun and stabbing victims)
MARYSVILLE-PILCHUCK HIGH SCHOOL, October 2014, 4 dead
MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL, February 2018, 17 dead
UMPQUA COMMUNITY COLLEGE, October 2015, 9 dead
SANTA FE HIGH SCHOOL, May 2018, 10 dead
OXFORD HIGH SCHOOL, November 2021, 4 dead
ROBB ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, May 2022, 21 dead