Celebs took to social media to share their reactions after a school shooting in Texas left 19 students and two adults dead.
At least 19 students and two adults were killed when a gunman opened fire at an elementary school in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday. Abbott said the shooter is also dead, and is believed to have been killed by responding law enforcement officers.
Abbott's comments came after the district reported an active shooter at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, which is approximately an hour and a half west of San Antonio.
Abbott said the shooter was an 18-year-old male who resided in Uvalde. He said it's believed the suspect, who he named as Salvador Ramos, abandoned his vehicle, then entered the school with a handgun and possibly a rifle.
"He shot and killed — horrifically, incomprehensibly — 14 students and killed a teacher," Abbott said at the time.
Celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Britney Spears and many more took to social media to express their shock at what happened in Texas and offer their prayers for the families affected by the senseless shooting.
In a lengthy Twitter thread, Kardashian wrote that she's "heartbroken, disgusted and furious about how little has been done by law makers to enact gun laws that protect our children."
"There is no excuse and no justification for what happened yesterday. The current laws in our country around gun control are not protecting our children," she wrote. "We have to push law makers to enact laws that are fitting in today’s world. Semi automatic weapons, assault weapons, weapons of war, should not be legally sold or owned by American civilians. They should be banned. Period."
Kardashian continued her post by pointing out that AR-15 style semi automatic rifles were used in many mass shootings, writing of the weapon, " Assault weapons are not a self defense tool."
"Assault weapons didn’t even exist when the Second Amendment was written," she pointed out. "We have to stop allowing people to use a sentence written centuries ago when technology, times, humanity were completely different, to dictate how we regulate gun ownership, & how we protect our kids today."
Kardashian also took issue with the legal age to purchase a firearm, something, she wrote, that "needs to be addressed and increased."
"Someone who is not old enough to buy alcohol should not be allowed to purchase a firearm," Kardashian wrote. "There is no world in which an 18 year old needs a semi automatic weapon, or any weapon, and no world in which the outcome can be anything other than tragic. As I even type these words I am seriously dumbfounded that this is something considered normal, acceptable and legal."
While Kardashian acknowledged that "there is no question that mental health, racism, deep-seated hatred all play a role in the motivation for mass shootings in recent years," she wrote that "the one thing that law makers can and should control now is access to weapons."
"If we increase legal age to purchase, coupled with a ban on assault weapons, we can without a doubt reduce the number of senseless tragedies and save children’s lives," she wrote. "We can’t accept this as normal anymore. It’s not normal for a teenager to kill children. It’s not normal for our kids to be practicing active shooter drills in schools. It’s not normal to be shot while shopping for groceries."
"I’m not numbed by it. I will never be numbed by it. We can’t accept it. We can’t have another five years go by without effective, impactful laws put in place to protect our kids," Kardashian continued. "We are parents, we are mothers, we are begging and pleading for action."
Kardashian concluded, "Imagine the entire classroom of children who witnessed their friends die in front of them. The trauma will last a lifetime for everyone involved. Words can’t express my heartbreak for the parents whose babies didn’t come home from school yesterday. I’m urging our leaders to come together and put politics aside and put children first."
Meanwhile, Spears wrote on Instagram that her "heart is shattered" by the shooting.
"I'm lost for words. My prayers are with the victims of Robb Elementary and their families," she wrote. "Our sympathies and condolences are just not enough. We have to take action. We need change. Enough is enough. We will keep our prayers coming even if it's not enough to heal the loss."
Matthew McConaughey, whose hometown was the location of the shooting, also addressed the tragedy on Instagram.
"Once again, we have tragically proven that we are failing to be responsible for the rights our freedoms grant us," he wrote. "The true call to action is now for every American to take a longer and deeper look in the mirror and ask ourselves, 'What is it that we truly value? How do we repair the problem? What small sacrifices can we individually take today, to preserve a healthier and safer nation, state, and neighborhood tomorrow?'"
"We cannot exhale once again, make excuses and accept these tragic realities as the status quo. As Americans, Texans, mothers and fathers, it's time we re-evaluate, and renegotiate our wants from our needs," McConaughey continued. "We have to rearrange our values and find a common ground above this devastating American reality that has tragically become our children's issue."
The actor noted that "this is an epidemic we can control," adding, "whichever side of the aisle we stand on, we all know we can do better."
"We must do better. Action must be taken so that no parent has to experience what the parents in Uvalde and the others before them have endured," he concluded. "And to those who dropped off their loved ones today not knowing it was goodbye, no words can comprehend or heal your loss, but if prayers can provide comfort, we will keep them coming."
In a three-part Twitter thread, Jennifer Lopez wrote that she's "broken-hearted" in the wake of the news.
"I’ve been so emotional and crying a lot the since I heard the news about these beautiful children and teachers. Along with so many others, I’m demanding for law makers to stop the violence that is happening across this country!!! Our country!!" she wrote. "I am so sad and scared for our kids and loved ones. I’m scared for all of us who send our children to school every day or going to grocery store!! My heart goes out to all of those who have been impacted by this unimaginable act!!"
Lopez concluded, "I can’t think of anything more cruel or diabolical than to target small children. God help us!!! We need some serious change!!! And we need it NOW!!!"
LeBron James wrote that his "thoughts and prayers goes out to the families of love ones loss & injured at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX!"
Like when is enough enough man!!!," LeBron James tweeted. "These are kids and we keep putting them in harms way at school. Like seriously "AT SCHOOL" where it's suppose to be the safest!"
James later tweeted, "There simply has to be change! HAS TO BE!! 😔😔😔😔🥺🥺🥺🥺.. Praying to the heavens above to all with kids these days in schools. 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾."
Chris Evans also tweeted, writing simply, "F***ING ENOUGH!!!!"
Taylor Swift echoed Evan's outrage, writing that she was filled with "rage and grief" after Tuesday's shooting.
"Filled with rage and grief, and so broken by the murders in Uvalde. By Buffalo, Laguna Woods and so many others," Swift tweeted. "By the ways in which we, as a nation, have become conditioned to unfathomable and unbearable heartbreak. Steve’s words ring so true and cut so deep.
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