Texas school shooting: Amanda Gorman shares a poem about gun violence hours after the Texas shooting

Amanda Gorman shared a poem on Twitter about the attack in Uvalde, Texas, in which a gunman killed at least 19 students and two adults at Robb Elementary School on Tuesday (May 24).

“Schools scared to death. The truth is, an education under desks bowed low by bullets; That leap when we ask where our children should live and how and if,” wrote the 23-year-old poet.

“It takes a monster to kill children. But to watch monsters keep killing children and doing nothing isn’t just insanity — it’s inhumanity,” Gorman wrote.

“The truth is, one nation under arms.

“What could we be if we only tried. What could we become if we just listened.”

18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos, a student at Uvalde High School, carried out the mass shooting alone before being shot dead by police.

According to State Senator Roland Gutierrez, Ramos had hinted on social media that an attack could be imminent. “He suggested that the kids should pay attention,” the lawmaker told reporters.

The gunman reportedly shot and killed his grandmother before driving to Robb Elementary School just before noon on Tuesday.

“The suspect entered the school and as soon as he entered the school, he started shooting at children, teachers and anyone who stood in his way,” Christopher Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety told local media.

Shortly after the incident, US President Joe Biden said it was time to “put that pain into action” and finally make meaningful changes to US gun laws.

“Why are we willing to live with this slaughter?” he said at the White House. “Where in God’s name is our backbone to have the courage to deal with it and stand up against it [gun] lobbies?”

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The school was locked down after the shooting. The students there were transported to St. Willie Delon Civic Center where they will be reunited with their parents.

Follow live updates on the Texas school shooting here.