News

This 18 year old gave a stronger reaction to the Texas school shooting than Donald Trump

This 18 year old gave a stronger reaction to the Texas school shooting than Donald Trump

On Friday morning the United States, once again, found itself dealing with the aftermath of another school shooting.

A gunman, who police suspect to be 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtizis, opened fire at Santa Fe High School in Texas.

The suspect is believed to have entered an art class with a shotgun and .38 revolver, which is said to have belonged to his father.

He was arrested shortly after by officials and is being held on capital murder charges.

Ten people are confirmed to have died as a result of the attack.

The shooting is the 22nd incident of this kind to have happened in the United States in 2018.

Since the Majory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting on 14 February, which claimed 17 lives, the discussion of gun control has been prevalent in America.

Donald Trump made headlines at the time when he controversially suggested that giving teachers their own guns in classrooms would prevent shootings.

In contrast, the survivors of the Majory Stoneman Douglas shooting kick-started a campaign to attempt to alter gun laws in their country.

This included the historic March For Our Lives protest and several school walk-outs which galvanised young people across America.

When news of the Santa Fe shooting broke, one of the movement's most prominent voices, Emma Gonzalez, offered a thoughtful and compassionate response on Twitter.

Her message was typical of the maturity and empathy that she has displayed in recent months, leading her to become an equally praised and derided figure in the American political spectrum.

In comparison, Donald Trump, the 71-year-old President of the United States of America and former reality TV star, offered this as his first thoughts on the shooting.

"Early reports not looking good."

That's what the president said after hearing that another ten lives had been needlessly lost in his country.

It's hard to fathom how two people, one of which is the most powerful person in the world and the other who was virtually unknown at the start of the year, could give such opposing statements - but here we are.

Trump did later offer more thoughtful words on what had happened.

More: Trump's plan to arm some teachers taken down by actual combat expert

The Conversation (0)
x