Buffalo reacts to Texas mass shooting just 10 days after massacre at Tops
BUFFALO, N.Y. — On Tuesday, at least 18 children and 1 teacher were killed during a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
It happened at the Robb Elementary School and panicked parents could be seen running towards the school after the massacre occurred.
Police say the 18-year-old gunman is dead after being shot and killed by responding officers. The gunman was identified as Salvador Ramos. He was reportedly armed with a handgun, possibly a rifle. Investigators are working to determine what led up to the shooting and the motive.
Yvette Allison, from Buffalo, says, “That’s someone’s child, I have 11 grandchildren and 3 great grandkids. So where do we go from here.”
Allison was still mourning the loss of the 10 innocent lives taken in the Buffalo mass shooting when she heard about what happened in Texas.
“It’s just too much, it’s too much,” said Allison. “I mourn for near and far just being people. We’re all human beings and we shouldn’t have to go through this anywhere.”
Raising the question of when does it stop, and where do we go from here.
Pastor Joyce Badger, from Bethesda World Harvest International Church in Buffalo, says, “What are they going to do with the guns, when are they going to stop and get control over it, when are they going to start making the gun companies be responsible.”
Pastor Badger knew some of the victims who lost their lives during the Tops mass shooting.
“The best thing is to band together, love on each other, support each other, and help each other,” said Pastor Badger. “We have to forgive, it’s not for the murderer’s sake it’s for our sake so we won’t let that bitterness get in our heart and destroy us from the inside out.”
She says forgiveness is key to healing from these unthinkable tragedies.
Elise Tyler, from Buffalo, says, “At the Tops a majority of people here are senior citizens, now they are targeting little children. We have to pray.”
Tyler is relying on the power of prayer to get through this tough time but says she feels unsafe.
“It just makes you afraid, people are afraid to go out of their house,” said Tyler. “The violence is happening everywhere.”
While Buffalo is still grieving the loss of 10 of their own they’re now mourning for the lives lost in Texas.
“Those kids didn’t even have a chance either of getting gunned down like that, it’s not fair,” said Allison. “If something like this happens, they need to get better laws, shut it down, take these guns from these folks.”
Many of the people we spoke to are heartbroken and calling on state and federal leaders to make stricter gun laws.
