Biden to speak about 'horrific' Texas school shooting Tuesday night

U.S. President Joe Biden called Texas Governor Greg Abbott to offer any and all assistance needed in the wake of the "horrific shooting" at a Texas elementary school, and will speak to the nation about it on Tuesday, the White House said.

U.S. President Joe Biden called Texas Governor Greg Abbott to offer any and all assistance needed in the wake of the "horrific shooting" at a Texas elementary school, and will speak to the nation about it on Tuesday, the White House said. Biden was briefed about the shooting aboard Air Force One as he returned from a trip to Asia, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Twitter.

Authorities said 18-year-old Salvador Ramos opened fire at an elementary school in south Texas, about 80 miles west of San Antonio, killing at least 18 children and an adult, before he apparently was killed by police officers responding to the scene. Biden is expected to speak after 8:30 p.m. (0030 GMT Wednesday) from the White House.

"His prayers are with the families impacted by this awful event," Jean-Pierre said. In a proclamation issued before he landed, Biden ordered the flags at the White House and at U.S. federal and public buildings to be flown at half-staff until sunset on May 28.

Biden spoke with Abbott from Air Force One and offered him "any and all assistance" needed, White House communications director Kate Bedingfield said on Twitter. "Enough is enough," Vice President Kamala Harris said before Biden spoke. "As a nation, we have to have the courage to take action and understand the nexus between what makes for reasonable and sensible public policy to ensure something like this never happens again."

The shooting hands Biden, already facing the lowest approval ratings of his presidency, another crisis on top of 40-year high inflation rates and the war in Ukraine. It came just 10 days after a mass shooting in a Buffalo, New York, grocery store, and piled pressure on the Biden administration to make good its vows to crack down on gun violence.

When he ran for the presidency, Biden promised to push gun safety measures and reduce the country's tens of thousands of annual gun deaths. Biden and his fellow Democrats have failed to get enough votes in Congress for background checks for gun purchases or other proposed bills. The United States is the most heavily armed society in the world, according to the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey, a research group. Small, rural states where gun ownership is widespread have disproportionate influence in the U.S. Senate, where a supermajority of 60 votes is needed to advance most legislation in the 100-seat chamber.

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