Devastation over the shooting spree that took six lives and injured two officers in Austin Tuesday has rippled nationwide.
In a statement Wednesday, President Joe Biden connected the spree to a shooting at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas that same day and to the 600 mass shootings and roughly 40,000 deaths due to gun violence in the U.S. this year.
“For all the action we have taken since I’ve been President, the epidemic of gun violence we face demands that we do even more. But we cannot do more without Congress,” he wrote. “Republican lawmakers must join with Democrats in Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, pass a national red flag law, enact universal background checks, require the safe storage of guns, and advance other commonsense measures that will help stem the tide of gun violence.”
Gov. Greg Abbott focused, instead, on a tough-on-crime approach, calling for prayer for the loved ones of the six Texans “murdered by a hardened criminal who must never see the light of day again. The murderer also shot two law enforcement officers in the line of duty. Texas is a law-and-order state, and violence will never be tolerated.”
The rampage began with suspect Shane James allegedly killing his parents, Phyllis James and Shane James Sr., in San Antonio. At 10:40am Tuesday, Austin ISD police Sgt. Val Barnes reported being shot in the leg near Nelson Field, across the street from Northeast Early College High School.
Later, the gunman arrived on Shadywood Drive and killed Emmanual Pop Ba and Sabrina Rahman, the latter of whom was pushing a baby stroller when the attacker approached, the Statesman reported.
After shooting a bicyclist on West Slaughter Lane who sustained non-life-threatening injuries, the suspect broke into a house on the 5300 block of Austral Loop, per an Austin Police Department news release. Police arrived and encountered Shane James, who they say immediately fired several gunshots at an officer. Police found two people dead inside the home who have not yet been identified. As of Wednesday, the APD officer was released from a hospital and is recovering from wounds.
This article appears in December 1 • 2023.
