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'This is an outcry, I can't take it anymore': Prayer vigil for Uvalde school shooting victims

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Published  May 25, 2022 12:55am CDT
Uvalde, Texas School Shooting
FOX 26 Houston

Houston political leaders react to Uvalde shooting

Politicians from the Houston area are reacting to the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Tiffany Justice reports.

HOUSTON - Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee held a prayer vigil for the victims of the Uvalde elementary school shooting on Tuesday, calling for a bi-partisan effort to stop these mass shootings. She said there needs to be a special session.

"We need to pass a universal background check now," said Jackson Lee. "We need to pass the red flag law, federal, you must do something."

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Houston to Uvalde, is a 5-hour drive, but all of Texas is mourning the lives lost on Tuesday.

During the Congresswoman's vigil in Downtown, leaders demanded action with gun safety legislation.

"This is an outcry, I can't take it anymore. I’ve been in the United States Congress for more than two decades. I can’t take it anymore," said Jackson Lee.

U.S. school shootings since Columbine

After 19 children were killed in a Uvalde elementary school shooting, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee reads out the number of people who died in all the school shootings in America since Columbine in 1999.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner reflected on the tragic news and an unsettling trend.

"There are too many guns on the street," Turner said. "More children are dying because of gun violence, more so than COVID-19. I want you to think about that."

Also at the vigil, Representative Gene Wu, like many local leaders frustrated over the lack of bi-partisan legislation and the number of mass shootings.

"Our children being murder shouldn’t be a Democratic or Republican issue," said Wu. "I don’t understand why we can just say, ‘Well, that’s just what happens.’"

MORE: 'Heartbroken and troubled': Houston-area leaders react to Uvalde elementary school shooting

Senator John Cornyn released the following statement about the shooting:

"My heart goes out to those in the hospital receiving care and to the loved ones of those who lost their lives. As a parent, the pain they must be feeling is unimaginable."

Senator Ted Cruz also condemned the shooting saying, in part:

"We’ve seen too many of these shootings. No parent should have to bear the pain of burying their child. We need to come together, as one nation, and support Uvalde as they try to heal from this devastating loss."