19 students were among 21 people killed in Texas school shooting. (AFP Photo)
The mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Texas was 199th such incident in the first five months. The shocking statistic was widely shared on Twitter after 21 people - 19 children and two adults - were killed on Tuesday.
The gunman, who was killed by the police, has been identified as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos.
Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) officials told CNN the gunman was believed to have shot his grandmother before heading to Robb Elementary School around noon where he abandoned his vehicle and entered with a handgun and a rifle, wearing body armour.
The scale of the destruction has horrified the people across the world.
"199mass shootings so far this year. That's an average of 10 shootings every single week. Cue the empty posturing and hollow condolences from the powers that be. Sickening," tweeted Aparna.
"There have been 199 mass shootings in the US in 2022. There have been 27 school shootings. There have only been 144 days this year. My heart is broken for so many people that I will never know. Enough is enough," posted James Shephard.
He added in the Twitter thread that Texas shooting happened just 10 days after Buffalo incident.
Another Twitter user Stephen Froude said about 10 attacks have been taking place in the US every week, calling for stringent gun control laws.
NPR carried a report just after the Buffalo shooting, which said that mass shootings are a common recurrence in the United States. By then, the country had reported 198 mass shootings.
“Around this time last year, the U.S. had experienced a similar number of mass shootings: also about 10 a week,” the May 15 article said.
Despite recurring mass-casualty shootings, multiple initiatives to reform gun regulations have failed in the US Congress, leaving states and local councils to strengthen - or weaken - their own restrictions.
The United States suffered 19,350 firearm homicides in 2020, up nearly 35 per cent on 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its latest data.