A student in the US state of Texas was caught with firearms outside a high school a day after a deadly shooting at a school in Uvalde killed 19 students and two teachers, media reports said on Wednesday.
Police arrested a suspect walking towards a Richardson high school in Texas with what appeared to be a rifle. This comes a day after an 18-year-old shooter had killed over a dozen students.
"On May 25, 2022, at 10:55 AM, the Richardson Police Department received a phone call from a business in the 1500 block of East Spring Valley Road reporting a male holding what appeared to be a rifle. The male was last seen walking towards Berkner High School, located at 1600 East Spring Valley Road," the Richardson Police Department said in a news release.
Within minutes of the call being dispatched, numerous police officers from various units within the Richardson Police Department responded to Berkner High School and initiated a search and investigation into this incident. Nearby schools were notified of the police activity.
Based on the information provided, Police officers were able to identify the male suspect as a juvenile student of Berkner High School. The suspect was located inside Berkner High School, but no weapons were found.
Further investigation led to the discovery of a vehicle used by the suspect in the parking lot of 1551 East Spring Valley Road. Inside the vehicle, officers observed what appeared to be an AK-47 style pistol and a replica AR-15 style Orbeez rifle.
"The juvenile suspect was arrested and charged with Unlawful Carrying Weapons in a Weapon-Free School Zone, T.P.C. 46.02, a State Jail Felony. No further information is being released on the suspect due to his age," the Police said.
The head of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) asked on Wednesday: how many more children will die before leaders act?
"Tragedy after tragedy, shooting after shooting, young life after young life: how many more children will die before government leaders act to keep children and their schools safe?" asked Catherine Russell, executive director of UNICEF. "Because until they do, these horrors will continue."
This shooting incident comes amid growing criticism of constitutionally protected US gun laws, especially those allowing the sale of automatic weapons to young people, under 21 years of age.
On Wednesday, Governor Greg Abbott confirmed that the Texas school shooter used an AR-15 assault rifle.
Over half of Americans supported making gun violence laws more strict, The Hill reported citing a poll conducted between the mass shootings that took place this month in New York and Texas.
According to the American publication, 54 per cent of those surveyed in a CBS News-YouGov poll out Wednesday said they would like to see stricter laws regulating the sale of guns.
A total of 30 per cent said they wanted gun laws to remain the same, and 16 per cent said they wanted gun laws to be less strict, the report added.
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