Meghan, Duchess of Sussex visits Uvalde Memorial Site and pays respect to victims
Duchess Meghan of Sussex traveled to Uvalde, Texas on Thursday to pay tribute to the 21 lives lost in the tragic elementary school shooting on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for Archewell confirmed Meghan’s visit to the memorial outside Uvalde County Courto USA TODAY. The spokesperson said it was important that Meghan, as a mother herself, made the trip and offered her condolences and support to the Texas community during this difficult time.
Meghan shares two children with Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, three-year-old son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor and 11-month-old daughter Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor.
Meghan was pictured at the memorial site on Thursday, gazing pensively at a dark row of headstones. In another photo, the 40-year-old was pictured leaving a bouquet of white roses at the base of one of the memorial headstones.
“We cannot accept these tragic realities:Matthew McConaughey reacts to Texas school shooting
“Tragic and senseless”:19 children killed in Texas elementary school shooting; dead gunman
Tuesday’s Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas marked the deadliest shooting at an American elementary school since the 2012 attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut.
Wearing a body armor and firing hundreds of rounds, the 18-year-old shooter killed 19 children and two adults, said Lt. Chris Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Governor Greg Abbott said one of the two was a teacher. A U.S. Border Protection agent, one of several responders at the scene, shot and killed the shooter, a senior Department of Homeland Security official told USA TODAY on Tuesday evening.
Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Erick Estrada said the shooter also shot his grandmother before going to elementary school, where he was armed with a rifle and overpowered a school officer. Estrada said the grandmother was airlifted to a hospital in critical condition, and Abbott later confirmed the woman died.
“It was a tragic and senseless event today, and my heart broke today,” said school system superintendent Hal Harrell, who told a news conference that bereavement counselors would be available and classes were canceled for the year. “We are a small community and we will need your prayers to help us through this.”
Meghan’s visit to the memorial site adds to the recent wave of candid celebrity responses to the mass shooting.
Texas native Matthew McConaughey shared a statement on Instagram on Tuesday: “As you all know there was another mass shooting today, this time in my hometown of Uvalde, Texas. Once moreover, we have tragically proven that we are not responsible for the rights that our freedoms grant us.”
The actor continued, “The real call to action now is for every American to look longer and deeper in the mirror and ask, ‘What do we really appreciate? How can we repeat the problem? What small sacrifices can we individually make today, to pressure a healthier and safer nation, state, and neighborhood tomorrow? “We cannot breathe out once more, make excuses and accept these tragic realities as the status quo.”
Selena Gomez, another Texas native, wrote on social media: “If kids aren’t safe in school, where are they safe? his work ; an invaluable work but unfortunately underestimated.”
Becky G said on Twitter, “ENOUGH.”
“Last week a targeted mass shooting at a market in Buffalo and now a school shooting in Uvalde,” the singer continued. “Communities need to be safe in their grocery stores, our CHILDREN need to be safe in the classroom! This needs to stop. Thoughts and prayers are not enough. We need change.”
After:Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan visit Queen Elizabeth II en route to Invictus Games
Contributors: N’dea Yancey-Bragg, Trevor Hughes, Chris Kenning and Pamela Avila
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