Amanda Gorman, the young US poet who captivated listeners at Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration, has shared a poem on Twitter in the wake of another mass shooting in a Texas elementary school.

19 young children and two adults died in the shooting at a primary school in south Texas, making it the deadliest mass shooting at a US school since Sandy Hook in 2012.

A gunman opened fire at Robb Elementary School, which teaches children aged seven to 10, in the city of Uvalde, before he was killed by law enforcement, according to the BBC.

An 18-year-old male suspect has been named by Texas governor Greg Abbott; he is believed to have first shot his own grandmother, who remains in critical condition, at her home before fleeing the scene by car. He crashed the car outside Robb Elementary School before he ran in and began shooting. 

In the wake of the tragic event, Gorman – whose poem The Hill We Climb became a bestseller after her recital at Biden’s 2021 inauguration – shared a short poem on Twitter: 

In a short series of tweets afterwards, she spoke of her emotions around the catastrophe, referencing the inaction of the US government in the wake of such crisis. She said: “It takes a monster to kill children. But to watch monsters kill children again and again and do nothing isn’t just insanity – it’s inhumanity.”

She also referred to the US as “one nation under guns”. 

It comes after “DO SOMETHING” was the number one trend on Twitter following the Texas mass shooting and is often a call to action after similar atrocities. According to CNBC, this is the 212th mass shooting in the US so far this year and the 27th US mass school shooting of 2022.

Gorman also called on her Instagram followers to take action, writing: “Americans – you know enough is enough. If you do anything today, let it not be just to grieve, but to act. Follow & donate to @everytown to help prevent gun violence and save lives, and check out their website (everytown.org) to take more action.” 

Other notable figures including President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama also reflected on the need for action and legislation after yet another mass shooting. 

Biden tweeted: “As a nation we must ask: when in God’s name will we stand up to the gun lobby? When in God’s name will we do what needs to be done? I’m sick and tired of it. We have to act.” 

Obama also commented: “It’s long past time for action, any kind of action. And it’s another tragedy – a quieter but no less tragic one – for families to wait another day.” 

The shooting took place in Uvalde, Texas, the hometown of actor Matthew McConaughey, who shared a poignant message in the wake of the disaster.

He wrote: “Once again, we have tragically proven that we are failing to be responsible for the rights our freedoms grant us.

“The true call to action is for every American to take a longer and deeper look in the mirror, and ask ourselves, ‘What is it that we truly value? How do we repair the problem? What small sacrifices can we individually take today, to preserve a healthier and safer nation, state and neighborhood tomorrow?’ We cannot exhale once again, make excuses, and accept these tragic realities as the status quo.” 

Later in the message, the actor urged: “This is an epidemic we can control, and whichever side of the aisle we may stand on, we all know we can do better. We must do better. Action must be taken so that no parent has to experience what the parents in Uvalde and the others before them have endured.”

Taylor Swift broke her Twitter hiatus to comment on the Texas shooting:  

Chris Evans also expressed outrage at the attack, simply tweeting: “FUCKING ENOUGH!!!!”

The tragedy comes almost a decade after the Sandy Hook massacre, which Obama referenced in a tweet calling for political change and gun reform:

“We’re also angry for them. Nearly ten years after Sandy Hook – and ten days after Buffalo – our country is paralyzed, not by fear, but by a gun lobby and a political party that have shown no willingness to act in any way that might help prevent these tragedies.”     

Image: Getty