Thursday 26 May 2022 01:01 AM Gun and loaded magazine found inside second-grade student's desk at Sacramento ... trends now
America may have narrowly avoided a second tragic shooting on Tuesday after a pupil brought a gun to an elementary school in Sacramento, it has emerged.
Police have launched an investigation after being called to the scene at Edward Kemble Elementary, where officers secured a firearm and a loaded magazine.
The lethal weapon had been brought in by a second-grade pupil, meaning they were aged seven or eight, and was found hidden in their desk, reported CBS.
It is not yet clear what the student's motives for bringing the gun to school were.
The shock find came as 1,600 miles away, Salvador Ramos, 18, was embarking on a killing spree, taking the innocent lives of 19 pupils and two teachers at the Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
The alarm had been raised at the school in Sacramento when students alerted teachers to the gun and law enforcement was immediately called.
The school has around 560 students, 91 per cent of whom come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
In a message to parents, the Sacramento City Unified School District said: 'It is our promise to you that we will do all that we can to learn from today's experience so that we can keep your child and our schools safe.
'We are grateful that this incident did not result in a tragedy such as those that districts have experienced, including today's tragic and senseless mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas.
Police have launched an investigation after being called to the scene at Edward Kemble Elementary (pictured), where officers secured the weapon and its loaded magazine
The lethal weapon had been brought in by a second-grade pupil and was found hidden in his desk, reported CBS (Stock image)
'This is due in large part to the bravery and awareness of the students who came forward and alerted staff at Kemble today.'
Sacramento City Unified is said to be cooperating with police as the investigation develops.
It comes as the massacre at Robb Elementary has reignited the debate around gun control.
The shock shooting came just months ahead of the 10 year anniversary of Sandy Hook, the deadliest shooting in US history, which saw 20 children and six adults killed in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012.
Addressing the nation yesterday, President Joe Biden said it was 'time to act.'
He said: 'When in God's name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?
'Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen?
'It is time to turn this pain to the action, for every parent, every citizen of this country.
'We have to make it clear to every elected official in this country: it's time to act.
'It's time for those who obstruct or delay or blocked the common sense gun laws – we need to let you know that we will not forget.'
It comes as it was today revealed that Uvalde School officials had been monitoring its students' social media pages using an advanced AI-based service called Social Sentinel, designed to recognize signals of potential harm found in digital conversations.
The district revealed it had been using the platform 'to monitor all social media with a connection to Uvalde as a measure to identify any possible threats that might be made against students and or staff within the school district.'
Salvador Ramos, 18, from Uvalde, fatally shot 19 children and two adults in Tuesday's shooting. Ramos shared photos of guns to social media in the days leading up
