State and National Government
A Roanoke College Poll of 648 Virginia residents statewide in late May finds Governor Youngkin’s approval rate up slightly to 53 percent from the previous quarterly survey, with President Biden’s approval rating down 4 points to 37 percent. Donald Trump’s favorability rating dropped to 34 percent among the Virginians surveyed; on the abortion issue 88 percent of those surveyed said it should be legal under some or all circumstances. David Taylor is director for the Institute for Policy and Opinion Research:
Nearly five months into his term as governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin’s approval rating has increased to 53% (from 50% in February) while disapproval, at 35%, is down from 41% in February. More Democrats (41%) approve of Youngkin’s performance now than they did three months ago (30%), while approval in Youngkin’s own party is down (84% approval in February versus 75% approval now). Approval of President Joe Biden’s job continues to decline according to the Roanoke College Poll, now at 37%, down from its previous low of 41% in February. That decline is seen across all Virginians regardless of political party affiliation.
About 46% of Virginians have a favorable view of Gov. Youngkin, with 37% having an unfavorable view. Again, the Poll found that Democrats have a more favorable view of Youngkin now (29% now versus 20% in February) and Republicans currently view him as less favorable than before (75% now versus 84% in February). Former Gov. Ralph Northam’s favorability has dropped to 34% from 41% in February. President Biden’s ratings continue to fall, with only 38% of Virginians having a favorable impression and 56% view him unfavorably. Former President Trump has a 34% favorable and 59% unfavorable rating among Virginians as his favorability in Virginia declines due to the feelings of both Republicans and Independents.
When asked about the country, only 21% of Virginians say that things are going in the right direction while 77% say that things have gotten off on the wrong track, which is the second lowest “right direction” rating in the Poll’s history (August 2020 provided the lowest rating at 16%). Regarding the Commonwealth itself, Virginians feel that situations have improved since February when citizens were split. Now, 50% say that things are going in the right direction and 44% say that things are on the wrong track.
UVALDE, Texas (AP) — An 18-year-old gunman killed 19 children and two adults as he went from classroom to classroom at a Texas elementary school, officials said, adding to a gruesome, yearslong series of mass killings at churches, schools, and stores.
The attacker was killed by a Border Patrol agent who rushed into the school without waiting for backup, according to a law enforcement official.
Tuesday’s assault at Robb Elementary School in the heavily Latino town of Uvalde was the deadliest shooting at a U.S. school since a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012.
Hours after the attack, families were still awaiting word on their children. At the town civic center where some gathered, the silence was broken repeatedly by screams and wailing. “No! Please, no!” one man yelled as he embraced another man.
“My heart is broken today,” said Hal Harrell, the school district superintendent. “We’re a small community, and we’re going to need your prayers to get through this.”
Gov. Greg Abbott said one of the two adults killed was a teacher.
Adolfo Cruz, a 69-year-old air conditioning repairman, was still outside the school as the sunset, seeking word on his 10-year-old great-granddaughter, Eliajha Cruz Torres.
He drove to the scene after receiving a terrifying call from his daughter shortly following the first reports of the shooting. He said other relatives were at the hospital and the civic center.
Waiting, he said, was the heaviest moment of his life.
“I hope she is alive,” Cruz said.
The attack was the latest grim moment for a country scarred by a string of massacres, coming just 10 days after a deadly, racist rampage at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket. And the prospects for any reform of the nation’s gun regulations seemed as dim, if not dimmer, than in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook deaths.
But President Joe Biden appeared ready for a fight, calling for new gun restrictions in an address to the nation hours after the attack.
“As a nation we have to ask, when in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God’s name are we going to do what has to be done?” Biden asked. “Why are we willing to live with this carnage?”
It was not immediately clear how many people in all were wounded, but Uvalde Police Chief Pete Arredondo said there were “several injuries.”
Staff members in scrubs and devastated victims’ relatives could be seen weeping as they walked out of Uvalde Memorial Hospital, which said 13 children were taken there. Another hospital reported a 66-year-old woman was in critical condition.
Officials did not immediately reveal a motive, but they identified the assailant as Salvador Ramos, a resident of the community about 85 miles (135 kilometers) west of San Antonio. Law enforcement officials said he acted alone.
Uvalde, home to about 16,000 people, is about 75 miles (120 kilometers) from the border with Mexico. Robb Elementary, which has nearly 600 students in second, third and fourth grades, is in a mostly residential neighborhood of modest homes.
The attack came as the school was counting down to the last days of the school year with a series of themed days. Tuesday was to be “Footloose and Fancy,” with students wearing nice outfits.
Ramos had hinted on social media that an attack could be coming, according to state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who said he had been briefed by state police. He noted that the gunman “suggested the kids should watch out,” and that he had bought two “assault weapons” after turning 18.
Before heading to the school, Ramos shot his grandmother, Gutierrez said.
Other officials said that the grandmother survived and was being treated, though her condition was not known.
Investigators believe Ramos posted photos on Instagram of two guns he used in the shooting, and they were examining whether he made statements online in the hours before the assault, a law enforcement official said.
Law enforcement officers were serving multiple search warrants Tuesday night and gathering telephone and other records, the official said. Investigators were also attempting to contact Ramos’ relatives and were tracing the firearms.
The official could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The attack began about 11:30 a.m., when the gunman crashed his car outside the school and ran into the building, according to Travis Considine, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety. A resident who heard the crash called 911, and two local police officers exchanged gunfire with the shooter.
Both officers were shot. It was not immediately clear where on the campus that confrontation occurred or how much time elapsed before more authorities arrived on the scene.
One Border Patrol agent who was working nearby when the shooting began rushed into the school without waiting for backup and shot and killed the gunman, who was behind a barricade, according to a law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about it.
The agent was wounded but able to walk out of the school, the law enforcement official said.
Meanwhile, teams of Border Patrol agents raced to the school, including 10 to 15 members of a SWAT-like tactical and counterterrorism unit, said Jason Owens, a top regional official with the Border Patrol.
He said some area agents have children at Robb Elementary.
“It hit home for everybody,” he said.
Condolences poured in from leaders around the world. Pope Francis pleaded that it was time say ”‘enough’ to the indiscriminate trade of weapons!” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba of Ukraine, which is at war with Russia after Moscow invaded, said that his nation also knows “the pain of losing innocent young lives.”
The tragedy in Uvalde was the deadliest school shooting in Texas history, and it added to a grim tally in the state, which has been the site of some of the deadliest shootings in the U.S. over the past five years.
In 2018, a gunman fatally shot 10 people at Santa Fe High School in the Houston area. A year before that, a gunman at a Texas church killed more than two dozen people during a Sunday service in the small town of Sutherland Springs. In 2019, another gunman at a Walmart in El Paso killed 23 people in a racist attack targeting Hispanics.
The shooting came days before the National Rifle Association annual convention was set to begin in Houston. Abbott and both of Texas’ U.S. senators were among elected Republican officials who were the scheduled speakers at a Friday leadership forum sponsored by the NRA’s lobbying arm.
In the years since Sandy Hook, the gun control debate in Congress has waxed and waned. Efforts by lawmakers to change U.S. gun policies in any significant way have consistently faced roadblocks from Republicans and the influence of outside groups such as the NRA.
A year after Sandy Hook, Sens. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, and Patrick J. Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican, negotiated a bipartisan proposal to expand the nation’s background check system. But the measure failed in a Senate vote, without enough support to clear a 60-vote filibuster hurdle.
Last year, the House passed two bills to expand background checks on firearms purchases. One bill would have closed a loophole for private and online sales. The other would have extended the background check review period. Both languished in the 50-50 Senate, where Democrats need at least 10 Republican votes to overcome objections from a filibuster.
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This story was first published on May 24, 2022. It was corrected to reflect that state Sen. Roland Gutierrez said the gunman shot his grandmother before going to the school; he did not say the gunman killed his grandmother. It was also updated to correct the spelling of the name of the 10-year-old great-granddaughter.
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Eugene Garcia and Dario Lopez-Mills in Uvalde, Jake Bleiberg in Dallas, Ben Fox, Michael Balsamo and Eric Tucker in Washington, Paul J. Weber in Austin, Juan Lozano in Houston, Gene Johnson in Seattle and Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.
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More on the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas: https://apnews.com/hub/school-shootings
WILSONS, Va. (AP) – Several property owners in Virginia are suing the state Department of Wildlife Resources over a state law that allows hunters to retrieve their hunting dogs from private property.
A number of states allow hunters to retrieve their dogs without permission from property owners under certain circumstances. But Virginian’s law says hunters are allowed to retrieve dogs even when the property owner has specifically denied access.
The property owners allege that allowing hunters to go on their property without permission amounts to an uncompensated taking of their land. However, the Virginia Hunting
Dog Alliance says the vast majority of hunters are considerate of landowners and want to continue Virginia’s centuries-old tradition of hunting with dogs.
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) – Fairfax County officials have rebuffed a request from Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin to establish a security perimeter around the neighborhoods of Supreme Court justices living in the county who have faced protests outside their homes.
Youngkin, a Republican, made the request Wednesday in a letter to the county board of supervisors. He said such protests should not be allowed. Judges have seen home protests following the leak of a draft opinion that would overturn the Roe v. Wade abortion-rights decision. But Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Jeff McKay said Youngkin’s request is too drastic and would infringe on protesters’ First Amendment rights.
Virginia’s US Senators think more American dollars need to be spent to help Ukraine retain its sovereignty. WFIR’S Camden Lazenby has more.