'We keep putting them in harms way at school.' LeBron James on Texas school shooting
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Basketball superstar and Akron native LeBron James tweeted following a deadly school shooting in a small West Texas town on Tuesday.
A gunman murdered multiple people at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday and many more were reported injured. The latest report was 19 children and two teachers were killed at the elementary school.
The shooting comes less than two weeks after another mass shooting in Buffalo, New York.
James, the longtime face of the NBA who opened a school in his hometown of Akron, went to Twitter Tuesday afternoon to say he was praying for the victims.
"These are kids and we keep putting them in harms way at school. Like seriously "AT SCHOOL" where it's suppose to be the safest!" he wrote.
My thoughts and prayers goes out to the families of love ones loss & injured at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX! Like when is enough enough man!!! These are kids and we keep putting them in harms way at school. Like seriously "AT SCHOOL" where it's suppose to be the safest!
— LeBron James (@KingJames) May 24, 2022
James added another tweet shortly after.
There simply has to be change! HAS TO BE!! 😔😔😔😔🥺🥺🥺🥺.. Praying to the heavens above to all with kids these days in schools. 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
— LeBron James (@KingJames) May 24, 2022
James went to St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron and was one of the most celebrated high school athletes in the country's history. James' successful basketball career allowed him to open the I Promise School in Akron for at-risk students. The first class graduated high school last year.
LeBron James spoke out after Sandy Hook shooting in 2012
James is no stranger to this issue. In 2012, James tweeted about the Newtown, Conn. Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting where 20 children died.
"Imagine it happening to my kids school," James tweeted. "I and the rest of the families would be devastated! Something has to be done. Land of the free, BS!"
James, then a player for the Miami Heat in the NBA, auctioned off game-worn sneakers to benefit the families victimized by the Sandy Hook shootings.
From the Associated Press in April 2013.
The sneakers he wore in Miami's game against Washington on Dec. 15 — one day after the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., where 20 first-graders and six educators were killed — are up for grabs in an online auction that runs through Saturday.
Proceeds will benefit the Newtown Memorial Fund, through the LeBron James Family Foundation.
James' signature is on one of the shoes, and an inscription of "vs. Wizards 12/15/12 Never forget!!" is on the other. The auction is expected to generate at least $5,000.
What we know about the school shooting in Texas
A gunman killed 15 people – 14 of them children – at a small Texas elementary school Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the shooter walked into Robb Elementary School in Uvalde around noon Central time and opened fire with a handgun. The shooter was killed by responding police, Abbott said.
"He shot and killed, horrifically, incomprehensibly, 14 students, and killed a teacher," Abbott said Monday afternoon. "He himself is deceased. It is believed that responding officers killed him."
Two patients were dead when they arrived at Uvalde Memorial Hospital, spokesperson Tom Nordwick told USA TODAY. Thirteen children are being treated in the emergency room of Uvalde Memorial Hospital and 45-year-old man was brought in after suffering "a graze," Nordwick said.
-N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA TODAY
Where is Uvalde, Texas?
Uvalde, Texas is about 80 miles west of San Antonio. About 16,000 people liv.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: LeBron James on Texas school shooting: 'enough is enough'
