First lady Jill Biden to go to Nashville to mourn victims of shooting
First lady Jill Biden will travel to Nashville on Wednesday to mourn the victims of the elementary school shooting there earlier this week.
She will participate in a candlelight vigil “to honor and mourn the lives of the victims of The Covenant School shooting,” according to her press secretary Vanessa Valdivia.
The first lady will travel to Tennessee from Ohio, where she will attend an event with military families at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Greene County. The White House has not announced any plans for President Biden to visit Nashville.
The president on Tuesday spoke to the Nashville police chief and two Metro police officers who responded to the school shooting, thanking them for their response. He also spoke to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) and Nashville Mayor John Cooper (D) about the shooting on Monday evening.
The shooting took place at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, with a 28-year-old opening fire and killing three children — all 9 years old — and three adults before being fatally shot by police. The shooter, identified as Audrey Hale, moved through the school armed with three guns, two of which were assault-type weapons.
The White House has raised the pressure on Republicans this week to act on gun violence, blaming the GOP for their lack of action on guns.
Biden on Tuesday argued that he can’t do much more to curb gun violence other than plead with Congress to act and renewed his calls for Congress to pass an assault weapons ban.
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