Bidens meet families of Uvalde school shooting victims

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden on Sunday met with survivors of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting, as well as families of the victims of the massacre.

The Bidens traveled to Uvalde on Sunday, five days after a gunman entered Robb Elementary School and killed 21 people, including 19 children. The meeting with families was closed to the press.

Biden is slated to meet with law enforcement and first responders in Uvalde before departing Texas for Washington, D.C.

The first stop after the president and first lady arrived in Uvalde was to to the school where there is a memorial to the victims. They then attended service at Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

As Biden left the church, someone in a crowd of onlookers gathered outside yelled “Do something!”

“We will,” Biden replied.

Biden has in the days since the tragedy has renewed his calls for expanded background checks and reinstitute a ban on assault weapons.

But most Republicans have brushed off the need for stronger gun laws, instead arguing for more school security including more armed police.

Meanwhile, the law enforcement response to the Uvalde shooting has come under intense scrutiny as officials have repeatedly changed the timeline and description of how officers on the scene reacted when the gunman arrived at the school. 

Officials first said police confronted the gunman outside the school, only to reverse course by admitting that was not the case. Authorities have since said they waited nearly an hour to go into the classroom where the gunman was barricaded, acknowledging it was a mistake not to actively pursue the individual.