VOA新闻杂志2022--乌瓦尔德枪击事件遇难者举行葬礼

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Funerals Begin for Uvalde Children Killed in Shooting

Two children were buried on Monday in Uvalde, Texas on what would have been the start of their summer vacation.

They were the first burials among 19 students and two teachers killed in a shooting at Robb Elementary School last week.

People gathered to mourn 10-year-old Amerie Jo Garza at Hillcrest Memorial Funeral Home. The funeral home is across the street from the school where she was killed. Others went to remember Maite Rodriguez, also 10, at the town's other funeral home.

The rest will be buried over the next two weeks while lawmakers and leaders are debating what to do about gun violence.

Among the mourners at Amerie's funeral were Maite's family members. Like many people in the small town near the Mexican border, they were attending both.

Some mourners at Amerie's wore purple clothing or carried a lilac flower, because her father Angel, said it was her favorite color. Amerie had just turned 10 and received a mobile telephone for her birthday. Friends said she tried to use the phone to call for help during the attack.

Maite's family wore green shirts with an image showing Maite with angel wings. They stopped at the area where the gunman crashed his car before entering the school.

"How did he walk for so long?" asked Juana Magaña, Maite's aunt.

Questions about police response

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Sunday that it would look to study how law enforcement responded to the school shooting in Uvalde.

The gunman, Salvador Ramos, entered the elementary school through an unlocked door around 11:40 on Tuesday morning and started shooting.

Police officers followed him into the school within minutes. However, they waited for over an hour before entering a locked classroom and killing¹ Ramos.

Officials said Friday that students were calling the emergency phone number, 9-1-1, to ask for help throughout the attack. But the leading police officer at the school did not think the children were still being shot at the time. They said the police believed Ramos was hiding in a different classroom.

The information raised new questions about whether lives were lost because officers did not act faster to stop the gunman. Officers from the U.S. Border Patrol finally went into the classroom and killed Ramos.

Officials said Ramos had legally purchased two guns shortly before the school attack. He had just turned 18, permitting him to buy the weapons under federal law.

Biden on gun rights

During President Joe Biden's visit to Uvalde on Sunday, people shouted, "Do something," repeatedly. And Biden promised, "We will."

On Monday, the American president said there may be support from both Republican and Democrat² lawmakers to make it harder to buy powerful guns like the AR kind of gun that Ramos purchased.

Biden told reporters, "The Second Amendment³ was never absolute." He added, "You couldn't buy a cannon⁴ when the Second Amendment was passed. You couldn't go out and buy a lot of weapons."

The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution says: "A well regulated Militia⁵, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed⁶."

In 2008, the Supreme⁷ Court made its first ruling in 70 years related to the Second Amendment. The Court said an individual has the right to have a handgun in his or her home for self-defense.

Previously⁸, the Court had said people may only have guns in connection to service in a state militia.

Words in This Story

respond – v. to do something as a reaction to something that has already happened

infringe– v. to limit or restrict something

regulate –v. to bring something under control of authority

absolute- adj. complete and total

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

4 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

5 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

6 infringed   

v.违反（规章等）( infringe的过去式和过去分词 )；侵犯（某人的权利）；侵害（某人的自由、权益等）

参考例句：

• Wherever the troops went, they never infringed on the people's interests. 大军过处，秋毫无犯。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He was arrested on a charge of having infringed the Election Law. 他因被指控触犯选举法而被拘捕。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

8 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。