Trump says he would have rushed in at shooting school
DONALD TRUMP has claimed he would have rushed in unarmed to aid students and teachers during the deadly mass shooting at a Florida high school.
“You don’t know until you’re tested but I think I really believe I’d run in there even if I didn’t have a weapon, and I think most of the people in this room would have done that too,” the president said at a White House meeting.
He again found fault with the officers who did not stop the gunman who carried out the massacre. “They really weren’t exactly Medal of Honour winners,” he added.
Under pressure to act to stem gun violence on school grounds, Mr Trump solicited input from the state chief executives during meetings at the White House. The governors are in Washington for their annual winter meeting.
“Our nation is heartbroken. We continue to mourn the loss of so many precious and innocent young lives,” Mr Trump said during a meeting with 39 governors. “But we’ll turn our grief into action. We have to have action.”
Seventeen students and teachers died in a Valentine’s Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, sparking a public outcry for new gun-control measures and action to improve school safety.
Mr Trump said his calls for the arming of teachers was not a universal one, instead likening it to taking advantage of educators with athletic talents to provide additional protection within schools.
“The headline was Trump wants all teachers to have guns. Trump wants teachers to have guns. I don’t want teachers to have guns,” the president said. “I want highly trained people that have a natural talent, like hitting a baseball or hitting a golf ball or putting.”
Meanwhile, a student who suffered multiple gunshot wounds during a mass shooting at a Florida high school has thanked medics and first responders who saved her life.
Maddy Wilford, 17, said at a hospital news conference: “It’s times like these when I know that we need to stick together.”