The governor of the state of Tennessee, Republican Bill Lee, said Wednesday that two of the six people killed in the shooting at a school in Nashville were friends of his wife, Maria Lee, for »decades».
Maria woke up this morning without one of her best friends, Cindy Peak,» Lee lamented in a video shared on his official Twitter profile, where he noted that Peak and Maria Lee had planned to have dinner the same night of the shooting.
Likewise, the governor also said that Katherine Koonce, another of the deceased, was also an acquaintance of his wife. Cindy, Maria and Katherine Koonce were all teachers at the same school and have been family friends for decades,» he said.
Although Lee acknowledged that it is a »difficult time» for his family and for the entire U.S. population, he stressed that it should not be a time for »hatred or anger,» according to The Hill news portal.
I understand that there is pain. I understand the desperation to have answers, to blame, to discuss a solution that can avoid this horrible tragedy (…). There will come a time for political discussion and debate. But this is not the time for hatred or anger. That will not solve or heal,» he stressed.
»We can all agree on one thing: that every human life has great value. And we will act to prevent this from happening again. There is a clear desire in all of us, whether we agree with the action steps or not, that we must work to find ways to protect ourselves against evil,» he added.
The gun debate in the state of Tennessee has been especially relevant in recent years, even more so after Governor Lee signed an executive order in April 2021 that would allow most adults over the age of 21 to carry guns, whether uncovered or concealed, without a permit, background check or training.
In fact, in the middle of last year and following a school shooting in Texas that killed nearly 20 people, Lee spoke out against strengthening gun control laws and advocated against tightening school security, arguing that authorities cannot control criminals.
Last Monday morning there was a new school shooting in the United States, this time six people, including three children between the ages of nine and ten, were killed by a 28-year-old former student – later »neutralized» by the police – heavily armed, who burst into the Nashville Presbyterian Alliance College.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
