'Do something': Crowd chants as Joe Biden visits site of Texas school shooting

Uvalde: US President Joe Biden sought Sunday to comfort a city grieving the killings of 19 elementary school pupils and two teachers at the hands of a lone gunman. Faced with chants of "do something" as he departed a church service to meet privately with the families, Biden responded: "We will."

The visit to Uvalde was Biden's second trip in as many weeks to console a community mourning a staggering loss after a shooting.

He traveled to Buffalo, New York, on May 17 to meet with victims' families and condemn white supremacy after a shooter killed 10 Black people at a supermarket.

At Robb Elementary School, Biden stopped at a memorial of 21 white crosses - one for each of those killed - and the first lady added a bouquet of white flowers to a pile in front of the school sign.

To everyone impacted by the horrific elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas: We grieve with you. We pray with you. We stand with you. And we’re committed to turning this pain into action. pic.twitter.com/TIYjdmfKVP

— President Biden (@POTUS) May 29, 2022

They viewed individual altars erected in memory of each student, and the first lady touched the children's photos as the couple moved along the row.

Both shootings and their aftermath put a fresh spotlight on the nation's entrenched divisions and its inability to forge consensus on actions to reduce gun violence.

"Evil came to that elementary school classroom in Texas, to that grocery store in New York, too far too many places where innocents have died," Biden said Saturday in a commencement address at the University of Delaware. 

"We have to stand stronger. We must stand stronger. We cannot outlaw tragedy, I know, but we can make America safer," he said.