It’s very unfortunate that people around the world are being killed every day in terrorist or ‘lone wolf’ attacks  (“12 dead after gunman fires ‘indiscriminately’ in Virginia,” June 1, 2019).

A man who was identified as a municipal employee sprayed gunfire “indiscriminately” in a government building complex on Friday in the US state of Virginia, police said, killing 12 people and wounding four in the latest mass shooting to rock the country.

The shooter was also killed after an extended gun battle with responding officers, in a scene that “best could be described as a war zone,” Virginia Beach police chief James Cervera told a news conference.

Once the world was a peaceful place for everyone, now it has become dangerous place to live in. No one knows, who and from where, someone could come with loaded weapons and kill many people in no time.

The building where the shooting took place in Virginia Beach — a city of 450,000 people about 200 miles (320 kilometres) southeast of Washington — housed the city’s public works and utilities offices and can have 400 people inside at any time.

“This is the most devastating day in the history of Virginia Beach,” Mayor Bobby Dyer told reporters. “The people involved are our friends, co-workers, neighbours and colleagues.”

According to the Washington-based Gun Violence Archive monitoring group, Friday’s shooting was the 150th mass shooting in the United States this year, defined as a single event in which four or more people are shot or killed. It is also reported that President Donald Trump had been briefed on the shooting and was monitoring the situation, the White House said. But only monitoring the situation will not solve the problem at all.

The need of the hour is to deal with such attacks that have become a major issue. The powerful countries in the world should sit together and work honestly on this issue.

Shamshuddin
By email