tony

Tony Dokoupil shares emotional message from family of AR-15 inventor: 'He would be horrified and sickened'

19 children and two teachers have died in Uvalde, Texas

Rebecca Lewis - Los Angeles
Los Angeles correspondentLos Angeles
May 25, 2022

Tony Dokoupil has traveled to Texas to cover the tragic murder of 19 elementary children and shared an emotional message with viewers.

MORE: Texas school shooting - Amy Schumer, Matthew McConaughey, Kourtney Kardashian and more pay tribute

During his broadcast he recalled a conversation he had six years ago with the children and grandchildren of the inventor of the AR-15, Eugene Stoner, who told Tony at the time that Eugene invented the machine "solely as a military grade weapon" and that he would be "horrified and sickened by the attacks".

WATCH: CBS Mornings' Tony Dokoupil shares emotional message from family of AR-15 inventor: 'He would be horrified and sickened'

Tony's co-host Gayle King, who remains in the studio, could be heard loudly agreeing with the comments.

The CBS Mornings host left New York City for Ulvade, where an 18-year-old shooter killed 19 young children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School on 24 May using an AR-15.

MORE: Barack Obama says 'these tragedies must end' following Sandy Hook shooting 

MORE: Kim Kardashian calls for gun control following Florida shooting

The teenage suspect also had a handgun and high-capacity magazines, according to investigators. He was killed by law enforcement after his attack.

Ten children who were killed in the attack have been named, including Uziyah Garcia, Alexandria Aniyah Rubio, Amerie Jo Garza, Makenna Lee Elrod, Xavier Javier Lopez, Jose Flores, Navaeh Brown, Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez, Alithia Ramirez and Ellie Lugo. Eva Mireles and Irma Garcia, both teachers at the school, also died.

Tony shared the message from outside the school where 19 children died

The horrifying attack left the world in mourning and saw many call for stricter gun control laws in the US.

"Firearms are the #1 leading cause of death for American children and teens," shared Amy Schumer. "We are grieving with the Uvalde community, a predominantly Latinx community, and everyone else impacted by yet another senseless act of violence in our schools. This is yet another tragic example of how pervasive this public health crisis is in our country. @everytown."

Selena Gomez is from Texas and also penned a heartfelt and sad social media post.

"Today in my home state of Texas 18 innocent students were killed while simply trying to get an education," she wrote ahead of the updated figure. "A teacher killed doing her job; an invaluable yet sadly under-appreciated job. If children aren't safe at school, where are they safe?"

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