New Mexico authorities say one student was killed and another was taken into custody following a shooting at a middle school near downtown Albuquerque during the lunch hour Friday.

Iran PressAmerica: One student was killed and another was taken into custody Friday after a shooting at a middle school near downtown Albuquerque during the lunch hour, police said.

The gunfire at Washington Middle School marked the second shooting in Albuquerque in less than 24 hours. The city is on pace to shatter its homicide record this year, having already matched within the first eight months of the year the previous annual high of 80 homicides set in 2019.

Albuquerque Public Schools Superintendent Scott Elder said during a news conference with police that it was a terrible day for the school district and for the whole community.

Thousands are killed or injured each year in shootings across the United States.

According to official reports, there are approximately 270 to 300 million firearms in the United States; this means that there is almost one rifle per person in this country.

Free arms shipments in the United States on a daily basis lead to shooting-related violence across the country, many of which are deadly, but the arms lobby in the United States is so powerful that Congress has so far refused to take any action to curb arms shipments.

Although the United States accounts for about five percent of the world's population, it accounts for nearly 31 percent of those who commit armed genocide. 219

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