The following message is from Eric Dickson, MD, President and CEO, UMass Memorial Health, and Michael F. Collins, MD, Chancellor and Senior Vice President for Health Sciences, UMass Chan Medical School

Sadly, our nation again finds itself mourning the senseless loss of lives to gun violence. Yesterday, a gunman walked into an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas and, according to the most recent reports, killed 19 children and two adults. The gunman, an 18-year-old man, was also killed. The tragic school shooting comes just 10 days after a racially motivated mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, where a gunman targeted people who were grocery shopping. Eleven of the 13 people shot were Black, officials said.

These recent tragedies defy explanation; they also demand action. When fellow Americans cannot make a routine trip to the grocery store nor drop their young children off at school without fearing for their safety, the very essence of our shared humanity is called into question.

As our nation grapples with this latest gut-wrenching act of monstrous violence, our academic and health system communities will join with countless other citizens in mourning the victims of these mass shootings in Texas and New York, as well as in extending our deepest sympathies to the victims’ families, whose lives have been forever changed.

Such acts are an affront to and an assault on the values and virtues we espouse and uphold here at UMass Chan Medical School, UMass Memorial Health and in our local communities.