Joe Biden

San Jose Shooting: Biden Calls for End to ‘Epidemic of Gun Violence'

The White House called for the passage of gun control measures

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A gunman killed 8 people and injured multiple others before fatally shooting himself Wednesday morning at a Valley Transportation Authority yard north of downtown San Jose, Calif., according to authorities.

President Joe Biden, following a mass shooting in San Jose, California, on Wednesday, said that "every life that is taken by a bullet pierces the soul of our nation. We can, and we must, do more.

"Once again, I urge Congress to take immediate action and heed the call of the American people, including the vast majority of gun owners, to help end this epidemic of gun violence in America," he said. 

Earlier, White House deputy press secretary Karine Jeane-Pierre said the administration was monitoring the situation in San Jose after an employee opened fire at a rail yard, killing eight people before ending his own life.

PHOTOS: Mass Shooting Leaves Casualties at VTA Rail Yard in San Jose

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A man cries while sitting on the sidewalk on North First Street near the scene of a shooting at the Valley Transportation Authority’s light-rail facility in San Jose, California, on May 26, 2021.

She reiterated Biden’s call for Congress to pass gun control measures.

“What’s clear, as the President has said, is that we are suffering from an epidemic of gun violence in this country, both in mass shootings and in the lives that are being taken in daily gun violence that doesn’t make national headlines,” she said.

Vice President Kamala Harris, a Bay Area native, calls the VTA yard shooting "absolutely tragic."

Vice President Kamala Harris called the shootings "absolutely tragic."

"I have family that live in San Jose...," she said. "And my prayers and my thoughts aree with all of those families that have been affected."

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