While police investigated Thursday night’s shooting of police officers in Dallas, the lieutenant governor of California tweeted lack of gun control was to blame for the deaths.
Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom posted a tweet at 11:49 a.m. CDT — less than 30 minutes after police announced they had shooting suspects in custody — saying the shooting in Dallas brought America’s total victims of gun violence for the day to 14 deaths and 38 injuries.
15 hours later.14 people have died + 38 people have been injured due to gun violence in US – TODAY. Including Dallas https://t.co/r5CQBBO5XA
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) July 8, 2016
Dallas police reported at around 11:30 CDT that two shooting suspects were in custody. Police said about 30 minutes later that two more suspects, who were fleeing in a black Mercedes, were taken into custody.
Newsom tweeted before the shooting, “In the past 72 hours, 96 people have died + 255 people have been injured due to gun violence in the US.” He concluded his tweet with a call to action for his gun control initiative,”Election day: 123 days.”
The investigation into the deaths of five police officers is ongoing. Six others were wounded in what police say was a sniper attack by several individuals.
The Dallas attack took place during a protest against the police shootings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Philandro Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota earlier this week.
Newsom has tracked gun violence for several weeks, trying to gain support for gun control in California.
Newsom said days after the terrorist attack at an Orlando night club by Omar Mateen, “America has too many guns and too much hate. The result is the massacre in Orlando, and dozens of other gun deaths every single day,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
Newsom, a top California Democrat, proposed a gun control ballot initiative that would restrict possession of magazines holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition and require background checks for all gun purchases. Newsom’s measure received enough signatures to be included on the November ballot.
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