President Donald Trump said Monday that the South Texas shooting that killed at least 26 people wasn’t “a guns situation,” and blamed it instead on the gunman’s mental health.
During a news conference in Tokyo, where he’s on the first leg of a five-nation Asia trip, Trump was asked if he thought stricter gun laws could help prevent such mass shootings.
“I think that mental health is your problem here,” Trump said. “Based on preliminary reports, a very deranged individual, a lot of problems for a long period of time,” he said.
It is unclear if the alleged shooter, Devin P. Kelley, 26, showed signs of mental illness. The Texan received a bad conduct discharge from the Air Force in 2014 and had a history of domestic violence.
Trump said more people in the church might have been killed if the gunman himself had not been shot by a neighbor with a gun.
“Fortunately, somebody else had a gun that was shooting in the opposite direction,” Trump said.
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