3 killed in Virginia shooting; McConaughey urges leaders to address gun violence

US police say three people are dead and a fourth person is critically injured after a shooting in the state of Virginia, as American actor Mathew McConaughey urges leaders in Washington to address gun violence.

The shooting occurred on Tuesday morning near the 1500 block of Maple Avenue, Virginia, and the victims were all adults, The Associated Press reported quoting a Portsmouth police tweet.  

Police said they were working to identify victims, suspects and a motive behind the shooting.

“We are looking at all possible motives; we haven't identified one yet,” said police spokesperson Victoria Varnedoe.

Portsmouth has had a spate of shootings in the last week, including a fatal shooting on Monday, and several shootings last week.

Police Chief Renado Prince called on people who have information about any of the recent shootings to come forward.

“If we don’t have the community giving us those hits, those clues, those leads that we can follow up, we are powerless," he said.

The police officer counted a dozen shootings since June 1, adding that two of the shootings are gang-related.

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On May 24, nineteen students and two teachers were shot and killed at Robb Elementary School by a gunman in Uvalde, Texas, 10 days after a mass shooting at a store in Buffalo, New York, left 10 people dead.

Police say the gunman, identified as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, entered the school with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle after earlier shooting his grandmother, who survived.

There have been conflicting accounts of how law enforcement responded to the shooting. The Department of Justice on Sunday said it would open an investigation into the police response at the request of Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin.

More than 45,000 people were killed by gun violence in the United States last year, up from 43,671 in 2020 and 39,581 in 2019, according to FBI data.

Matthew McConaughey urges leaders to address gun violence

On Tuesday, McConaughey called on leaders in Washington to address gun violence in honor of the young of the mass shooting in his hometown of Uvalde.

He made the remarks after meeting with President Joe Biden in the White House, USA Today reported.  

McConaughey choked up as he shared the stories of the young victims and pled for action.

“This moment is different. We’re in a window of opportunity right now that we have not been in before, a window where it seems like real change – real change – can happen," he said during an appearance at the White House briefing room.

McConaughey said he was taught in Uvalde "to revere the power and the capability of the tool that we call a gun" where 19 children and two teachers were massacred at an elementary school last month.

He said the victims' families he's met with “want to make their loss of life matter.”

McConaughey, the actor who has starred in numerous movies, including Dallas Buyers Club and The Wolf of Wall Street, said he came to Washington to share stories of his hometown, meet with congressional leaders and request them for action.

"Responsible gun owners are fed up with the Second Amendment being abused and hijacked by some deranged individuals," said the actor. "This should not be a partisan issue."

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