More children have been killed in American schools by guns in 2022 than US police officers have in the line of duty this year.
The harrowing data comes after a lone gunman entered an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and shot dead 19 students and two teachers.
A further 37 people were injured in the attack.
Data captured by Education Week has revealed that the Robb Elementary School tragedy brings America's child death tally as a result of gun violence to 24 for 2022.
Advert
The data site says there have been 27 school shootings in the US this year, which have resulted in 27 deaths and 56 injuries.
In comparison, 20 US police officers have been killed by direct gunfire in the line of duty in 2022, as per Officer Down.
Podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen summed up the brutal reality of the latest horror statics in a now-viral tweet.
"It is more dangerous to be a student than a police officer in America in 2022," he said.
In more shocking data, there have been more mass shootings in the US this year than days elapsed so far.
The nonprofit organisation Gun Violence Archive revealed there have been 212 mass shootings in 2022 and we are only 146 days into the year.
Cohen's comments came shortly after authorities revealed that all 19 students killed in the Uvalde shooting were from the same fourth-grade class.
A spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Christopher Olivarez told CNN the latest details 'just goes to show you the complete evil from this shooter'.
The first officers called to the scene could not enter the classroom and were met with bullets as they attempted to break in.
Olivarez said the officers went around breaking windows to evacuate children and staff from other parts of the building.
He said: "It's a small classroom, you can have anywhere from 25 to 30 students in there, plus there were two teachers in there.
"So I don't have an exact number of how many students were in that classroom, but it could vary.
"It was a classroom setting, a typical classroom setting where you have mass groups of children inside that classroom all together, with nowhere to go."
President Joe Biden has called for tighter gun control in the wake of the Uvalde massacre.
The visibly furious and upset President spoke to the press in the hours that followed the attack.
The US President said he was 'sick and tired' of America's gun violence, adding that lawmakers 'have to act'.
"Why in God's name do you need an assault weapon except to kill someone? It's just sick," Biden said.
The US President added: "Why are we willing to keep living with this carnage? It is time to turn this pain into action. It's time to act."
Such measures have so far lacked enough support to pass through Congress.
Rachel Lang