American actor Matthew McConaughey released an emotional statement in the wake of a school shooting in his hometown of Uvalde, Texas where at least 21 people were killed on Tuesday.
"Once again, we have tragically proven that we are failing to be responsible for the rights our freedoms grant us," the 'Interstellar' actor said in a statement released on social media.
"We cannot exhale once again, make excuses, and accept these tragic realities as the status quo," read the statement.
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McConaughey has called on all Americans to "renegotiate our wants from our needs," adding that "we have to rearrange our values and find a common ground above this devastating American reality that has tragically become our children's issue."
"Action must be taken so that no parent has to experience what the parents in Uvalde and the others before them have endured.
"To those who dropped their loved ones off to school not knowing that today was goodbye, no words can comprehend or heal your loss, but if prayers can provide comfort, we will keep them coming."
The 52-year-old actor was born and raised in Uvalde and has maintained a close relationship with his home state of Texas.
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