--- title: Oregon Shooting: See Obama's Response to Gun Violence Over Years description: President Obama has made more than a dozen statements in response to shootings during his presidency. canonical: https://time.com/3926672/oregon-shooting-president-obama-shooting-statements/ author: Jacob Koffler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-18T18:52:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2024-01-24T13:57:56.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: See How Obama Has Responded to Deadly Shootings Over the Past 6 Years og:description: President Obama has made more than a dozen statements in response to shootings during his presidency og:url: https://time.com/3926672/oregon-shooting-president-obama-shooting-statements/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc4d69754feed510d/69885533e53aba432d4de3f5/obama6.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4202 og:image:height: 2364 og:image:alt: Barack Obama og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See How Obama Has Responded to Deadly Shootings Over the Past 6 Years twitter:description: President Obama has made more than a dozen statements in response to shootings during his presidency twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc4d69754feed510d/69885533e53aba432d4de3f5/obama6.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See How Obama Has Responded to Deadly Shootings Over the Past 6 Years > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Jacob Koffler](https://time.com/author/jacob-koffler/) ## Jacob Koffler Updated: Jan 24, 2024 1:57 PM UTCPublished: Jun 18, 2015 6:52 PM UTC  President Barack Obama arrives in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, June 18, 2015, to speaks about the church shooting in Charleston, S.C. President Barack Obama arrives in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, June 18, 2015, to speaks about the church shooting in Charleston, S.C. Susan Walsh—AP by [Jacob Koffler](https://time.com/author/jacob-koffler/) ## Jacob Koffler Updated: Jan 24, 2024 1:57 PM UTCPublished: Jun 18, 2015 6:52 PM UTC President Obama expressed his [exasperation](http://time.com/4058841/obama-mass-shootings/) at the inability to change U.S. gun laws in a Thursday speech following a [shooting](http://time.com/4058269/oregon-shooting-community-college/?xid=homepage) at a community college in Roseburg, Ore. that left at least 10 dead. As the number of mass shootings during his presidency has mounted—Thursday’s address was his 15th in response to one—Obama’s rhetoric about the need for gun control has grown more pointed. “As I said just a few months ago, and I said a few months before that, and I said each time we see one of these mass shootings, our thoughts and prayers are not enough,” Obama said Thursday. “It does not capture the heartache and grief and anger that we should feel. And it does nothing to prevent this carnage from being inflicted someplace else in America — next week, or a couple of months from now.” Below are some of the other memorable statements Obama has made in response to shootings. **Holocaust Memorial Shooting** A white supremacist gunman [killed a guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum](https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/On-the-Holocaust-Museum-Shooting/) in Washington, D.C. on June 10, 2009. --- > “” --- **Fort Hood Shooting** The [U.S. military base shooting](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/6511386/Fort-Hood-shooting-transcript-of-Barack-Obamas-statement.html), one of the worst in the country’s history, left 13 people dead in Fort Hood, Texas on Nov. 5, 2009. --- > “” --- **Trayvon Martin** Seventeen-year-old Trayvon Martin was killed on Feb. 26, 2012 by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watchman. Obama read a personal [statement](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/07/19/remarks-president-trayvon-martin) after Zimmerman was acquitted in July 2013. --- > “” --- **Aurora Movie Theater Shooting** On July 20, 2012, 12 people were killed in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. --- > “” --- **Oak Creek Shooting** Seven people were left dead at a Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wis. on Aug. 5, 2012 in an attack by a white supremacist. In a [statement](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/08/05/statement-president-shooting-wisconsin), Obama reminded Americans of the importance of religious pluralism. --- > “” --- **Sandy Hook Shooting** On Dec. 14, 2012, a [shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School](https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/12/14/president-obama-speaks-shooting-connecticut) in Newtown, Conn. left 20 young children, six school employees and the shooter’s mother dead. --- > “” --- **Michael Brown** Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man, was fatally shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 9, 2014, sparking outrage from the local community and across the country. Obama remained silent on the shooting for three days before releasing a [statement](https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/08/12/president-obama-issues-statement-death-michael-brown). --- > “” --- **Chapel Hill Shooting** Three Muslim-Americans were killed in their home in Chapel Hill, N.C. on Feb. 10, 2015. --- > “” --- **Charleston Shooting** Nine African Americans were killed in a Charleston, S.C. church on June 17, 2015 in an attack that was racially motivated. --- > “” --- ### Witness Charleston's Grief After 9 Killed in Church Race Attack  Surreace Cox, of North Charleston, S.C., holds a sign during a prayer vigil down the street from the Emanuel AME Church early on June 18, 2015, following a shooting Wednesday night in Charleston, S.C. David Goldman—AP  Charleston police officers search for a shooting suspect outside the Emanuel AME Church, in Charleston, S.C. on June 17, 2015. Matthew Fortner—The Post And Courier/AP  The steeple of Emanuel AME Church is visible as police close off a section of Calhoun Street early on June 18, 2015 following a shooting Wednesday night in Charleston, S.C. David Goldman—AP  A man kneels across the street from where police gather outside the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting in Charleston, S.C. on June 17, 2015. Wade Spees—AP  Worshippers gather to pray down the street from the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting in Charleston, S.C. on June 17, 2015. David Goldman—AP  A passing motorist looks out her window as she stops at an intersection down the street from the Emanuel AME Church early on June 18, 2015 following a shooting Wednesday night in Charleston, S.C. David Goldman—AP  An FBI agent walks across the street from the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting in Charleston, S.C. on June 17, 2015. 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