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After Uvalde, ‘Abbott Elementary’ creator Quinta Brunson says fans are asking her for a school shooting episode

“People are that deeply removed from demanding more from the politicians they’ve elected and are instead demanding ‘entertainment,’” the West Philadelphia native wrote on Twitter.

Jeanine Teagues (Quinta Brunson) teaches Philly slang to her students on "Abbott Elementary" in the fourth episode called "New Tech."
Jeanine Teagues (Quinta Brunson) teaches Philly slang to her students on "Abbott Elementary" in the fourth episode called "New Tech."Read moreABC/Gilles Mingasson

In the wake of the deadly school shooting in Texas this week, Abbott Elementary creator and star Quinta Brunson says fans have asked her to write a school shooting episode of the hit ABC sitcom.

“Wild how many people have asked for a school shooting episode of the show I write,” Brunson said in a tweet on Wednesday. “People are that deeply removed from demanding more from the politicians they’ve elected and are instead demanding ‘entertainment.’”

Instead, Brunson wrote, fans looking for a school shooting episode of Abbott Elementary should direct that energy into asking their elected officials to “get on Beto time,” referencing Beto O’Rourke, a candidate for Texas governor who has regularly pushed for stricter gun control measures. On Wednesday, O’Rourke confronted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott at a news conference, telling him “you are not doing anything” about gun violence.

“I want people to understand the flaw in asking for something like this,” Brunson wrote of fans’ request for a school-shooting episode of the show. “We’re not okay. This country is rotting our brains. I’m sad about it.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Brunson, a West Philadelphia native whose show is set in Philly, noted that she reads about gun violence often, and that her native city and family have been affected by it. As of Tuesday, Philadelphia has seen 188 homicides in 2022, and there have been 839 shooting victims for the year so far, according to data from the Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting.

“Gun violence is a constant, day after day problem,” Brunson wrote. “Mass shootings are only part of it. Stop saying nothing can be done.”

Brunson’s comments came following a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in which a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers. On Wednesday, Abbott said that 17 others were treated for injuries sustained in the shooting.

“They’re asking the wrong Abbott to do something,” one fan replied to Brunson’s tweet.