A Uvalde shooting victim's dad explains why you need to see graphic photos of the massacre

• The Washington Post published horrifying and graphic images showing the bloody aftermath of mass shootings.
• Don't look away, says Brett Cross, whose son was killed in Uvalde.

"Breathe it in. Smell the gunfire. See the destruction. See the pain."

That's what Brett Cross, the father of a young boy who was killed in the Uvalde mass shooting, says to do after the Washington Post published a story revealing the horrifying and graphic aftermath of mass shootings across the country.

The overwhelming collection of images and videos is disturbing.

In them, children's blood pools on the floor, wounded people lie on the ground at the Las Vegas mass shooting in October 2017, body bags line the hallways of a bloody elementary school, and police evidence photos trace the path of bullets riddling the walls of churches and movie theaters.

The story includes a warning at the top that the images and quotes are "extremely disturbing and may be too upsetting for some people." The Post defended its decision to make the images public in a note from Executive Editor Sally Buzbee: "There is public value in illuminating the profound and repeated devastation left by tragedies that are often covered as isolated news events but rarely considered as part of a broader pattern of violence."

Cross, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), says it's important not to look away.

Cross' son, 10-year-old Uziyah, was killed in the Uvalde mass shooting.

"One single bullet struck Uziyah's spine and blew out his stomach," he wrote. "While these photos are disturbing and truly shocking, it lets you see just a modicum of the scenes that constantly invade my thoughts and nightmares."

Since the deadly attack that left 21 people dead — including 19 children — Cross has urged a ban on the kinds of AR-15-style weapons repeatedly used in mass killings.

He called the images published by the Washington Post a warning: "A warning to our nation that if we do not stand together, put our foot down and demand our government to do something, then it will be your loved ones body in that bag. Your loved ones' blood smeared from being dragged out. Your loved ones' funeral.

"It's not a matter of if it will happen to you, its a matter of when," he wrote.