Cindy Hyde-Smith Getty

As news broke about a shooting at a Santa Clarita, California, high school, the Senate was in the middle of debating legislation for universal background checks on all gun purchases.

But a lone GOP senator squashed all consideration on behalf of Republicans, the Sacramento Bee first reported, as the shooting was unfolding halfway across the country.

After Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy requested the House gun-control bill be passed by unanimous consent — a roll-call vote in which senators are on the record — Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith objected, saying more time was needed to consider and debate it.

A spokesperson for Hyde-Smith told Business Insider that the Republican senator learned of the shooting in California just before noon Eastern time, and that she wasn’t aware of it when she cast her objection to Murphy’s request.

The Mississippi senator stood by her decision on the Senate floor, the spokesperson said.

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As news started to break about a shooting at a Santa Clarita, California, high school, the Senate was in the middle of debating legislation for universal background checks on all gun purchases that passed in the Democratic-led House earlier this year.

But a lone GOP senator squashed all consideration on behalf of Republicans, the Sacramento Bee first reported, as the shooting was unfolding halfway across the country.

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut tweeted at 10:47 a.m. Eastern time that he was planning to push the Senate to take up gun-control legislation: „I’m about to go to the Senate floor to ask for unanimous consent to pass universal background checks.“

He added: „Some will call me foolish for trying – one Republican objection and this fails.“

Nine minutes later, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department tweeted there was a shooting underway at the Saugus High School in Santa Clarita.

The legislation Murphy referred to had passed the House in February. It was the first major gun-control legislation passed in over two decades. It would require universal background checks for all purchases and close loopholes for sales at gun shows and online.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, has refused to take it up in the upper chamber up until now.

After Murphy requested the House gun-control bill be passed by unanimous consent — a roll-call vote in which senators are on the record — Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi objected, saying more time was needed to consider and debate it.

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At almost the exact moment news breaks of a school shooting in California, Sen. @ChrisMurphyCT made a Senate motion to consider the gun background check bill for a vote. The motion was blocked by Sen. @CindyHydeSmith (R-MS). pic.twitter.com/1mm6Sh0Hjm

„Many questions about this legislation need to be answered before it’s forced upon law-abiding gun owners,“ Hyde-Smith said.

A spokesperson for Hyde-Smith told Business Insider that the Republican senator learned of the shooting in California just before noon and that she wasn’t aware of it when she cast her objection to Murphy’s request.

But the spokesperson said the Mississippi senator stood by her decision on the Senate floor.

„Sen. Hyde-Smith stands by her objection to circumventing the committee and Senate debate process on an issue as important as taking away Second Amendment rights from law-abiding Americans,“ the spokesperson said.

Murphy was furious over the objection, ABC News reported.

„You’re in the majority! You have the ability to pass legislation that you support, that Democrats can support as well,“ Murphy said to his Republican colleagues. „And the idea that we are just going to sit here and twiddle our thumbs week after week as 100 people are killed by guns … it’s an abdication of our basic responsibility as United States senators,“ he said.

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, also of Connecticut, was speaking in support of the bill shortly after when an aide handed him a note informing him of the shooting in California.

„As I speak on the floor right now, there is a school shooting in Santa Clara, California,“ Blumenthal said, misstating the Santa Clarita location. „How can we turn the other way? How can we refuse to see that shooting in real time, demanding our attention, requiring our action?“

Blumenthal added: „The unconscionable loss of life is our responsibility.“

Authorities in California said the gunman shot five students, killing two, before turning the gun on himself, The New York Times reported. The suspect, whom police have described as a 16-year-old male student, was taken into custody.