The Uvalde school gunman warned on social media that he would shoot a school minutes before the massacre took place.
Gov. Greg Abbott says Salvador Ramos, 18, used an AR-15 in his bloodbath Tuesday at Robb Elementary in Uvalde.
About 30 minutes earlier, Ramos had made three posts on social media. According to the governor, Ramos announced that he would shoot his grandmother, after he had shot the woman, and finally that he would shoot an elementary school.
The gunman in the Uvalde massacre had warned on social media minutes before the attack that a school (AP) would be fired
Seventeen people were also injured in the attack.
Abbott said Ramos had no known criminal or mental health record.
“Evil destroyed Uvalde yesterday,” Abbott said.
What we know about the shooter
The shooter had a rifle when he entered the school, along with the tactical vest and “numerous rounds of ammunition,” Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Chris Olivarez said Wednesday (Thursday morning, AEST) .
Although authorities previously indicated that the gunman was wearing body armor, Olivarez said Wednesday morning that his vest did not contain ballistic panels.
“Typically, these types of carriers are used by tactical equipment, SWAT equipment, where they can place magazines, additional ammunition inside those carriers and be able to move in a tactical formation,” he said.
Three days before the attack, an account linked to the shooter posted a photo of two rifles lying on a carpet (AP)
Ramos had stopped attending school regularly at Uvalde High School, one of his former classmates told CNN. “He just came to school,” said the friend, who did not want to be identified. Ramos had recently sent him a photo of an AR-15, a backpack with ammunition cartridges and several magazines of weapons, the friend added.
“I said, ‘Brother, why do you have this? “And don’t worry about it,” said the friend. “He proceeded to text me, ‘I look very different now.
The shooter also sent ominous Instagram messages to another user hours before filming, the screenshots show.
Three days before the attack, an account linked to the shooter posted a photo of two rifles lying on a carpet in a story labeling another Instagram account with his name. The owner of the tagged account wrote in a story published after the shooting that Ramos had tagged it and sent him a sudden message.
The 18-year-old was working at a local burger shop in the United States Wendy’s (AP)
The girl, who did not include her name in her account and has since made her account private, posted a series of screenshots of the messages she said she exchanged with the shooter in the days before massacre.
In a message that appeared to be sent the morning of the shooting, Ramos wrote, “I’m about to do it,” but he didn’t say what he would do. “I have a little secret,” he wrote in another message. “I want to tell you.”
In messages posted in her story before she went private, the girl said she did not live in Texas and did not know Ramos.
Ramos was working at a local store in the U.S. burger chain Wendy’s, restaurant manager Adrian Mendes confirmed to CNN.
Ramos “stayed for him mostly,” said Mendes, an afternoon coach. “He didn’t really socialize with other employees … He just worked, cashed and went in to get his check.”