The gunman, who killed at least 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, has been named Salvador Ramos, 18.
Gov. Greg Abbott said Ramos, who was eventually shot dead by law enforcement, was “the pure face of evil.”
Ramos was a student at Uvalde High School and lived in the small town 80 miles west of San Antonio.
The teenager had hinted on social media that an attack could come, state Senator Roland Gutierrez told reporters. “He suggested that children should be monitored,” the legislator said.
Ramos sent a direct message to a person on a Facebook platform saying, “I’m going to shoot at an elementary school.”
The 18-year-old shot his grandmother in the face before stealing the family truck and driving to Robb Elementary School shortly before noon on Tuesday. She called the police herself and was taken to a critical condition hospital.
Then Ramos left the truck in a ditch and headed inside.
The latest police updates say the school was unlocked and there was no officer to stop it.
“He started shooting at children, at teachers, at anyone who gets in his way.”
(Texas Department of Public Safety)
“The suspect entered the school and as soon as he entered the school he started shooting at children, teachers, who got in his way,” said Christopher Olivarez of the Department of Public Safety. Texas.
A team of elite Border Patrol commandos, county deputies and local police officers finally entered the room about 60 minutes later, with a Border Patrol officer firing on Ramos.
The long delay between when Ramos arrived at school and when officers shot him has sparked intense scrutiny and Texas state police are reviewing how the response unfolded.
In addition to the 21 who were killed, Ramos injured 17 more people in the massacre, Texas officials said at a news conference Wednesday. They all face non-lethal injuries and are expected to survive.
Ramos legally bought two AR-15-style rifles on his 18th birthday, one of which he used during the shooting.
“That was the first thing he did on his 18th birthday,” Roland Gutierrez said.
An Instagram friend from Ramos said the teen had sent him a photo showing a receipt for a gun he bought from Daniel Defense, a gun maker, The Daily Dot reported.
A former classmate says Ramos sent pictures of guns and ammunition
(Supplied)
An Instagram account identified by the media as belonging to Ramos showed him posing with what appears to be a semi-automatic weapon. A former classmate said Ramos sent him a text message with photos of a firearm and a bag full of ammunition days before the attack.
“He was texting me here and there, and four days ago he sent me a picture of the AR he was wearing … and a backpack full of 5.56 rounds, probably like seven magazines,” said the former colleague of class.
“I said, ‘Brother, why do you have this? and said, “Don’t worry about it,” the student said. “He proceeded to text me, ‘I look very different now.
Ramos may have taken up to 660 rounds to Robb Elementary, packaged in 22 high-capacity magazines.
Texas leaders said Wednesday that Ramos had no known criminal or mental health record and that “there was no significant warning of his crime” outside of the messages just before the attack, according to Governor Abbott.
Friends say the gunman was harassed and violently attacked
Senator Chris Murphy calls on Senate to take action on gun control after Texas massacre
However, those who met Ramos paint the image of a deeply concerned person.
Friends and relatives have said Ramos was harassed, cut his face, fired a firearm at random people and used cars during the years leading up to the deadly attack.
Family and friends have also said that he had a difficult family life, that he suffered harassment due to a speech impediment and that he violently attacked his friends, strangers and his mother, both recently and over the years.
Santos Valdez Jr., 18, told The Washington Post that he had known Ramos since his early days in elementary school, adding that they were friends until Ramos’ behavior began to worsen.
They played video games together before Ramos changed. Valdez described an encounter when Ramos arrived at a park where they used to play basketball with cuts on his face, initially saying he had been scratched by a cat.
“Then he told me the truth, that he had cut his face with knives over and over and over,” Valdez said. “I said, ‘You’re crazy, brother, why would you do that?’
Ramos said he had done it for fun, Valdez said.
He mocked the stutterer and shook him
This is an undated screenshot of Salvador Ramos’ Instagram account
(social media / AFP via Getty Images)
Friends and family said Ramos was harassed in high school and high school for his stuttering and stuttering. Considering Ramos’ best friend in eighth grade, Stephen Garcia said he had a difficult school experience.
“I would be very harassed, as a lot of people do,” Garcia told The Post. “On social media, on games, on everything.”
“He was the friendliest, most shy child. He just needed to get out of his shell,” he added.
Garcia said Ramos once posted a photo of himself with a black eyeliner, prompting a large number of comments that included derogatory language aimed at gays.
Garcia said he tried to defend Ramos, but when he moved to another area of Texas because of his mother’s job, Ramos “just started to be a different person.”
“It was getting worse, and I don’t even know it,” Garcia said. Ramos left school when Mr. Garcia moved in and began to dress in black, his hair grew, and he began to wear military boots.
He missed much of the school year, was unprepared to graduate with his classmates
On the day of the shooting in Uvalde, a strange video was posted on social media, showing the gunman tracing the perimeter of the primary school, rifle in hand, before entering and robbing a classroom full of students and two teachers. and open fire.
(Facebook / screenshot)
His classmates said he missed large parts of the school year and did not graduate with the others this year.
Ramos’ cousin Mia, who asked that her last name not be used, told the Post that “she wasn’t much of a social person after being harassed by stuttering.”
“I think he no longer felt comfortable in school,” he said.
Ramos posted on social media pictures of automatic rifles about a year ago that he “would have on his wish list,” Valdez said. Four days ago, he posted pictures of two rifles he called “photos of my weapons.”
Tense relationship with mother and father
High school classmate Nadia Reyes told the Post that Ramos posted an Instagram story two months ago showing her yelling at her mother, who said she was trying to get him out of the house.
“He posted videos on his Instagram where the police were and called his mother ab **** and told her he wanted to kick her out,” Ms Reyes said. “She would be yelling and talking to her mother very aggressively.”
Neighbor Ruben Flores, 41, told the newspaper that Ramos had “a pretty hard life with his mother.”
Flores said the problems became clearer over the years as police showed up at Ramos’ home and neighbors saw fights between mother and son.
Flores said Ramos moved from his mother’s house to live with his grandmother a few months ago. Grandmother also owned the house where Ramos’ mother lived.
Ramos’ father, Salvador Ramos, said he also had a difficult relationship with the teenager, who is reportedly frustrated with Covid’s precautions.
Ramos worked outside of Uvalde and avoided too much contact with Ramos or his mother, for fear of giving coronavirus to the elderly woman, due to her pre-existing cancer.
Salvador Ramos, Sr., told The Daily Beast that he sometimes worried that his son would be angry with him.
“My mom tells me she probably would have shot me too, because she always said I didn’t love her,” she said.
The 42-year-old man said he regretted what his son had done to the people of Uvalde.
“I just want people to know I’m sorry, man. [for] which my son did, “Ramos said.” I never expected my son to do such a thing. I should have killed myself, you know, instead of doing something like that to someone.
A gunman was involved in several brawls during the years leading up to the attack, says a classmate
Ms. Reyes said she remembers about five brawl fights with Ramos in high school and high school. Any friendship he managed to form did not last long, he added. He said he once told a friend he wanted to join the Marines that he only had that goal because then he would be able to kill people. The boy ended the friendship at that moment.
“He would take things too far, say something that shouldn’t be said and then put himself in defense mode,” Ms. Reyes told the Post.
Valdez told the Post that his last interaction with Ramos took place about two hours before the shooting. They posted messages to Instagram Stories after Mr Valdez shared a meme saying “why the school is still open”.
A screenshot shows Ramos answering “facts” and “that’s good, isn’t it?”
“[I don’t even know] I don’t even go to school, “Valdez replied, but told the newspaper that Ramos never opened the message.
“I couldn’t even think, I couldn’t even talk to anyone,” Garcia told the newspaper about the moment he learned of the shooting. “I just left class, very upset, you know, blinking my eyes … I never expected it to hurt people.”
“I think he needed mental help. And more closeness with his family. And love,” he added.
Ramos also abused animals “all the time” and boasted …