The 18-year-old who shot his grandmother before killing 21 people – including 19 children – in a Texas elementary school is not believed to have left a manifesto or note explaining his actions.
Those who knew him say he was harassed and did not have many friends.
But the messages that Salvador Ramos sent to strangers online have begun to emerge.
In them, he tells a person who commits suicide, brags about buying a gun, and in an online audio chat room he comments that people deserve to be “raped.”
Ramos had multiple social media accounts and used the same photos and usernames.
He was especially active in an app called Yubo. Allows users to make new friends with people based on their location.
Image: Ramos’s account was verified and had a username that he also used on other social accounts
Screenshots show that your account was verified with a yellow mark. This means that he presented proof of his identity, including an official identity document and a confirmation that matches his photos.
He used at least two usernames in his accounts. He initially used his real name, but later changed it to “The BiggestOpp”, a username that also appears on his Instagram and TikTok accounts.
Ramos wanted people to follow him on his various social accounts. This screenshot of your Yubo profile promotes your Instagram username.
Image: Ramos’ confirmed Instagram driver (right) connected to his Yubo page (left)
Selfies and abusive behaviors
Ramos hung a series of selfies, including one posing in front of what appears to be a broken mirror as he lifted his T-shirt.
He used these apps to send messages to people he didn’t know in real life.
A 15-year-old girl in Germany told CNN that she met Ramos through Yubo. From there, texting and video calling began.
Ten minutes before police were first called to the shooting, Ramos sent a message to the girl telling her she had shot her grandmother and was going to “shoot an elementary school.”
Image: CNN-reviewed text messages sent from Ramos shortly before his attack on the school. Image: CNN
CNN has reviewed the texts, but Sky News cannot independently verify them.
Ramos also sent a message to a person on Yubo with proof that he had bought a gun.
Image: Ramos shared a receipt for one of the weapons he bought with a Yubo user
Read more: The 21 Victims of Texas School Shooting Called Why Are Gun Sales Rising in the U.S. After Mass Shooting?
He sent aggressive messages to the app. He told a girl on Valentine’s Day that he would worship her before telling her he should jump off a bridge.
This behavior is re-recorded when you are in an online audio chat room in Yubo.
He tells the group, “I guess everyone [inaudible] deserves to be raped. “
The other people in the chat react shocked and reproach him for his comments.
Image: Ramos said “everyone in the world deserves to be raped” in a live chat on Yubo
Sky News understands that at least one user who was contacted by him reported Ramos’ account, banned him from his live chats, and contacted the company directly to “help with his harassment.”
Yubo users have alleged that Ramos abused animals and broadcast it live on the platform, although no screenshots or recordings have appeared.
Sky News asked Yubo to respond to the screenshots of this article, the statement that was reported to his account, and the allegations of animal abuse.
A Yubo spokesman told Sky News: “We are deeply saddened by this indescribable loss and are fully cooperating with law enforcement in their investigation.
“At this stage, we are not legally able to post any user-specific information outside of law enforcement direct requests, but we can confirm that we are investigating an account that has since been banned from the platform.”
“Republish photos of my weapons”
Yubo wasn’t the only social media platform he used to contact strangers.
Salvador Ramos posted a photo of two weapons on his Instagram before the attack.
Included the handle of another Instagram user, epnupues, in the image.
These images and Instagram profile have been widely shared.
Epnupues issued a statement saying they did not know Ramos.
The user wrote, “He’s a stranger. I don’t know anything about him. He decided to tag me in his gun post.
“I’m so sorry for the victims and their families. I really don’t know what to say.”
The account also shared a series of screenshots of messages with Ramos.
On May 12, he asked her to “republish photos of my weapons” on her profile, to which epnupues replied, “What should your weapons do to me” and “I’m so confused.”
Epnupues also shared what appeared to be the last message he received from Ramos.
The message was sent at 9:16 p.m. It has no date stamp, which means that the screenshot was taken on the same day that the message was received. This means that it was probably sent the morning of the attack, but it is not possible to know for sure.
His last message was “Ima air out”, a reference to shooting someone.
In addition to sharing Ramos ‘messages, the epnupues shared accusations against them, with one person accusing the user of being Ramos’ girlfriend.
“I don’t know him and I don’t even live in Texas,” epnupues said in response.
Her profile has been shut down by Instagram, which is working with U.S. law enforcement on the issue.
“Violent revenge fantasies”
Daniel Allington, a tenured professor at King’s College London who specializes in social media related to hatred and violence, reviewed Ramos’ publications.
He told Sky News: “We have a socially isolated young man who seems to have violent revenge fantasies who starts shooting an elderly female relative in an argument and then kills as many people as possible.
“Clearly there will be many socially isolated young people posting threatening and aggressive messages on social media, behaving aggressively towards members of their family or a local community and very few of them doing something like this.
“So it’s hard to say that the warnings were lost.”
Image: Photos posted by Ramos on his Instagram
He also said Ramos ’social media shows a sense of law and attention-seeking.
Referring to Ramos’ conversations with epnupues on Instagram, Dr. Allington said: “If you look at his interactions with people on social media, you can see that there is a clear element of aggression, particularly towards women with who was talking.
“He thinks he’s entitled to her attention, even though she doesn’t really know him. He uses the threat that he’s about to do something, though he didn’t say what, as a way to get attention.” .
Dr. Allington said there is currently no reason to identify Ramos with the incel movement, especially since the first person he shot was an elderly woman and most of the rest were children. Incels often direct their anger toward women of reproductive age and men who consider themselves more sexually successful than they are, he explained.
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