WWALDE, Texas (AP) – A gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers at a Texas elementary school has warned in online messages sent minutes before the attack that he shot his grandmother and will shoot at a school, the governor said Wednesday.
Salvador Ramos, 18, used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle in Tuesday’s bloodshed at Rob’s primary school in Uwalde, which ended when police raided a classroom and killed him. He legally bought the rifle and a second similar one last week, just after his birthday on May 16th, authorities said.
“Evil has befallen Uwalde yesterday. Anyone who shoots his grandmother in the face must have evil in his heart, “said Governor Greg Abbott. “But it’s much worse for someone to kill young children.”
Investigators have not shed light on the motive for the attack, which injured at least 17 people. The governor said Ramos, a resident of a small town about 85 miles (135 kilometers) west of San Antonio, had no known criminal or mental history.
But about half an hour before the mass shooting, Ramos sent the first of three messages online, Abbott said. Ramos writes that he will shoot his grandmother, and then that he shot the woman. In a final note sent about 15 minutes before he reached Rob Elementary School, he said he would shoot at a primary school, according to Abbott. Investigators said Ramos did not specify which school.
Ramos sent personal text messages one-on-one via Facebook, and they were “discovered after the terrible tragedy,” company spokesman Andy Stone said. He said Facebook was cooperating with investigators.
When details emerged of the latest massacre that rocked the United States, grief engulfed Uwalde, a population of 16,000.
Among the dead were Eliahna Garcia, a 10-year-old child who loved to sing, dance and play basketball; a fellow fourth-grader, Xavier Javier Lopez, who was looking forward to a summer of swimming; and a teacher, Eva Mireles, with 17 years of experience, whose husband is an employee of the school district police department.
“You can just tell from their angelic smiles that they were loved,” said schoolteacher Uwalde Hal Harel, fighting back tears as he recalled the children and teachers killed. “That they loved coming to school, that they were just valuable people.
Amid calls in the United States for stricter gun restrictions, the Republican governor has repeatedly spoken out about mental health problems among young people in Texas, arguing that stricter gun laws in Chicago, New York and California are ineffective.
Democrat Beto O’Rourke, who is running against Abbott for governor, cut short a press conference Wednesday, calling the tragedy “predictable”. Pointing to Abbott, he said, “It’s up to you until you decide to do something different. This will continue to happen. ” O’Rourke was escorted while some in his room shouted, and Uwalde Mayor Don McLaughlin called him a “sick son of a bitch.”
Texas has some of the most gun laws in the nation and is home to some of the deadliest shootings in the United States in five years.
“I just don’t know how people can sell that kind of gun to an 18-year-old,” said Syria’s Arizmendi, the victim’s aunt Eliana Garcia, angrily through tears. “What will he use it for, other than that?”
Lt. Christopher Olivares of the Texas Department of Public Safety told CNN that all of those killed were in a fourth-grade classroom.
The killer “barricaded himself by locking the door and just started shooting at children and teachers who were in this classroom,” Olivares said. “It just shows you the complete evil of the shooter.”
Police and others who responded to the attack also went around breaking the school windows so that students and teachers could escape. Police invaded the classroom and killed Ramos in a recent exchange of gunfire, authorities said.
The attack in a predominantly Latin American city was the deadliest school shooting in the United States since a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012.
The tragedy was the latest in a seemingly endless series of mass killings in churches, schools, shops and other sites in the United States. Just 10 days earlier, 10 blacks had been shot to death in a racist mayhem at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.
In a grim address to the nation hours after the Texas attack, President Joe Biden called on Americans to “stand up to the gun lobby” and impose tighter restrictions, saying, “When on earth are we going to do what needs to be done?” ”
But the prospects for any reform of national arms regulations seemed bleak. Repeated attempts over the years to expand inspections and impose other restrictions have met with Republican opposition in Congress.
The shooting came days before the National Rifle Association’s annual congress began in Houston, with the governor of Texas and two U.S. Republican senators due to speak.
On social media in the days and hours before the massacre, Ramos seemed to be hinting that something was going to happen.
The day he bought his second weapon last week, an Instagram account he said apparently belonged to Ramos carried a photo of two AR-15 rifles. This post tagged another Instagram user with more than 10,000 followers by asking her to share the photo.
“I hardly know you and you tag me in a picture with some weapons,” replied the Instagram user, who has since removed his account. “It’s just scary.”
On the morning of the attack, the shooter’s account replied, “I’m on my way.”
Instagram confirmed to the Associated Press that it is working with law enforcement to review the account, but declined to answer questions about the posts.
Investigators are also looking at a TikTok account, probably belonging to the shooter, with a profile that reads: “Children are afraid of IRL”, which means “in real life”.
Investigators still don’t know why Ramos turned to the school, said Steve McCrow, director of public safety.
“We don’t see a motive or a catalyst at the moment,” he said.
Police found one of the rifles in Ramos’ truck and the other in the school, according to a briefing given to lawmakers. Ramos was wearing a tactical vest, but there were no hardened bulletproof vests inside, lawmakers were told. He also dropped a backpack with several magazines full of ammunition near the school entrance.
One of the weapons was purchased by a federally licensed dealer in the Uwalde area on May 17, according to State Senator John Whitmeyer, who was informed by investigators. Ramos bought 375 rounds the next day, then bought a second rifle last Friday.
On Tuesday morning, Ramos shot and wounded his grandmother in her home, then left. Neighbors called police when she stumbled outside and saw she had been shot in the face, public safety spokesman Travis Considine said.
Ramos then crashed his truck over a railing on the school grounds, and an officer from Uwalde’s school district exchanged fire with him and was injured, Considine said. Ramos went inside and exchanged more shootings with two Uwalde police officers who were still outside, Considine said. These officers were also injured.
Dylan Silva, whose nephew was in the classroom, said students were watching the Disney movie Moana when they heard several loud bangs and a bullet shattered a window. A moment later, their teacher saw the assailant walk past the door.
“Oh, my God, he has a gun!” the teacher shouted twice, according to Silva. “The teacher didn’t even have time to lock the door,” he said.
On Wednesday morning, volunteers were spotted arriving at the city center with Bibles and therapy dogs. Three children and an adult remained in a hospital in San Antonio, where two of them – a 66-year-old woman and a 10-year-old girl – were listed in critical condition.
Uwalde is about 75 miles (120 kilometers) from the Mexican border. Robb Elementary, which has nearly 600 students in second, third and fourth grade, is a one-story brick structure in a predominantly residential neighborhood with modest houses.
The cohesive community, built around a shady central square, includes many Spanish-speaking families who have lived there for generations. He sits in a field of cabbage, onions, carrots and other vegetables. But many of the most stable jobs are provided by companies that produce building materials.
The attack came when Rob Elementary School was counting down to the last days of the school year with a series of themed days. Tuesday was “Footloose and Fancy” and the students were dressed in nice outfits.
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Eugene Garcia, Dario Lopez-Mills and Elliot Spagat in Uwalde, Jake Bleiberg in Dallas, Ben Fox, Michael Balsamo, Amanda Seitz and Eric Tucker in Washington, Paul J. Weber in Austin, Juan Lozano in Houston, Gene Johnson in Seattle and Ronda Schaffner of New York contributed to this report.
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