The terror of the lone Salvador Ramos at an elementary school in Texas lasted an hour before he was shot – a twisted chain of events that began when he bought a pair of AR-15 rifles for his 18th birthday.
The high school graduate celebrated his significant birthday with a dinner at Applebee’s on May 16 with his grandmother Celia Martinez Gonzalez, whom he would shoot dead in the face before unleashing a bloodbath in a fourth-grade classroom at Robb Elementary School in Uwalde.
Exactly one week before the mass shooting and the day after his birthday, Ramos went to the local Oasis Outback sporting goods store to buy a “semi-automatic rifle,” Texas Public Safety Director Steve McCrow confirmed at a news conference.
He returned the next day to buy 375 rounds of ammunition and then again two days later, last Friday, to take an AR Daniel Defense-style rifle, McCrow said.
Law enforcement and others who are responding gather in front of Rob’s primary school after a shooting on May 24, 2022. AP / Dario Lopez-Mills Salvador Ramos legally purchased his weapons from a local gun shop. social media / AFP via Getty Image Ramos posted photos on Instagram showing two machine guns. salv8dor_ / Instagram
“That’s the first thing he did when he turned 18,” Texas Sen. Ronald Gutierrez told CNN.
Both weapons were purchased legally, and Ramos, who has no previous criminal or mental health history, “had no problem accessing those weapons,” the senator told the network, citing a briefing from the Texas Rangers.
The weapons are usually retailed for about $ 2,000, and Ramos’ online publications suggest that he also bought a battery-powered holographic sight, which usually sells for about $ 725, according to ABC News.
Evidence on social media
Then came the mysterious posts on social media. Ramos posted photos of the weapons on his Instagram, even tagging a woman who claimed to be a complete stranger to her.
“I have a little secret I want to tell you,” he sent her a personal message with a smiling emoji covering his mouth on Tuesday morning, hours before the massacre.
Ramos exchanged strange messages with a user on Instagram.Instagram / epnupues Texas Gov. Greg Abbott holds a press conference at Uwalde High School in Uwalde, Texas on May 25, 2022. AFP via Getty Images
Later that morning, he logged on to Facebook, revealing his horrific plans for about 30 minutes, opening fire on a classroom full of helpless fourth-graders.
“The first post. . . he said, “I’m going to shoot my grandmother.” The second post was, “I shot my grandmother,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told a news conference Wednesday, calling Ramos a “crazy man” who brought “evil” to Uwalde.
In this space of time, the sick teenager shot his 66-year-old grandmother in the face in the bizarre home they shared with his grandfather on Diaz Street.
The elderly woman “managed to escape across the street to a neighbor and get help,” McCrow said.
“The third post, perhaps less than 15 minutes before arriving at the school, was ‘I’m going to shoot a primary school,'” the governor said, later explaining that the posts were in fact personal messages to a recipient made by the platform. are not identified.
At about 11:30 a.m., Ramos, who did not have a driver’s license, swung Gonzalez’s truck, crashing it less than half a mile into a ditch near Rob Elementary School.
A deadly walk begins
Dressed in a tactical vest but reportedly without hardened bulletproof vests, he ran to the school with a “backpack with one rifle in it,” McCrow said, and the other rifle was later found in the truck.
Ramos rushed to the school entrance, wearing protective clothing. Elsa G. Ruiz / Facebook
At the back door on the west side of the school building, Ramos collided with a school resource officer, although McCrow said “the shooting has not been exchanged.”
Somehow, Ramos managed to get into the school because the officer “followed him immediately” and then a shooting was exchanged, McCrow said.
Ramos barricaded himself in a fourth-grade classroom – “and that’s where the carnage began,” McCrow continued.
The cold-blooded killer blew hail into the room, killing 19 children and two teachers and sending some students jumping out of windows in an attempt to save their lives.
One girl, Amery Joe Garza, was frantically trying to dial 911 when Ramos fatally shot her, telling her and her classmates, “You’re going to die,” her grandmother told the Daily Beast.
“As soon as he entered the school, he started shooting at children, teachers, whoever was in his way,” Public Safety Lieutenant Christopher Olivares told San Antonio-based KENS 5 television.
Another 17 were injured, but it is unclear whether they were all in the same classroom.
There was chaos – the school sent a signal to block more than 10 minutes after the cops received signals to shoot in the area – promising parents that “students and staff are safe in the buildings.”
Ameri Joe Garza was one of 19 victims of the school shooting. Facebook / Angel Garza Graphics show Ramos’ crime in Uwalde. Illustration of the New York Post
At 12:17 a.m. – nearly 50 minutes after Ramos entered the school – the warning was upgraded to “active shooter”, the local station said.
Follow The Post’s live coverage of the Texas Elementary School shooting
Officers, including a SWAT team from border patrols, then flooded the school, where they “hired” Ramos and kept him “chained” in the classroom, McCrow said.
“They broke down the classroom door. They came in, engaged with Ramos and killed him on the spot, “he said, confirming that the deadly shot was fired by one of the border agents, who was declared a” hero “.
Officials did not disclose the exact time he was killed or how long he was in the classroom, with McCrow merely estimating that it was “within 40 minutes or so, within an hour.”
It would be another two hours before Abbott revealed the true horrors of the atrocity, announcing at the time that 14 students and a teacher had been confirmed dead.
Later, this number will increase by five more students and another teacher.
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