The 18-year-old Uvalde school shooter reportedly sent a series of disturbing text messages prior to his deadly rampage.
As the nation continues to mourn the deaths of the 19 children and two adults who were killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, more details are emerging about the events of the day.
Per CNN, authorities have identified the gunman as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos. They have also confirmed that he acted alone in the heinous massacre.
After Ramos crashed his grandmother's vehicle near the school, the teenager entered the campus at approximately 11:32AM. Ramos then entered the school through the backdoor and entered a classroom, where he opened fire on the staff and children inside.
Now, CNN has reported that minutes before his heinous massacre, Ramos sent a number of texts to a young teenager he met online.
The 15-year-old girl reportedly lives in Frankfurt, Germany, and has said that she started to chat with Ramos after becoming acquainted on a social media platform on May 9. At the time, Ramos allegedly sent her selfies and spoke about his intentions to go and visit her in Europe.
After CNN interviewed the girl and reviewed screenshots, the outlet reports that Ramos text her before the shooting, complaining about his grandmother being, "on the phone with AT&T about [sic] my phone", before adding: "It's annoying".
Six minutes later, Ramos messaged: "I just shot my grandma in her head."
Just seconds later, he said, “Ima go shoot up a[n] elementary school rn [right now]."
The message was sent at 11:21AM Texas time (6:21PM Central European time) - 11 minutes before he arrived at the elementary school.
The 15-year-old girl told CNN that Ramos revealed on Monday that he had received a package of ammunition. When she questioned what the ammo was for, he replied: "Just wait for it."
Three days prior to Tuesday's shooting, a photo of two AR-15-style rifles was posted on an Instagram account tied to the 18-year-old, per CNN.
BBC News reports that Ramos entered the school carrying a handgun, an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, and high-capacity magazines.
The 15-year-old teen told CNN that Ramos "looked happy and comfortable" talking to her whenever they communicated over FaceTime or social media apps. She added that Ramos appeared to spend a lot of time alone and "never had plans with his friends."
Public Safety Sgt. Erick Estrada has revealed that Ramos' grandmother is in hospital and in critical condition. Prior to being taken to the hospital, his grandmother was able to run across the street and phone the police.
Per Sky News, an earlier police account claimed that Ramos was "engaged" by an armed school resource officer after entering the school campus. However, South Texas's regional director for the TDPS told reporters on Thursday (May 26) that "he was not confronted by anybody" and there was not an armed officer at the school at the time of the massacre. Steve McGraw, director of TDPS, said at a press conference on Friday that "sometimes witnesses get it wrong". "The bottom line is the officer was not on scene, not on campus, but drove immediately to the area," McGraw added.Our thoughts continue to go out to the victims of this tragedy...
