US: The Texas gunman who murdered 19 children and two teachers posted an online message warning that he was going to shoot up an elementary school minutes before he attacked, Governor Greg Abbott said on Wednesday, as more harrowing details about Tuesday’s rampage emerged.
The gunman, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, also sent a message on Tuesday saying he was going to shoot his grandmother and another one confirming he had done so, Abbott said at a news conference. Ramos’ grandmother, whom the suspect shot in the face shortly before attacking the school, survived and called police.
Ramos gave no warning except the online posts. After shooting his grandmother, he fled the home they shared and crashed his car near Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, about 80 miles (130 km) west of San Antonio.
Ramos then entered the school through a back door carrying an AR-15-style rifle and made his way down two hallways to a fourth-grade classroom where he shot all of the people who were killed. Authorities said he had legally purchased two rifles and 375 rounds of ammunition days before the shooting. Eventually, Ramos, a high school dropout with no known criminal record or history of mental illness, was shot and killed by law enforcement.
The Washington Post quoted his friends and relatives describing him as a lonely 18-year-old who “was bullied over a childhood speech impediment, suffered from a fraught home life and lashed out violently against peers and strangers.
Several reports say Ramos had a disturbed home life with frequent quarrels with his mother, who is allegedly a drug user. – THE INDIAN EXPRESS, NDTV