Salvador Ramos, 18, who broke into a school and killed 19 children at a Texas school on Tuesday, had no criminal record or mental illness, said the state’s governor, Republican Greg Abbott. The sign that he could commit a crime was on social media.
“There has been no significant warning of this crime. The only information known in advance about this was posted by the shooter on Facebook approximately 30 minutes after he arrived at the school,” Abbott told a news conference.
“In the first post he said ‘I’m going to shoot my grandma’. The second was ‘I shot my grandma’. The third post maybe 15 minutes before he got to school was ‘I’m gonna shoot an elementary school “, detailed the governor.
Reports from people close to Ramos told US media, however, that he had made several social media posts that indicated family problems and an interest in weapons in the previous months. In one of the messages, he appeared in an argument with his mother, who was trying to kick him out of the house. “He was yelling and talking to her in a really aggressive way,” a colleague of Ramos’s told The Washington Post.
A year ago, he posted images of automatic rifles, capable of firing bursts of shots, and said they were on his wish list. And a few days before the attack, he released a photo of two rifles, which he bought days after turning 18, the age at which guns are allowed in Texas.
Abbott also confirmed that Ramos shot his grandmother before attacking the school. “Anyone who shoots his grandmother in the face has evil in his heart,” he said, in an angry tone. The governor called the shooter a “demented person”.
The governor also pointed out that the shooter fired at least 223 shots during the action. The attack left 19 children and 2 teachers dead and 17 more injured, which are not life-threatening, according to authorities. Among the wounded, there are three agents who exchanged fire with Ramos.
The case took place in Uvalde, a county with a population of 24,000 and about 100 km from the border with Mexico. There, three out of every four inhabitants are of Latin origin. On Wednesday morning, residents lined up at hospitals wanting to donate blood to help the wounded.
The case generated outrage in the US and more calls for firm measures to prevent further massacres. On Tuesday night, President Joe Biden used the event to once again criticize the pro-gun lobby in the country and defend the control of access to weapons. “I’m tired of this. Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen?”, he asked, in a seven-minute speech.
One of the measures most advocated by activists, politicians and security experts is to increase background checks on those who buy firearms, to prevent people with a history of violence or mental problems from having access to weapons.
