Salvador Ramos updated his Facebook friends on his day as he shot his grandmother, then killed 21 people at a Texas elementary school, police said Wednesday.
Ramos, 18, warned on Facebook that he planned to shoot up an elementary school Tuesday, barely 30 minutes before he drove down the road to Robb Elementary School and opened fire, Steve McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety said during a news conference with state and local officials.
“I’m going to shoot my grandmother,” read the first post.
“I shot my grandmother,” read the second.
“I’m going to shoot an elementary school,” read the third.
Barricaded inside two conjoined classrooms, Ramos then killed 19 students and two teachers before police were able to breach the door and kill him, McCraw said.
A spokesperson for Facebook did not immediately return a request for comment from the New York Daily News on Wednesday about whether the social media site was aware of the threats.
Earlier Tuesday morning, Ramos shot his grandmother, with whom he lived, in the face, then stole her car, according to police. The 66-year-old woman was able to run across the street and report her grandson before she was rushed to the hospital.
She is still alive, officials said.
Ramos crashed the stolen truck outside the school where he was met by a “brave” school resource officer, McCraw said. The officer “engaged” Ramos, but no gunfire was exchanged and Ramos was able to walk into Robb to begin his massacre.
“It could have been worse,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said at the news conference Wednesday, crediting law enforcement for eventually getting to Ramos.
The gunman had purchased two semi-automatic rifles and 375 rounds in March, shortly after his 18th birthday, McCraw said.
Asked why a teenager should be allowed to own such a powerful weapon, Abbott said that 18-year-olds have been able to buy such guns for 60 years, but that school shootings are new.
He also blamed mental health issues, despite saying earlier in the news conference that Ramos had “no known” mental health history, then brushed off criticism of Texas’ gun laws because Chicago, New York and Los Angeles also have shootings.
“Someone demented enough to kill little kids goes beyond mental health, to me,” Abbott said. “That is the face of evil.”
Police also confirmed that Ramos had no criminal history.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick argued that “we are better than this as a country.”
“People are at each other’s throats everywhere we turn, whether it’s online or on the Oscars stage or two coaches arguing,” he said at the news conference.
Investigators have still not determined a motive for the shooting.
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