The 18-year-old gunman, who opened fire at a Texas elementary school on Tuesday afternoon, killing 19 students and two adults, including a teacher, had bought the murder weapons on his 18th birthday. Police said that Salvador Ramos bought two assault rifles on his last birthday and appeared to post some ominous Instagram posts just hours before the carnage.
Although several individuals who knew Ramos described him to be "quiet," a young woman who worked with him at Wendy's until March noticed an aggressive tendency in him. Ramos was shot dead by a hero Border Patrol agent during a severe gunfight inside the Robb Elementary School.
Gun-Obsessed Teen
Texas Sen. Roland Gutierrez said that Ramos' first objective was to buy the guns before going on the shooting spree. He did that on his 18th birthday. Police believe that Ramos used an assault rifle and a handgun during the massacre.
Buying the guns "was the first thing he did on his 18th birthday," Gutierrez said. Law enforcement officials told CBS News that Ramos had a handgun and an AR-15-style weapon.
It is unclear if he used the same guns in Tuesday's attack. According to The Daily Dot, one of Ramos' Instagram friends posted a screenshot with the news site showing a receipt for a rifle he bought from Daniel Defense, an internet gun vendor.
Ramos had reportedly posted photos of his guns along with a series of cryptic messages online before he went to the Texas elementary school to carry out the mass shooting. However, the Instagram account that appeared to be of Ramos, has been taken down by social media platform.
On the said Instagram account, Ramos had uploaded photographs of guns and followed other students of the school, according to the profile. However, this hasn't been validated officially by officials.
Two weapons are shown in a screenshot from the account released by the online news site Heavy. Someone, possibly Ramos, is shown carrying a rifle magazine in another image.
According to Gov. Greg Abbott, Ramos attacked the school in Uvalde, a mainly Latino town about an hour and a half west of San Antonio. He was killed but cops but not before shooting dead 21 people.
An investigation has been launched but the exact motive behind the shooting isn't unknown.
Varied Opinions
According to reports, those who knew Ramos, have different opinions about him. Before going on the killing spree at the Texas elementary school, Ramos shot his grandmother, who had to be airlifted and is now fighting for her life in a hospital.
Ramos shot his grandmother around 11:30 a.m., prompting a police chase to Uvalde's Robb Elementary School. He was pursued by the cops. Ramos did, however, enter an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, armed with a handgun and what investigators described as a "rifle." He also wore a body armor.
"As soon as he made entry into the school, he started shooting children, teachers, whoever was in his way, he was shooting everybody," Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson Lt. Chris Olivarez said.
According to information gathered by Intel Doge, Ramos only had one Instagram post and sent a photo of two firearms to a random Instagram user. Ramos inquired as to whether the Instagram user was sharing his "gun pics."
Ramos said in his direct messages that he wanted to tell him a secret. The conversation was followed by the user until 1:16 p.m. It is well understood that Ramos had pre-planned the carnage.
His former college, who worked with him at Wendy's said that Ramos looked aggressive at times. "He would be very rude toward the girls sometimes, and one of the cooks, threatening them by asking, 'Do you know who I am?' And he would also send inappropriate texts to the ladies," said the former co-worker, who did not want to be named.
"At the park, there'd be videos of him trying to fight people with boxing gloves. He'd take them around with him."
