The Texas elementary school shooter purchased two AR-15 rifles last week just after turning 18, with one being used to carry out the kill 19 students and two teachers on Tuesday afternoon. Salvador Ramos, 18, bought both the AR-15 rifles legally and posted a receipt of the purchases on social media, which was obtained by the Daily Doton Tuesday after the shooting.
It is unclear when Ramos turned 18 but reports claim that he celebrated his birthday last week by buying those guns and loads of ammunition that were used in the deadly attack. Of the two rifles, one was found next to the shooter's body.
Legal Purchase, Illegal Action
Ramos purchased two guns, including a $1,870 Daniel Defense AR-15. He also posted a receipt of the purchases on the website Yubo, which The Daily Dot obtained on Tuesday. The purchases were made on May 17 and May 20 from a "local federal firearms licensee" shortly after his 18th birthday and on May 18 he bought 375 rounds of 5.56 ammunition, Whitmire and Texas State Sen. Roland Gutierrez told the Austin Statesman.
The same ammo was used in the shooting at Robb Elementary School on Tuesday afternoon. Ramos had one of the guns in his truck, which had crashed outside the school, and the other rifle was on his person, according to Whitmire.
Police also said that both the purchases were made on the Daniel Defense website. The business, which is based in Georgia, allows clients to place orders online and then pick them up from a local dealer.
There are no Daniel Defense dealers listed in Uvalde, but there are numerous in San Antonio, some 100 miles distant. Ramos obtained at least one weapon from a local guns licensee, according to the ATF.
However, it remains unclear how Ramos managed to pay such a hefty amount for the weapons.
Motive Unclear
Ramos worked at Wendy's but even then, it is quite difficult to manage such a hefty amount to purchase those guns. Police said, that Ramos didn't carry all the ammo inside the school. Instead, he dumped most of the ammo outside the school entrance.
Understandably, he was quite a troubled child. His former coworkers at Wendy's claim that he harassed female employees, but he was also bullied for his clothes and appearance, according to classmates.
Ramos lived in Uvalde with his grandmother. He recently lived with his mother, but according to peers, he frequently posted online about how she had thrown him out of their home. "He posted videos on his Instagram where the cops were there and he'd call his mom a b**** and say she wanted to kick him out.
Also, there are reports that Ramos failed his graduation just a day before carrying out the shooting. According to a neighbor, who spoke to local news channel Newsy, Ramos, who worked at a Wendy's, was seen shouting with his grandmother, alleging that he was "angry that he did not graduate."
The neighbor said that he then heard his grandmother's screams. "He shot me, he shot me", before Ramos "zoomed down the street" in his pickup before crashing it outside Robb Elementary School.
He then went inside and started shooting the children and everyone else who was within his sight.
Ramos was finally shot dead on the scene by a hero Border Patrol agent who ran into the school with a tactical support team and killed him while he was barricaded inside and was exchanging gunfire with other police officers.