The mother of Salvador Ramos, who opened fire at a Texas elementary school, killing 19 students and two teachers, has asked for forgiveness from everyone, including the family of the victims. Adriana Reyes aka Martinez, the mom of Ramos, 18, pleaded on Friday for victims to "forgive me, forgive my son."
Reyes begged for forgiveness for herself and her son after the mass shooting on Tuesday afternoon Martinez also said that she is still unable to understand why her son took such a drastic step as she still believes Ramos was a "non-violent" in nature but occasionally showed signs of aggression.
Pleading Forgiveness
A video has emerged that shows Reyes crying in her car, insisting she had no idea what had triggered her son's rage, but she acknowledged that he must have had his "reasons." "I have no words to say, I don't know what he was thinking," Reyes told the Spanish-language station Televisa.
"He had his reasons for doing what he did. Please don't judge him. I only want the innocent children who died to forgive me," she said. "Forgive me, forgive my son. I know he had his reasons."
Ramos, reportedly, had a tense connection with his mother, which she denies, and was staying with his grandmother, Celia Martinez Gonzalez, when he went on the rampage on Tuesday.
However, Gonzalez was his first victim, as he shot her in the face before stealing her car and driving to Robb Elementary School, where he crashed, barricaded himself inside a classroom, and shot the 19 children and two instructors to death.
When Reyes was asked what "reasons" he could have had for shooting dead so many innocent kids, she said, "To get closer to those children instead of paying attention to the other bad things. I have no words. I don't know."
Reyes had previously stated that Ramos was "not a violent person," but that he could become "aggressive" when enraged.
Troubled Past
While Reyes has been claiming that Ramos was not a violent person, his friends and former colleagues had previously said that he was quite a "loner" and often showed signs of aggression. Ramos reportedly started living with his grandmother because he had a strained relationship with his mother.
However, in an interview with Daily Mail, Reyes did not respond to allegations that she was a drug user who witnessed the youngster abandon her and move in with his grandma.
"My son wasn't a violent person. I'm surprised by what he did. I pray for those families. I'm praying for all of those innocent children, yes I am. They [the children] had no part in this," she had earlier said. Reyes was speaking from the hospital where her mother Gonzalez was still being treated for the gunshot wounds to her face.
Ramos was living with Reyes' father and his wife because he "had problems" with his mother, according to her father. Martinez was seen outside her Uvalde home on Friday, with multiple "NO TRESPASSING" signs posted on the gates leading up to the driveway.
Reyes had been living with a man at the house for years, according to a neighbor, but he wasn't sure if it was the teen's father or just a partner.
Ramos' father, who has the same name, has also spoken out, saying he is "sorry [for] what my son did."
"I never expected my son to do something like that," the father told the Daily Beast on Thursday. "He should've just killed me, you know, instead of doing something like that to someone."
The father told the outlet that owing to his employment away from Uvalde, he had not been involved much in his son's life recently. He said he had been away from his son because of the pandemic as he didn't want to spread the infection to his own mother, who is battling cancer. The Covid-19 restrictions strained the relationship between the two, with his kid refusing to speak to his dad for approximately a month.
He claimed the two hadn't seen each other since. However, the elder Ramos stated that his son "was a decent person," claiming that he dropped out of high school due to bullying over his clothing.
