At least 19 children and two teachers were killed when the alleged gunman, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, opened fire Tuesday at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, a small, working-class town near the Mexico border.
Ramos, who attended the town’s high school, reportedly shot his grandmother before driving to the school armed with a handgun and possibly a rifle. Ramos was killed on the scene by police.
An account on Instagram, possibly owned by the suspect, shared a photo of two rifles lying side by side to its Stories. The account tagged another user in the photo.
Ramos sent crypitic messages to a stranger just hours before he opened fire on the children under the alleged username "@sal8dor_".
The user tagged, @epnupues, said Ramos was a total stranger who tagged her in the gun photo and messaged her that he “got a lil secret.”
@sal8dor_
“You gonna repost my gun pics.”
@epnupues
“what your guns gotta do with me.”
Then at 5:43 a.m. Tuesday, @salv8dor_ messaged her: “I’m about to.”The girl asked “about to what” to which he answered, “I’ll tell you before 11.”He said he’d text her in an hour and urged her to respond.
He never told the girl his secret. His last message at 9:16 a.m. was “Ima air out.”
About two-and-a-half hours later, Robb Elementary School was placed on lockdown around 11:43 a.m. local time after gunshots were heard in the area.
Students and faculty were transported to the Uvalde Civic Center where later in the day, parents of victims were told heart-wrenching news.
An investigation is still ongoing at this time. Swipe up for the latest news on this horrific tragedy.