Texas gunman sends three private messages on Facebook minutes before attack [See Pic]
Fifteen minutes before a gunman killed 19 children and two adults at an elementary school in Texas The 18-year-old attacker, identified as Salvador Ramos, had sent three private messages to a stranger about his 'plans' on Facebook.
The Governor of Texas Greg Abbott had stated that the gunman had posted thrice before the attack, but Facebook later explained that the attacker had sent private messages and not posts -- which has a larger audience.
In the first message, 30 minutes ahead of the attack, he said he would shoot his grandma. His second message said, "I shot my grandmother," and the third, sent 15 minutes before the attack, said, “I’m going to shoot an elementary school,” without specific mention of any school. It was not even clear to who the messages were sent.
Hours ahead of the deadly attack, the gunman also sent Instagram messages to a stranger. He had sent a cryptic message which read, 'I'm about to', to a stranger on Instagram. He was using an account with the username “salv8dor_", which was taken down shortly after that attacket was identified as Salvador Ramos.
The Instagram handle which is believed to be of the gunman had pictures of firearms and a selfie of himself. The account also had a picture of two rifles and tagged another person in the post.
The user, @epnupues, said she didn’t know the gunman at all. He tagged her in the gun picture and messaged her that he “got a lil secret”. The Instagram user asked him why he tagged her in the image of the rifles, further adding that she was afraid.
First published: 26 May 2022, 13:34 IST