Minutes earlier than the horrific assault, Ramos allegedly despatched a collection of textual content messages to a teen lady in Europe whom he had met on-line, describing how he had simply shot his grandmother and would “shoot up a(n) elementary school.”
Ramos complained about his grandmother being “on the phone with AT&T abojt (sic) my phone,” in response to screenshots reviewed by CNN and an interview with the lady, whose mom gave permission for her to be interviewed.
“It’s annoying,” he texted.
Six minutes later, he texted: “I just shot my grandma in her head.”
Seconds later, he mentioned, “Ima go shoot up a(n) elementary school rn (right now).”
The 15-year-old lady, who lives in Frankfurt, Germany, had begun chatting with Ramos May 9 on a social media app, she mentioned later.
Ramos instructed her Monday he received a package deal of ammunition and the bullets would develop once they struck someone, she mentioned.
At some level, the lady requested what he deliberate to do. He instructed her it was a shock and to “just wait for it,” she mentioned.
On Tuesday, at 11:01 a.m. CT, Ramos referred to as and instructed her he liked her, she mentioned. Then, about 20 minutes later, he texted her he had shot his grandmother. The 66-year-old was in severe situation Wednesday at a San Antonio hospital, officers mentioned.
It’s not clear why Ramos then focused Robb Elementary, a school of 535 students in grades 2 by 4 as of final school yr.
Near the campus, his car crashed right into a ditch, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Sgt. Erick Estrada mentioned. The explanation for the crash was not clear.
Next, Ramos received out of the car carrying a bulletproof vest and carrying a rifle, Estrada mentioned.
Then the horrific school assault unfolded
The gunman first encountered an armed school district police officer, DPS officers have mentioned. But what occurred between them nonetheless is not absolutely identified — together with how distant the school useful resource officer was from the gunman, if he was in a car or if he fired his weapon, DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez instructed CNN on Thursday.
Those solutions are key to understanding the preliminary police response and the way it might need influenced the heinous minutes that adopted.
While “engaged” with the school officer, the gunman dropped a black bag stuffed with ammunition outdoors the school, Estrada instructed CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
More officers responded “immediately” and “followed right behind” the shooter as he entered the school by an unlocked door, Olivarez mentioned, citing preliminary information.
There was “gunfire exchanged” and photographs fired inside the school, he mentioned, and two officers have been shot. It’s not clear, although, the place the officers have been at the time, Olivarez mentioned, as investigators work to determine in the event that they have been hit at the doorway or in the constructing.
The shooter then barricaded himself in the adjoining school rooms the place the 19 fourth-graders and two teachers have been slaughtered, per DPS officers.
Exactly how the shooter barricaded himself inside the school rooms — whether or not he locked the door or created a bodily barrier, for instance — additionally stays unclear, Olivarez mentioned. “We’re still trying to establish if there was any type of locking mechanism on the doorway from inside the classroom.”
Over 80 federal officers responded instantly to the carnage, and quickly 150 converged on the space, US Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz instructed CNN on Wednesday. Beyond his unit, they got here from US Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations and the US Homeland Security Department’s Homeland Security Investigations.
“Risking their own lives, these Border Patrol Agents and other officers put themselves between the shooter and children on the scene to draw the shooter’s attention away from potential victims and save lives,” she wrote.
Eventually, a tactical group “was able to eliminate the threat and bring the suspect down,” Estrada mentioned. But it is nonetheless not clear precisely how they received entry to him.
The gunman was in the school for 40 to 60 minutes earlier than the specialised response group received in and fatally shot him, Texas DPS Director Steven McCraw mentioned Wednesday. Still, that time-frame is an “estimate,” Olivarez mentioned Thursday morning.
Now authorities are digging into key questions
Police proceed to attempt to piece collectively the full timeline of the shooting, Olivarez mentioned Thursday morning.
Investigators are working to “establish and corroborate” the function of the school useful resource officer — who has not been recognized publicly — in the preliminary response, he instructed CNN. The Texas Rangers interviewed the officer Wednesday night, Olivarez mentioned, including he hoped to get extra information inside hours about his response.
Asked if investigators are clear on whether or not the officer fired on the shooter, Olivarez mentioned, “At this point, we are not.”
Investigators are also working to ascertain what safety measures have been in place at the school, Olivarez instructed CNN, after noting the shooter “was able to make entry into that school unimpeded” by the unlocked door.
“We’re working closely with the school district, with the superintendent, to see what the policies were in place,” he mentioned.
Amid the unknowns, questions swirled Thursday about the police response.
“I understand that’s what everyone wants to know is a timeline,” Olivarez instructed CNN. (*19*) he mentioned.
“So, we’re trying to establish every single timeline as far as how long the shooter was inside the classroom, how long did the shooting take place. But as of right now, we have not been able to establish that.”
Emergency protocol requires ending a risk as shortly as doable as a result of fatalities occur in seconds to minutes.
“It’s almost incomprehensible for me to come up with a rational explanation as to why you would wait 30 minutes to an hour to get in there,” mentioned Andrew McCabe, CNN senior legislation enforcement analyst. “The door breaching, if it’s just a locked door, that doesn’t take 30 minutes to get into.”
Here’s what we know to this point about the shooter …
The gunman was a pupil at Uvalde High School, officers mentioned.
Three days earlier than the shooting, a photograph of two AR-15-style rifles appeared on an Instagram account tied to Ramos.
Ramos not too long ago despatched a former classmate a photograph displaying an AR-15, a backpack with rounds of ammunition and a number of gun magazines, mentioned the peer, who did not wish to be recognized.
“I was like, ‘Bro, why do you have this?’ and he was like, ‘Don’t worry about it,'” the pal instructed CNN. “He proceeded to text me, ‘I look very different now. You wouldn’t recognize me.'”
Ramos had stopped attending school often, the pal mentioned. He labored at a neighborhood Wendy’s, the restaurant’s supervisor instructed CNN.
Ramos “kept to himself mostly” and “didn’t really socialize with the other employees,” night supervisor Adrian Mendes mentioned. “He just worked, got paid, and came in to get his check.”
The teen in Germany who mentioned she and Ramos had communicated for weeks mentioned Ramos instructed her he spent a variety of time alone at residence.
“Every time I talked to him,” she mentioned, “he never had plans with his friends.”
… and the victims whose lives have been stolen
“We see people coming out just terrorized. They’re crying one by one. They’re being told that their child has passed on,” mentioned state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who was there Tuesday.
Outside, a father who had simply discovered his little one had been killed fought tears as he was embraced by his cousins. A number of yards away, a grandmother arrived from San Antonio and vowed to not cease praying for her 10-year-old granddaughter as they waited for identification outcomes from household DNA swabs.
By Wednesday morning, a number of households confirmed that they had obtained devastating news.
“He really couldn’t wait to go to middle school,” she mentioned.
“Please don’t take a second for granted,” Garza posted on Facebook. “Hug your family. Tell them you love them.”
Ten-year-old Eliahana “Elijah” Cruz Torres was additionally a sufferer, her aunt Leandra Vera instructed CNN. “Our baby gained her wings,” she mentioned.
“My precious angel you are loved so deeply. In my eyes you are not a victim but a survivor. I love you always and past forever baby sister, may your wings soar higher then you could ever dream,” Mata wrote on Twitter.
As of Thursday, six victims remained hospitalized, 4 of whom — together with the gunman’s grandmother, who’s in severe situation — are at University Hospital in San Antonio, in response to the hospital.
Two 10-year-old women are amongst these in the hospital — one in severe situation and the different in good situation. A 9-year-old little one is in good situation, the hospital mentioned Thursday.
Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio was treating two grownup sufferers from the shooting, each in severe situation, a spokesperson mentioned.
The stays of 19 victims had been taken to funeral houses by noon Thursday, with the last two on account of be launched that afternoon, Judge Lalo Diaz mentioned.
CNN’s Isabelle Chapman, Daniel A. Medina, Peter Nickeas, Paradise Afshar, Curt Devine, Jeff Winter, Evan Perez, Andy Rose, Priscilla Alvarez, Jamiel Lynch, Donie O’Sullivan, Jose Lesh, Amanda Jackson, David Williams, Sara Smart, Amanda Watts, Chris Boyette, Joe Sutton, Joseph Bonheim and Jennifer Henderson contributed to this report.