The wild journey of Salvador Ramos, the adolescent author of the massacre in Texas

Identified as Salvador Ramos, 18 years old, the young man is a US citizen and was a student at Uvalde High School

The teenager who opened fire Tuesday at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, killing at least 19 children and two adults, had just shot his grandmother in this small town west of San Antonio, authorities said. They ignore the motivation for their actions.

Identified as Salvador Ramos, 18 years old, the young man is a US citizen and was a student at Uvalde High School, said the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, without specifying if he had graduated this year.

A mugshot circulated in the local media shows a young man with shoulder-length brown hair, with a pale and expressionless face.

Before perpetrating this murder, would have “shot his grandmother”, Abbott continued, emphasizing that he was unaware of the links between the two events. According to a local legislator, the woman was transported to a hospital in San Antonio.

San Antonio University Health Hospital confirmed that it admitted a 66-year-old woman in “critical condition” after being shot, without confirming her identity.

then equipped with a bulletproof vest and a rifle, according to the sergeant Erick Estrada from the Texas Department of Safety, the young man fled in a car he abandoned near Robb Elementary School after suffering a “spectacular accident.”

Around 11:30 a.m. (local time), after being found by police, the assailant ran into the school and opened fire in several classrooms, Sgt. Estrada told CNN.

Holidays

For the students, ten years old at the most, and the teachers of this school of 500 studentsmostly Hispanics, vacation was scheduled for Thursday.

The officer clarified that the local police had not reported any car chases, which seems to suggest that the traffic accident was unprovoked.

The young man died during a shootout with the police. Two officers also suffered minor injuries, Gov. Abbott said.

according to Pete Arredondo, police chief of the Uvalde School District, in charge of the investigation, the attacker act alone

Investigators are trying to get “detailed information about the profile” of the killer, “his motives, the type of weapons used and whether he had permission to possess them,” Abbott said. Sergeant Estrada said he did not know if the police had any knowledge of the young man.

In social networks, he is associated with an Instagram account, deleted after the massacre, which contains several photos: two black and white self-portraits where he appears with a hooded jacket, hair down to the nape of his neck, and a photo of a porter. rifles. In another shot, two semi-automatic rifles can be seen.