UVALDE, Texas — The 18-year-old man responsible for the deadliest school shooting in Texas history legally bought his weapons just days before, according to federal authorities.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Explosives representatives in a briefing to Texas State Senators, Salvador Ramos legally bought two AR platform rifles at a local federal firearms licensee on two separate dates: May 17 and May 20.
One of the rifles he had purchased was left in a crashed truck near the school. The other rifle, a Daniel Defense, was located in the school with the suspect.
On May 18, Ramos purchased 375 rounds of 5.56 ammunition, ATF authorities said.
On Tuesday, Ramos is believed to have shot his grandmother in the face at her home in the 500 block of Diaz Street in Uvalde before leaving and crashing his vehicle in a ravine near the school before making his way inside.
The grandmother contacted police after she was shot, Abbott said.
ATF paperwork showed Ramos' home address, as does his driver's license, as the same home where he shot his grandmother.
She survived the shooting and was last listed in critical condition.
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After crashing his vehicle, he made his way into Robb Elementary School as police officers approached, but Ramos made his way down a hallway and into two adjoining classrooms, authorities said.
Nineteen children and two teachers were shot to death inside a fourth-grade classroom at Robb Elementary School. A U.S. Border Patrol BORTAC Agent was grazed by a gunshot.
Ramos barricaded himself inside the classroom and "began shooting anyone that was in his way," authorities said Wednesday.
Gov. Greg Abbott's full Wednesday press conference from Uvalde
Law enforcement officers eventually broke into the classroom and killed Ramos. Police and others responding to Tuesday’s attack also went around breaking windows at the school to enable students and teachers to escape, Lt. Christopher Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety said Wednesday on NBC’s “Today.”
It appeared that Ramos dropped a backpack with several magazines full of ammunition near the entrance of the school. Inside, there are at least what appears to be seven 30-round magazines, the ATF said. It won't be known whether they are expended until the crime scene is processed.
After further inspection of Ramos' clothing, it now appears he was not wearing body armor but only a plate carrier with no ballistic armor inside.
In addition, Texas Rangers analysts have found that Ramos' grandmother has a history of wages with the school that ended in 2020.
Authorities said they had no indication that Ramos was a threat until a trio of social media posts that were made the day of the shooting.
Around 30 minutes prior to shooting his grandmother, Ramos began to post on Facebook, according to Abbott.
"I'm going to shoot my grandmother," Ramos wrote.
Later, he posted that he had shot her grandmother and intended to open fire at an elementary school, Abbott said.
Meta, Facebook's parent company, later clarified that these were private messages, not public posts, according to The Texas Tribune. A spokesperson for Meta said the messages were not discovered until after the tragedy.