A lone Border Patrol agent working nearby Uvalde, Texas rushed into Robb Elementary School when he heard gun shots. Without waiting for back up, he went rushed in.
The 18 year old opened fire inside the school where he killed 18 children and two adults. It’s the deadliest shooting since 20 children and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut almost 10 years ago.
The gunman had insinuated the upcoming attack to a stranger on social media, tagging them in his photos, according to the New York Post. He messaged the random account over a week ago writing, “got a lil secret.”
He reportedly shot his grandmother before driving to the school with a handgun and possibly a rifle, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said. Investigators confirmed that the shooter was armed with a handgun and an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.
Following the announcement of the gunman’s name, Ramos’ Instagram account was deactivated. Pictures surfaced online of pictures he shared of two rifles purchased on his 18th birthday laying side by side. Questions are being raised as how he purchased the weapons. His grandfather said that the shooter did not know how to drive and did not have a license, according to ABC News.
The shooter was reportedly involved in a shootout with law enforcement officers prior to entering the school. Sgt. Erick Estrada, of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that the suspect crashed near a ditch by the school, exited the vehicle and began walking to the school before he was engaged with law enforcement.
“Unfortunately, he was able to enter the premises and then from there that’s when he entered several classrooms and started shooting his firearm,” Estrada said.
When the shooting began, a lone Border Patrol agent who was nearby heard the shots and rushed into the school. At the time, Associated Press reported that the agent shot and killed the gunman, but it was later revealed that a tactical unit shot him.
The agent was Jacob Albarado. He was getting a haircut when his wife, a fourth grade teacher at the Uvalde elementary school, sent him a text that there was an active shooter, according to the New York Post. “There’s an active shooter,” she wrote. “Help,” she sent before sending a chilling: “I love you.”
He leaped out of his seat and grabbed the barber’s shotgun. When he arrived at the school, a tactical team was preparing to enter. “Desperate to get his daughter and wife out, he made a plan with other officers to try to enter the school and evacuate as many students as possible,” the Post reported. He began to clear classrooms; after finding his daughter, he continued to work on getting more children to safety.
New footage from Washington Post shows that parents begged for police to go inside as they stood outside the school for 40 minutes while shots were going off, Washington Examiner reports. “Let’s just rush in because the cops aren’t doing anything like they are supposed to,” said Javier Cazares, who lost his fourth grade daughter, Jacklyn, in the attack. “More could have been done. They were unprepared.”
The White House reportedly refuses to call for an investigation into the police who stood idle as the shooter shot children and teachers.
President Biden delivered remarks later that evening, calling for sweeping gun reform. “Why are we willing to live with this carnage?” he said. “Why do we keep letting this happen? Where in god’s name is our backbone?…It’s time to turn this pain into action.”
Some Texas districts allow teachers to carry firearms with explicit written permission from the district, per Texas penal code Sec. 46.03. However, a law enacted in 2017 by the legislature allowed teachers to bring their firearms on school property, but only if the teachers had a license to carry and the firearm was left in their vehicles.
A motive for the shooting is not yet known.
Developing story.
