The United States is in shock after an 18-year-old gunman shot and killed 19 schoolchildren and two teachers in Texas. The grandfather of the young perpetrator has now responded for the first time. He had no idea that the young man had bought guns last week. He described him as a quiet teenager who spent most of his time alone in his room. The shooter’s mother also testified that her son was “not violent”.
The perpetrator, Salvador Ramos, lived with his grandparents. He first shot his grandmother Celia Martinez before causing a massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, near San Antonio. The 66-year-old woman barely survived the attack by her grandson and is in hospital with serious injuries. When officers stormed the school, Ramos was shot dead.
On May 16, the perpetrator had turned 18, after which he had bought two automatic rifles and a lot of ammunition. Grandfather Rolando Reyes, 74, told ABC News that he and his wife were unaware that their grandson had bought those weapons.
Law enforcement
“I didn’t know he had those weapons. If I had known, I would have reported it to the police,” said Reyes, who had been convicted of a crime in the past and was not allowed to have weapons in the house anyway.
According to the man, his grandson was a quiet boy. “He was very quiet, he didn’t talk much.” The teen did not live with his mother because they were having “problems”, the grandfather added.
On Tuesday, the grandfather was out of the house when the teenager opened fire. A neighbor called Reyes to say his wife had been shot, but by the time he got home, Ramos had escaped in his grandmother’s car. Then the terrible tragedy happened in primary school. “It’s hard to grasp what happened, it doesn’t get through,” concluded the 74-year-old grandfather.
To pray
The gunman’s mother also testified that her son was “not violent”, but also confirmed that he was very private and had few friends. She said she sympathized with the families of the victims. “I pray for those families. I pray for all those innocent children.” The woman spoke from the hospital where her mother is still being treated for gunshot wounds. “The doctors can’t say anything about her survival yet.”
She refuted that the relationship with her son would not be good. The woman said she spoke to her son for the last time on the day of his birthday. She had a birthday card and Snoopy teddy bear for him. But apparently Salvador had decided to buy himself a much less innocent gift, namely weapons – with all the consequences that entailed.
Read also: All 21 victims were sitting together in a classroom when 18-year-old gunman shot them dead
also watch: ’18-year-old causes massacre at Texas elementary school’
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