Sick messages from Texas school shooter emerge as child death toll rises to 19

A gunman who murdered young children at an elementary school dropped sick ‘hints’ about his attack on social media, according to reports.

High school pupil Salvador Ramos, 18, was shot dead by police officers at the scene after killing 21 people including at least 18 children at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday (May 24).

Uvalde CISD Chief of Police Pete Arredondo said the children killed and injured when gunfire broke out at 11:32am (05:32pm UK time) were in the second, third and fourth grade class, making them between the ages of 7 and 10 years old.

Now, it has emerged that Ramos left sick posts on Instagram only hours before carrying out the atrocity.

Texas senator Roland Gutierrez revealed the teen had numerous photographs of guns posted onto his account, and tagged a female acquaintance in one of them just moments before the killings.

Direct messages sent by the teenager seen by the Daily Mail show her shocked response to his unwelcome interaction, with his first reading: “I got lil secret. I wanna tell you”

He then followed this by saying: “Be grateful I tagged you”

But she replied “No it’s just scary”

‘I barely know you and you tag me in a picture with some guns?’

One of the dead has been formally identified as fourth-grade teacher Eva Mireles, who had worked in the area for 17 years.

Her grieving aunt Lydia Martinez Delgado, said in a statement: “I’m furious that these shootings continue; these children are innocent. Rifles should not be easily available to all. This is my hometown, a small community of less than 20,000. I never imagined this would happen to especially loved ones… All we can do is pray hard for our country, state, schools, and especially the families of all,”

In an emotional speech US President Joe Biden asked Americans to pray for the families of the victims, and asked “when in god’s name” the country would stand up to the “gun lobby”.

For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.