Texas School Shooting | Gunman Shared Plan On Facebook Before Attack, Used AR-15 Rifle: Governor

Facebook in a statement said the posts were private, one-to-one text messages that were discovered after the Texas shooting happened.

A view from the makeshift memorial in front of Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas

Source : Getty

New Delhi: The teenage Texas gunman, who was apparently active on social media, shared his plan to attack a school on Facebook around 15 minutes before opening fire, the state governor said on Wednesday, reported news agency AFP. Sharing details at a press conference, Governor Greg Abbott said that the 18-year-old Salvador Ramos was carrying an AR-15 assault rifle during the shooting.

It is the deadliest shooting to take place at a US elementary school after 20 children and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook school a decade ago.

What did the shooter post on Facebook?

According to the governor, the first post pointed out at the gunman was targeting his grandmother. He said, "I'm going to shoot my grandmother." The second post was "I shot my grandmother" The third post that came less than 15 minutes before arriving at the school said, "I'm going to shoot an elementary school."

Responding to the development in the case, Facebook released a statement, saying the posts "were private one-to-one text messages that were discovered after the terrible tragedy occurred." "We are closely cooperating with law enforcement in their ongoing investigation," said Andy Stone, spokesperson for Facebook's parent company Meta.

Abbott, who described the series of events of Tuesday's attack, said the gunman first shot his grandmother in the face.

"She then contacted police. The gunman fled and, as he was fleeing, had an (vehicle) accident just outside of the elementary school and he ran into the school,” he added "Officers... engaged the gunman at that time. The gunman then entered a back door and went down two short hallways, and then into a classroom on the left-hand side."

The police arrested a high school student after he was allegedly seen walking with a rifle to a school in Richardson, Texas, according to the news agency ANI tweet that cited US media. The arrest comes day after Ramos had killed over a dozen students, and two adults at an elementary school in Texas.