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Robb Elementary resource officer injured while exchanging gunfire with shooter Fox News' Bill Melugin reports live from Uvalde, Texas.
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Salvador Ramos, the alleged gunman accused of shooting his grandmother and then targeting dozens of victims – ultimately killing 19 children and two adults – at a Texas elementary school was known to be a loner who had quit his job just weeks before unleashing his attack, Fox News has learned.
Ramos, an 18-year-old Uvalde, Texas, resident, legally purchased two AR-platform rifles on May 17 and May 20, and bought 375 rounds of ammunition on May 18, Texas Sen. John Whitmire told Fox affiliate KCPQ-TV, citing a briefing from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
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Image of suspected Uvalde, Texas school shooter Salvador Ramos. (Uvalde Police Department)
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A police vehicle is seen parked near of a truck believed to belong to the suspect of a shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday, May 24. (Reuters/Marco Bello)
Warning: The following contains information that some might consider graphic
On Tuesday, Ramos was involved in a domestic disturbance with his grandmother at his grandparents’ Uvalde home, when he shot the woman in the face and seriously injured her before fleeing, according to authorities.
TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING: LIVE UPDATES
He then crashed his vehicle near Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, authorities said. Local police received a call about "a crashed vehicle and an individual armed with a rifle making his way into the school," DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez told "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday.
Officials said that approximately 30 minutes before the events unfolded, Ramos wrote in a series of Facebook messages, "I’m going to shoot my grandmother," "I’ve shot my grandmother," and then: "I’m going to shoot an elementary school."
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A state trooper walks past the Robb Elementary School sign in Uvalde, Texas, Tuesday, May 24, 2022, following a deadly shooting at the school. (William Luther/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)
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A woman cries and hugs a young girl while on the phone outside the Willie de Leon Civic Center where grief counseling will be offered in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022. (ALLISON DINNER/AFP via Getty Images)
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Families hug outside the Willie de Leon Civic Center where grief counseling will be offered in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022. (ALLISON DINNER/AFP via Getty Images)
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People react outside the Civic Center following a deadly school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas Tuesday, May 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
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Law enforcement personnel stand outside Robb Elementary School following a shooting, Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
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Law enforcement personnel, including the FBI, arrive at Robb Elementary School following a shooting that killed 14 students and one teacher. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
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Law enforcement personnel walk outside Uvalde High School after shooting a was reported earlier in the day at Robb Elementary School, Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
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Police walk near Robb Elementary School following a shooting, Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
He then entered the school and barricaded himself inside a fourth-grade classroom, where he opened fire on students and school staff, officials and law enforcement sources have said.
Ramos barricaded himself inside the first classroom "that he was able to gain access to," Olivarez said. He then opened fire on the students and teachers inside, Olivarez said.
TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING: TIMELINE
According to law enforcement sources, local police tried to breach the classroom doors, at which time they were shot at and injured. A team with the Border Patrol Tactical Unit were then able to enter the classroom, and one of the agents was able to fatally shoot the gunman, sources said.
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Twenty-two people, including 19 children and the gunman, were killed. At least 17 others remained injured as of Wednesday, Texas Department of Public Safety said.
Ramos’s grandmother and a 10-year-old girl remain hospitalized in serious condition, and multiple agents suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
PHOTOS: FAMILIES, VICTIMS OF TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING
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Speaking to "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday morning, DPS Lt. Olivarez said the suspect had attended a local high school and lived with his grandparents. A man who was believed to be his grandfather told reporters on Wednesday he spoke to his grandson "daily" but said he "didn't know" he had guns in the home.
"We haven't able to identify any friends, a girlfriend, no gang affiliation, no criminal history. So, a lot of unanswered questions," Olivarez went on. "But that's why we're trying to put all those pieces together, gather as much evidence as possible to try to bring some type of closure to those victims, to the families and also the community here and to all of Texas."
Ramos was described as being a loner. He was unemployed and had no criminal history and no gang affiliation, DPS said. Gov. Greg Abbott said he had "no known mental health history."
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"I have talked to a few people that have known him and went to school with him. I talked to some parents of students who went to school with him, but that's about as far as it's gone," Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin told Fox News' Bill Hemmer. "They just said that when COVID hit, he kind of dropped out of school and just kind of pulled back to himself."
He added: "My understanding [is that] he was not currently enrolled in school."
Search warrants related to the suspect were being executed and investigators were scouring phone records and any social media activity, law enforcement sources told Fox News.
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Olivarez said investigators were still trying to determine if there were any "prior indicators, red flags" related to the suspect and were searching for "any initial signs that he was going to conduct a mass shooting."
Investigators are still working to determine a possible motive.
An employee at a Wendy’s location on East Main Street in Uvalde told Fox News Digital the suspect quit his job there two weeks prior to the attack, but would not elaborate further. A spokesperson for Wendy’s did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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Instagram pictures from Salvador Ramos ( )
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Image of guns used in Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. ( )
A since-deleted Instagram account that appeared to be connected to Ramos allegedly featured photographs that showed ammunition and firearms.
An Instagram account allegedly connected to Ramos featured disturbing photos, including one showing a high-capacity magazine. The Instagram account has since been taken down.
The same account allegedly sent alarming messages to a woman before the deadly attack. The first message, sent on May 12, asked, "You gonna repost my gun pics?" The woman was tagged in photos showing guns.
UVALDE, TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING: AT LEAST 2 GIRLS, BOTH 10, STILL MISSING, FAMILY FEARS THEY WERE KILLED
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Screenshot of messages allegedly sent from Uvalde, Texas suspected gunman Salvador Ramos to a woman who claims she didn't know him. (Fox News)
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Screenshot of messages allegedly sent from Uvalde, Texas suspected gunman Salvador Ramos to a woman who claims she didn't know him. (Fox News)
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Screenshot of messages allegedly sent from Uvalde, Texas suspected gunman Salvador Ramos to a woman who claims she didn't know him. (Fox News)
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Screenshot of messages allegedly sent from Uvalde, Texas suspected gunman Salvador Ramos to a woman who claims she didn't know him. (Fox News)
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Screenshot of a message from a woman who claims the Uvalde, Texas school shooter sent her messages about the attack on social media. (Fox News)
In one message, she described the exchange as "scary." She then continued, "I barely know you and u tag me in a picture with some guns." The account sent a final message to the woman on Tuesday morning: "Ima air out."
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Tuesday's Uvalde massacre was the deadliest elementary school shooting since the Sandy Hook tragedy of 2012, when 26 people, including 20 six- and seven-year-old kids, were killed.
It also occurred 10 days after a mass shooting at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, New York, claimed 10 lives.
Fox News' Matteo Cina and Paul Best contributed to this report.