Officials: Texas shooter talked about guns in private chats

Officials: Texas shooter talked about guns in private chats

SeattlePI.com

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Texas authorities said Friday that the gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers inside an elementary school discussed his interest in buying a gun in private online conversations, but backed away from earlier descriptions that he made public threats less than an hour before the attack.

Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday, a day after the shooting, that “the only information that was known in advance was posted by the gunman on Facebook approximately 30 minutes before reaching the school.” Abbott's claim prompted questions about whether technology companies could have provided advance warning.

But on Friday, the head of the Texas Department of Public Safety said the gunman made the threatening comments in a private message.

“I want to correct something that was said early on in the investigation, that he posted on Facebook publicly that he was going to kill, that he was going to shoot his grandmother and secondly after that that he was going to, that he had shot her and that third he was going to go shoot up a school,” Steven McCraw said. “That did not happen.”

Facebook had already noted on Wednesday that the threats were in direct text messages, not a public post.

McCraw did not say to whom 18-year-old Salvador Ramos sent the messages.

McCraw also told reporters Friday that Ramos asked his sister to help him buy a gun in September 2021, but that she “flatly refused.” He did not say how authorities learned of that request.

McCraw shared information from four more of Ramos' social media private messages.

In a Feb. 28 four-person chat, McCraw said “Ramos being a school shooter” was discussed.

In a March 1 four-person chat, he said Ramos discussed buying a gun.

In a March 3 four-person chat, another person said “word on the street is that you're buying a gun." McCraw...

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