One day after 19 children and two teachers died in a deadly shooting at a Texas elementary school, Gov. Greg Abbott has released more details about the 18-year-old gunman.
On Wednesday, Abbott said during a press conference that the gunman took to social media before the deadly attack, warning that he would shoot up a school. Abbott added that the shooter used an AR-15.
According to Abbott, the shooter made three social media posts, including that he was going to shoot his grandmother, shoot a woman, and shoot an elementary school.
In response to Abbott's comments about the gunman's social media posts, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone took to Twitter to clarify that the gunman's messages were sent privately, not publicly.
"The messages Gov. Abbott described were private one-to-one text messages that were discovered after the terrible tragedy occurred," Stone said. "We are closely cooperating with law enforcement in their ongoing investigation."
The messages Gov. Abbott described 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.
— Andy Stone (@andymstone) May 25, 2022
According to the AP, Abbott added the gunman did not have a criminal or mental health history.
The names of some of those who died, including 19 children and two teachers, were released Wednesday.
Lt. Chris Olivarez, Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson, told CNN early Wednesday that all 21 victims were from the same classroom at Robb Elementary in Uvalde. Officials have identified all 21 victims, he said. Officials later said all families were notified.
Several families told The Associated Press that their children were among the victims. The Associated Press reported that Uziyah Garcia, 8, Eliahna García, 10
and Xavier Lopez, 10, were among the confirmed victims. The AP also reported that several other families were awaiting official word late Tuesday on the status of their children. Also among those killed was fourth-grade teacher Eva Mireles, 44, the AP reported.
“She was adventurous. I would definitely say those wonderful things about her. She is definitely going to be very missed,” 34-year-old relative Amber Ybarra, of San Antonio, told the AP.
Abbott said one deputy who responded to the scene lost his daughter in Tuesday's massacre.
President Joe Biden ordered that flags be flown at half-staff out of respect for the school shooting victims.
