Uvalde school shooter Salvador Ramos worked the day shift at a local Wendy’s, a manager at the restaurant told CNN.
Adrian Mendes, evening manager at the Wendy's, said Ramos "kept to himself mostly."
"He felt like the quiet type, the one who doesn't say much. He didn't really socialize with the other employees,” Mendes said. "He just worked, got paid, and came in to get his check."
Mendes didn't know Ramos on a personal level and didn't see him most of the time because they were on different shifts, he said. Ramos worked from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. or 5 p.m., five days a week, and was already working there when Mendes started in February, he said.
11:01 p.m. ET, May 24, 2022
CBP commissioner calls school shooting a "senseless tragedy"
From CNN's Priscilla Alvarez
The mass shooting at Robb Elementary School was a "senseless tragedy," the US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus said in a statement.
“On behalf of the entire CBP workforce, I extend my deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims from today’s horrific school shooting in Uvalde, Texas."
"CBP responded immediately to the incident with local law enforcement. Many of our local CBP personnel live in Uvalde; they call this community home, and they work to protect their families, friends and neighbors every single day. "We continue to coordinate closely with our federal, state and local partners in the aftermath of this senseless tragedy and will provide any further assistance needed.”
“Risking their own lives, these Border Patrol Agents and other officers put themselves between the shooter and children on the scene to draw the shooter’s attention away from potential victims and save lives,” she said in a tweet.
11:07 p.m. ET, May 24, 2022
Former classmate says shooter sent him photos of gun and ammunition before the attack
From CNN's Curt Devine and Jeff Winter
A former classmate of school shooter Salvador Ramos said the gunman texted him photos of a firearm he had and a bag full of ammunition days before the attack.
The friend, who did not want to be identified by name, said he was somewhat “close” to Ramos and would hear from him occasionally to play Xbox together.
“He would message me here and there, and four days ago he sent me a picture of the AR he was using … and a backpack full of 5.56 rounds, probably like seven mags.” “I was like, ‘bro, why do you have this?’ and he was like, ‘Don’t worry about it,’” the friend said. “He proceeded to text me, ‘I look very different now. You wouldn’t recognize me,’” he added.
The friend said Ramos was taunted by others for the clothes he wore and his family’s financial situation, and eventually was seen less in class.
“He would, like, not go to school ... and he just, like, slowly dropped out,” the friend said. “He barely came to school.”
He said that after his own graduation, he communicated with Ramos less. But every few months, Ramos would send a text or ask to play Xbox, he said.
10:32 p.m. ET, May 24, 2022
Suspected gunman's grandmother in critical condition after being shot, DPS says
From CNN's Don Lemon
The grandmother of the suspected gunman is hospitalized in critical condition, Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Erick Estrada told CNN's Don Lemon on Tuesday.
The suspect is believed to have shot his grandmother before going to the school, three law enforcement sources told CNN. She was airlifted to hospital, Estrada said earlier Tuesday.
10:35 p.m. ET, May 24, 2022
Instagram account linked to gunman posted images of weapons just days before school massacre
From CNN Investigates
A photo of two AR15-style rifles appeared on an Instagram account tied to the suspected Uvalde shooter just three days before Tuesday’s massacre at Robb Elementary school. Part of the image has been obscured by CNN to remove the user name of a third party. (From Instagram)
A photo of two AR15-style rifles appeared on an Instagram account tied to the suspected Uvalde shooter just three days before Tuesday’s massacre at Robb Elementary school.
The photo was posted as a story under the username “salv8dor_.” Multiple classmates confirmed the account belonged to suspected gunman Salvador Ramos, who was shot dead by officers responding to the school shooting.
Ramos’ TikTok page has only a single post – a clip of a Subway Surfers mobile game. The bio under his profile picture reads: “Kids be scared irl” or in real life.
10:27 p.m. ET, May 24, 2022
Death toll rises to 19 students and 2 adults, Texas official says
From CNN's Don Lemon
The death toll has risen following the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Department of Public Safety Sgt. Erick Estrada told CNN's Don Lemon on Tuesday.
The toll now stands at 21, with 19 students and two adults killed in the shooting, Estrada said.
The gunman was also killed in the shooting.
10:13 p.m. ET, May 24, 2022
Father of Parkland school shooting victim: "We know the next one is going to happen because we haven’t done anything to fix it"
From CNN's Amir Vera
Fred Guttenberg is the father of Jaime, who was killed in the Parkland school shooting in 2018. CNN
Fred Guttenberg's daughter, Jaime, was one of 17 people killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
He spoke with CNN's Anderson Cooper on Tuesday, just hours after 18 children and one adult were killed in Uvalde, Texas.
“This has been a horrific day. It doesn’t matter how much time passes, it brings you right back to that minute. I can’t stop thinking about these families today who need to figure out how they’re going to bury their children, who need to figure out how they’re going to console their other children, who need to figure out how they’re going to deal with the reality that they had other children likely in that school who are going to have PTSD, who need to figure out a eulogy,” Guttenberg said.
Guttenberg said news of another shooting is infuriating "because all of these instances we know the next one is going to happen because we haven’t done anything to fix it."
“I’m just so broken. What’s even worse, it’s not like this country doesn’t want to fix this,” he said.
When asked what message he'd give to families in Uvalde, Guttenberg quoted something his rabbi told him at his daughter's funeral: "We don't move on, we move forward."
“I want everyone to know that they are loved and that they are going to go forward. It's what I call a 'new normal,'" he said. "But the next few minutes, hours, days are going to be brutal."
9:54 p.m. ET, May 24, 2022
Border Patrol agents faced gunfire, "put themselves between the shooter and children," DHS says
From CNN's Priscilla Alvarez
Border Patrol agents who responded to the deadly school shooting in Texas entered the school building and “faced gun fire from the subject, who was barricaded inside,” according to a DHS spokesperson.
“Risking their own lives, these Border Patrol Agents and other officers put themselves between the shooter and children on the scene to draw the shooter’s attention away from potential victims and save lives,” spokesperson Marsha Espinosa said in a tweet. “At least one Border Patrol Agent was wounded by the shooter during the exchange of gunfire,” she said. “On-and-off duty Border Patrol Agents arrived on the scene to assist with transferring students safely to their families and providing medical support.”
Read the full Twitter thread:
9:25 p.m. ET, May 24, 2022
Biden's speech was "essentially, thoughts and prayers," Parkland shooting survivor says
Cameron Kasky, survivor of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting (CNN)
Cameron Kasky, a survivor of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, criticized President Biden's response to Tuesday's shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
"I hear a lot of people talking about Joe Biden's personal life and the horrible personal loss he's endured that obviously makes him a compassionate leader. But what does Joe Biden's personal life have to do with the fact that there is currently a product that is being marketed to Americans by Republican senators and congressmen — and by Mr. Joe Manchin, who is a Democrat —You've got these guns that are being sold to Americans and sown into the American narrative as if they stand for freedom," Kasky said on CNN.
He added that he appreciates the empathy that Biden displays but said the address was a disappointment for Americans who advocate for gun safety.
"Joe Biden goes up there and talks about how it's horrible to lose a family member ... and says that it's bad that mass violence happens. It's great that he thinks it's bad. But I can tell you that gun control organizers, people who believe in gun safety, common-sense gun safety laws, around the country were waiting to hear the words 'executive order' and instead we heard the words, essentially, thoughts and prayers," Kasky added.
Kasky noted that mass shootings have become a common occurrence in the United States.
"There's a new one every single day. And that's on a good day, because on the bad days there's quite a few," he said. "These students are going to go back into school soon and they are going to live lives and have childhoods and early adulthoods that are completely informed by this tragedy. From what I've seen with Parkland and with all these other horrible shootings, it changes people forever," he added.
