[imagesource: Instagram]

Before shooting his grandmother in the head, and then killing 21 people at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Salvador Ramos sent a number of messages on social media.

The 18-year-old, who law enforcement officers eventually killed after spending up to an hour on school premises, sent a number of messages on Instagram to a female under the age of 18 based in Los Angeles shortly before the shooting.

Anita (who chose not to share her last name) told VICE that Ramos messaged her about a “lil secret”.

“He asked me to be his girlfriend and stuff, as a joke, I think, I don’t even know,” Anita said…

“And I said no…. Now people are attacking me for it, and they think I’m his girlfriend, which I am not,” Anita said, adding that some people “are saying that I should have predicted what he was going to do.”

Here’s the exchange which Anita shared online.

The first photo shows her response to Ramos tagging her in images of his two AR-15 rifles and a magazine of ammunition:

Here’s the image she was tagged in:

This exchange took place days later:

That final message, “Ima air out”, was sent just hours before his deadly attack.

Anita says she only responded to Ramos because “I was afraid of him. I wish I stayed awake to at least try to convince him to not commit his crime. I didn’t know.”

One image from his now-deleted Instagram account has been widely shared:

Instagram wasn’t the only platform Ramos used to communicate.

He was also active on Facebook in the hours and minutes before his killing spree, sending a number of private messages to a 15-year-old girl in Germany.

Those messages have been detailed in this CNN video:

The 19 children who were killed were aged between eight and 11.

Ramos shot his grandmother in the face before heading to Robb Elementary School. She is in a critical condition.

This via The Independent:

Friends and relatives have claimed Ramos was bullied, cut his own face, fired a BB gun at random people and egged cars in the years leading up to the deadly attack.

They also said he had a difficult home life, that he was bullied over a childhood speech impediment and lashed out violently towards friends and strangers – both recently and over the years.

He legally purchased two assault rifles and scores of ammo last week for his 18th birthday.

Is it even worth pointing out how ridiculous it is that assault rifles can be so easily obtained?

I don’t have the energy to down that route but Steve Kerr, coach of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, hits the nail on the head here:

[sources:vice&independent]