Was Salvador Ramos a US citizen? Texas school shooting gunman's identity sparks immigrant controversy online

On May 24, Salvador Ramos, an 18-year-old gunman, carried out a massive shootout at the Texas Robb Elementary School, killing two adults and at least 19 children. The gunman was reportedly shot dead during an altercation with law enforcement authorities following the rampage.

Shortly after the incident, Twitter user @codeofvets posted a tweet speculating about the gunman being an alleged undocumented US immigrant. They wrote:

“Pray for the victims, families and community. The killer was Salvador Ramos 18 years old. Did he cross the border illegally? Our nation has a serious national security crisis evolving. God help us.”

Lavern Spicer, the Republican candidate for Florida’s 24th Congressional District, also attempted to make a similar claim, saying:

“14 children and 1 teacher are dead in a Texas Elementary School shooting. ON ELECTION DAY. “In UVALDE, Texas which is a known illegal border crossing site. Need I say more?”

Former NYPD officer and verified Twitter user John Cardillo also called Ramos an “illegal alien” and claimed he was being chased by Border Patrol prior to the shootout:

The tweets sparked major debate online, but fact-checking site Snopes mentioned that they found no evidence to determine whether Ramos was an immigrant. KPRC-TV reported that the teenager was possibly based in Uvalde, 85 miles west of San Antonio.

Meanwhile, Texas State Senator Roland Gutierrez told CNN that the Texas state police mentioned that Salvador Ramos was allegedly from North Dakota.

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Twitter reacts to Salvador Ramos immigrant controversy

At least 19 children and two adults were fatally shot during a deadly shootout at Robb Elementary School in Texas on May 24. Suspected gunman Salvador Ramos was reportedly armed with a handgun and a rifle and crashed his car outside the school before he opened fire.

The gunman also allegedly shot his grandmother before leaving home and later died of a gunshot wound himself during an altercation with officers present at the venue. Following Ramos’ death, several people claimed that he was an alleged illegal immigrant.

However, no official evidence to support these claims was found, leading to a major online controversy regarding the gunman. Several social media users also took to Twitter to share their reactions to the allegations:

As conflicting opinions continue to pour in online, it remains to be seen if more details about Ramos’ citizenship will be made available to the public in the days to come.

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Everything to know about Salvador Ramos

Salvador Ramos was shot dead during an altercation with law enforcement authorities after Texas elementary school shootout (Image via Texas DPS and salv8dor_/Instagram)

Salvador Ramos is an 18-year-old deceased gunman who organized a shootout at Texas Robb Elementary School. Multiple reports suggest that the teenager bought the assault rifles on his 18th birthday.

According to KSAT, Ramos reportedly attended Uvalde High School and drove to Robb Elementary School to carry out the shooting. Prior to the shootout, he allegedly posted photos of the guns on his now-deleted Instagram account.

Ramos even tagged a stranger in the gun photos from his Instagram account and dropped cryptic messages like “I’m about to,” “I got a lil secret,” and “Ima air out” before his rampage.

The gunman reportedly worked at Wendy’s for a year and quit a month before the latest incident. A manager told The New York Times that Ramos “went out of the way to keep by himself” and “no one really knew him.”

Meanwhile, an unnamed former co-worker alleged that Ramos had an “aggressive streak” and was reportedly rude towards women at times. She also claimed that he sent inappropriate texts to girls and often attempted to fight people with boxing gloves in the park.

An investigation into the shooting is currently underway, and no specific motive behind the attack has been identified at the time of writing.