THE Texas town at the center of a tragic massacre was hit by a second Columbine-inspired shooting plot before Tuesday’s carnage.
The two cases are not linked but happened a short distance away in the same town of Uvalde, Texas, about 80miles west of San Antonio.
6
6
6
At least 19 young children and two adults were killed after a gunman opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on Tuesday.
Officials confirmed the suspected shooter was killed by law enforcement at the scene.
However, it was not the first attempted act of violence involving a school in the area.
The Uvalde Leader-News reported that four years ago this month, two teenagers were arrested after authorities discovered their plan to commit a mass shooting at nearby Morales Junior High.
The junior high, located less than three miles north of Robb Elementary, is in the same school district.
Two teens, aged 13 and 14, involved in the 2018 attempted attack were arrested before any damage was done, the paper reported.
They were charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
The teens had originally planned to carry out the shooting during their senior year of high school on April 20, 2022, which would have coincided with the Columbine massacre anniversary, according to the Leader-News.
Most read in The Sun
However, one of the suspects persuaded the other to commit the shooting in 2018 at Morales Junior High, where the 14-year-old was a student, the paper reported.
The teens in that attempt allegedly created a list prioritizing which students they would kill and planned to steal their neighbors’ weapons.
Police have not said if the teens actually acquired any weapons.
They appear to have been inspired by the Columbine shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, reportedly referring to one another using those names, according to Leader-News.
They allegedly planned to detonate explosive devices at the beginning of the attack, hunt down and kill the students on their list, and then indiscriminately kill as many students as they could before committing suicide.
“One of the students had numerous writings and drawings which depicted weapons capable of causing mass destruction,” a news release from the Uvalde Police Department said, as reported by the newspaper.
“He wrote about being ‘God-like’ and killing police and other persons. He had an academic analysis of one of the Columbine shooter’s journal,” the release was quoted as saying.
A student at Morales Junior High learned of the plan and reported it to school officials, who then notified law enforcement authorities, My San Antonio reports.
With the assistance of the Texas Rangers, the Uvalde Police Department was able to identify the two teens and arrest them.
In an eerie twist, one of the parents in that event told KENS5 “it was scary. We hear it everywhere else, but you don’t expect for it to happen in your town.”
“I am glad they were able to control the situation before anything does happen. And that they actually did something about it. Sometimes you think they’re just going to hear it, and say it won’t happen and dust it under the rug, and they actually did something.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the Robb Elementary shooter was an 18-year-old, who resided in the heavily Latino community of Uvalde. He named the suspect as Salvador Ramos.
Ramos’ mom spoke out on Wednesday, the day after the attack.
“My son wasn’t a violent person. I’m surprised by what he did,” she said.
Among those who have spoken up about the school shooting is Beto O’Rourke, who called out Governor Gregg Abbott.
“You are doing nothing,” O’Rourke said to the governor.
President Joe Biden appeared ready for action, calling for new gun restrictions in an address to the nation hours after the horrific attack.
“As a nation we have to ask, when in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God’s name are we going to do what has to be done?” Biden asked.
“Why are we willing to live with this carnage?”
6
6
6
We pay for your stories!
Do you have a story for The US Sun team?
