Investigators scrutinizing social media messages from Texas shooter

Law enforcement officials are reviewing an Instagram account that appears to belong to the gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers in Texas.

A series of posts appeared in the days leading up to Tuesday’s shooting. One selfie image appears to show the shooter in front of a mirror. Another photo shows a gun magazine in hand. And on Friday, the same day law enforcement officials believe Salvador Ramos bought a second rifle, a picture of two AR-style semi-automatic rifles appeared.

Another Instagram user with many more followers was tagged in that post. That user has since removed her profile, but first she shared parts of what appears to be a chilling exchange, with Ramos asking her to share his gun pictures with her more than 10,000 followers.

Chat logs b/t the shooter and the person that he tagged in the above photo. pic.twitter.com/EtgInCP8iP

— doge (@IntelDoge) May 24, 2022

“I barely know you and u tag me in a picture with some guns,” she responded, adding, “It’s just scary.”

A response sent from Ramos’s account on Tuesday morning just said: “I’m about to.”

He told the person he had a “lil secret” and would text them before 11 a.m.

Witnesses said they heard the shooting begin around 11:30 a.m.

The account linked to Ramos has been removed. Instagram did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A TikTok account also linked to Ramos, and also removed, had the words “kids be scared irl” below his profile picture. IRL stands for “in real life.”