Texas school shooting: Vigil held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church for the victims

In the aftermath of the tragic Texas school shooting which claimed the lives of 19 students and two teachers, the community members gathered at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Uvalde, earlier this week, for a vigil in remembrance of those killed in the country’s most fatal mass shooting in several years. The mourners in Uvalde and other Texas cities also held vigils this week for the 21 victims of the shooting at Robb Elementary School. Additionally, vigils were also held in San Antonio and in the state capital, Austin. 

The vigil for the Texas school shooting victims took place as the investigation developed into the incident which saw an 18-year-old gunman in Uvalde, Texas opening fire on a classroom of young children and their teachers. But, warning signs were reportedly mounting in the months leading up to the incident which became America’s deadliest school shooting in a decade. 

Warning signs of shooter, before Tuesday incident

As per CNN, the teenager had used the social media application ‘Yubo’ to threaten school shootings and rape and also to show off a rifle he had purchased. Keanna Baxter, 17, told the San Antonio Express-News that she had learned how the 18-year-old shooter could be unpredictable from a friend who had dated him. Baxter told the outlet, “He was overall just aggressive, like violent…He would try and fight women. He would try and fight anyone who told him no – if he didn’t get his way, he’d go crazy.”

Even though Baxter did not give any details about evidence of violence but her friend, she recalled, had told her that he was “scary” and “when he would lose his temper, she would literally be scared for her life, basically. He would send her these really nasty messages, where he’d go from super sweet to screaming at her back to super sweet.”

The police have named the texas school shooter Salvador Ramos, who was shot dead by federal agents storming the classroom in which he had barricaded himself and killed 21 on May 24 after entering the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde with an assault rifle. 

Image: AP