The mother of the Texas school shooter who massacred 19 children and two teachers pleaded for victims to “forgive me, forgive my son.”
Adriana Martinez, the mom of 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos, wept in her car as she insisted she had no idea what led her son to snap, however, she added that he must have had his “reasons.”
“I have no words to say, I don’t know what he was thinking,” Martinez told the Spanish-language station Televisa.
“He had his reasons for doing what he did. Please don’t judge him. I only want the innocent children who died to forgive me,” she said. “Forgive me, forgive my son. I know he had his reasons,” she added.
Asked what “reasons” he could have had, she said, “To get closer to those children instead of paying attention to the other bad things. I have no words. I don’t know.”
Ramos killed 21 people with a semi-automatic rifle at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday. At least 17 others, including his maternal grandmother who was shot in the face, were injured.
He was ultimately shot dead by a federal agent in a classroom in which he had barricaded himself with his victims.
The gunman’s father, also called Ramos, said, in an interview with the Daily Beast: “I just want the people to know I’m sorry, man, [for] what my son did.
“I never expected my son to do something like that,” he said.
“He should’ve just killed me, you know, instead of doing something like that to someone,” he added.
The 42-year-old father said he was at work when the younger Ramos stormed into the school, and only discovered what had happened when his mother called to inform him.
“I’m never going to see my son again, just like they’re not going to see their kids. And that hurts me,” he said.
Ramos’ maternal grandfather, Rolando Reyes, told reporters that he and his wife were living with his grandson after the grandson had problems with his mother and had dropped out of school. Ramos took a job at a fast-food restaurant.
Reyes said he had no idea his grandson had bought two rifles, adding that he would not have allowed it if he knew.
“I don’t like weapons – I cannot be around weapons,” Reyes said to ABC. “I’m against all that … I would’ve reported him,” he said.
“I am so sorry – I have so much pain for everyone because many of the [murdered] kids were my friends’ grandchildren, and I feel bad for all the families,” Reyes said in Spanish to Telemundo.
Reyes said he left his home at the time Ramos shot his grandmother, Celia Reyes, and took off for Robb elementary. A neighbor informed him of Celia’s shooting and the killings at the school.
“Maybe if I had been there [at home], he might’ve killed me, too,” Reyes said.
Little is known about the gunman’s motives.
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