A cousin of the shooter who killed 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, was arrested on Monday after his concerned family allegedly told police he threatened to “do the same thing.”
The 17-year-old was taken into custody on Monday morning on suspicion of making a terroristic threat to a public place after his mother called police.
According to an arrest warrant obtained by HuffPost, she said her son had made concerning statements to his sister that indicated he was going to commit a mass shooting at an elementary school across the street from where they lived in San Antonio.
According to the arrest warrant, the 17-year-old’s sister told officers that her brother threatened to shoot her in the head and made alarming statements to “shoot the school” and that “school is starting soon.”
“The suspect’s sister feared the suspect would act on his threat to shoot her and was placed in fear of serious bodily injury or death,” the warrant read. “She also believed that the threat to the school was credible due to the recent history of their family and the suspect’s knowledge of his cousin’s actions.”
On May 24, 2022, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos shot his grandmother before traveling to Robb Elementary School in Uvalde and killing 19 students and two teachers using an AR-15 rifle. He was then shot and killed by law enforcement.
The San Antonio teenager’s mother told officers she had overheard a phone conversation in which he was attempting to buy an AR-15, the warrant said. It wasn’t clear who he was talking to on the phone. It is illegal to sell a firearm in Texas to anyone under the age of 18.
According to the arrest warrant, the teenager was on probation at the time, and his mother also told officers he was intoxicated at the time he made the statements.
He was taken into custody shortly after his mother called police, but he denied making any threats, according to the arrest warrant.
According to Bexar County court records, he is currently awaiting indictment. The Bexar County public defender’s office declined to comment on the case.