Adriana Reyes, the mother of the 18-year-old gunman who massacred 19 kids and two teachers at an elementary school in Texas, said she was “surprised” by his deadly outburst, claiming that “my son wasn’t a violent person.”
Salvador Ramos’s mother stated: “He kept to himself and didn’t have many friends; he didn’t talk much,” but denied that their relationship was volatile.
“My son wasn’t a violent person,” Reyes told the outlet Wednesday. “I’m surprised by what he did.
“I pray for those families,” she said. “I’m praying for all of those innocent children, yes I am. They had no part in this.”
Reyes reportedly struggled with drug use and had evicted her son out of their home, forcing him to live with his grandmother, who he shot before going on his deadly rampage.
He shot 19 children, two teachers, and injured 17 others before being gunned down by cops.
Police reported that the shooter had legally purchased two AR-15 assault rifles on his 18th birthday, and took one of them into the school before he opened fire.
The attack is the second-worst school massacre in US history, after the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut, which left 20 children and six teachers dead.