The teenage cousin of Salvador Ramos, the gunman who shot and killed 21 people at Robb Elementary School in May 2022, has been reportedly arrested for alleged threats of committing a similar massacre.
Nathan Cruz was arrested Monday after his mother reported to authorities that he was trying to buy a gun and “do the same thing” as his cousin, according to court documents obtained by The New York Times. She said he made disturbing statements about how he would “shoot the school down” if classes resumed after summer break.
She added that she was “particularly concerned because the suspect is currently on probation, was intoxicated at the time” and because the family lives across the street from an elementary school, the affidavit said. He also tried to acquire an “AR-15 through an illegal private sale,” the mother told police.
Authorities determined Cruz’s threats were legitimate enough to warrant concern and he was taken into custody. According to Bexar County Central Magistrate records, he faces charges of making a terrorist threat to a public place and a felony of making a terrorist threat to a family member.
Cruz has denied the claims.
His arrest comes just over a year after his 18-year-old cousin marched into Robb Elementary School through an unlocked door and barricaded himself in a classroom, where he remained for more than an hour. On the afternoon of May 24, 2022, Ramos shot and killed two teachers and 19 students – most of them under the age of 10. Another 17 people were injured in the Uvalde massacre.
The violence only came to an end when Ramos was shot and killed by a responding border guard.
