Texas school shooter’s haunting social media message hours before massacre revealed

At least 21 are dead after the shooting

A social media exchange has emerged in which the 18-year-old who went on a shooting rampage at a Texas elementary school tells a woman he has a 'lil secret' for her. On Tuesday morning, Salvador Ramos went into Robb Elementary School in Uvalde with a rifle. He opened fire on classrooms and killed 19 children and two teachers, before he was killed by police. He is also suspected of shooting his grandmother before the rampage. But on May 12, Ramos tagged a girl he knew on Instagram in a photo of guns, the MailOnline reports. On Friday she replied: "What your guns gotta do with me?"

"Just wanted to tag you," he said back.

[caption id="attachment_338070" align="alignnone" width="588"] Salvador Ramos, 18, killed 19 pupils and two teachers in the massacre on Tuesday morning[/caption] And just hours before his shooting spree, Ramos messaged the woman and simply said: "I'm about to." When she asked what he meant, he replied: "I'll tell you before 11." Ramos said he would text her in an hour, and followed this up with a message reading: "I got a lil secret I wanna tell u." He then said: "Be grateful I tagged you."

She replied: "No it's just scary. I barely know you and you tag me in a picture with some guns?"

He sent his final message at 9.16am, telling the woman: "Ima air out" At 11.30am, he had entered the elementary school with a rifle. After discovering what Ramos had done, the woman shared the exchange on her Instagram stories. [caption id="attachment_338073" align="alignnone" width="686"] (Instagram)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_338074" align="alignnone" width="708"] (Instagram)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_338076" align="alignnone" width="704"] (Instagram)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_338077" align="alignnone" width="744"] (Instagram)[/caption] She said: "He's a stranger I know nothing about him he decided to tag me in his gun post.

"I'm so sorry for the victims and their families I really don't know what to say."

She then added: "The only reason I responded to him was because I was afraid of him I wish I stayed awake to at least try to convince him to not commit his crime. I didn't know."

Robb Elementary School is located 60 miles east of the Mexican border and has 600 students enrolled. It is a predominantly Hispanic school, with students due to break up for the summer holidays in just two days. Related links:

• Texas shooting: First victims identified as death toll rises to 21
• CNN journalist breaks down during live broadcast reporting Buffalo massacre shooting