Uvalde shooter’s cousin arrested for alleged threats ‘to do the same thing’

The cousin of Uvalde mass shooter Salvador Ramos has been arrested after allegedly threatening to follow in his footsteps.

Nathan Cruz, 17, faces a felony charge of making a terroristic threat to the public and a misdemeanor charge of making a terroristic threat to a family member.

According to KSAT, police in San Antonio, Texas arrived on scene Monday after receiving a tip from a member of Cruz’s family. The caller, later identified as his mother, stated that Cruz had told his sister he wanted to “do the same thing” as Ramos. She added that he “threatened to shoot her in the head and stated he would ‘shoot the school’.” Cruz, whose family home is situated across the street from an elementary school, allegedly highlighted the fact that classes would be “starting soon.”

Cruz’s mother also disclosed that she had heard him speaking on the phone with a man earlier Monday morning, and claimed that during the conversation, he “attempted to acquire an AR-15 through an illegal private sale.”

As CNN reports, Cruz’s mother was “especially concerned” because he was “currently on probation [and] was intoxicated at the time.”

Following his arrest, Cruz was transported to Bexar County Jail, where his bond was set at $160,000. He “denied making any threats.”

It has been more than a year since Ramos shot his grandmother in the face before carrying out the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School that took the lives of 19 children and two adults. First responders were criticized for their lack of action, which allowed Ramos to enter the school, barricade himself in a classroom, and kill mercilessly. He was ultimately shot dead by a law enforcement officer, but only after perpetrating the attack.

In the months since, members of Ramos’ have spoken out, offering their apologies and questioning what they could have done to prevent the incident. Ramos’ father even went so far as to say, “He should’ve just killed me … instead of doing something like that to someone.”