Texas shooter’s grandfather says he wasn’t aware his grandson had purchased AR-15 rifles: ‘If I had known, I would’ve reported him’

Police walk near Robb Elementary School following Tuesday’s shooting.AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills

The grandfather of the gunman behind Tuesday’s mass shooting at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, has spoken out about his grandson.

In a video interview, Rolando Reyes, 72, told ABC’s Matt Gutman that he did not know his grandson had recently bought two AR-15 rifles.

“I don’t like weapons. I cannot be around weapons,” Reyes told the outlet. “I hate when I see all the news, all those people that get shot. I’m against all that.”

Reyes, who has a criminal record and is not allowed to have a weapon at home, said of his grandson: “I didn’t know he had weapons or nothing.”

“If I would’ve known, I would’ve reported him,” he told ABC.

Separately, Reyes told The New York Post that he despises weapons. When asked by The Post if he thought his grandson had planned the shooting, Reyes said he did not know.

“I can’t say whether he was planning to do this or not,” Reyes said, per the outlet. “That’s a question that’s going to haunt me for the rest of my life.”

Reyes said that his grandson spent a lot of time in his room and did not go to school.

“It still hasn’t sunk in,” Reyes said of the incident. His wife, the gunman’s grandmother, was also shot and critically injured on Tuesday.

Authorities revealed on Wednesday that the gunman had purchased two guns right after his 18th birthday. The gunman also wrote in Facebook messages that he would shoot his grandmother and attack an elementary school moments before the shooting began.

The mass shooting at the school has left at least 21 people, including 19 children, dead. The gunman was killed at the scene by law enforcement officers.

Read the original article on Insider