The teenage cousin of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooter was arrested after his family told police he was trying to buy a gun and “do the same thing,” court records show.
San Antonio police took Nathan James Cruz, 17, into custody Monday on two charges of terroristic threat. Cruz, according to court records, is a cousin of the teenage gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde last year.
Officers responded to a mental health call after Cruz’s mother alerted police of violent comments he had made to his sister, an arrest affidavit obtained by local and national news outlets said. The suspect told his sister that he planned to “do the same thing” as his cousin, the New York Times reported.
Cruz denied making any threats when he was interviewed by detectives. NPR reported the suspect’s mother was concerned because her son was “intoxicated” when he made the threat and because their residence is across the street from the elementary school.
She also “overheard a phone conversation the suspect made this morning in which the suspect attempted to acquire an AR-15 through an illegal private sale,” the Times reported, citing the arrest affidavit.
Cruz faces a felony charge of making a terroristic threat to a public place and a misdemeanor charge of making a terroristic threat against a family member, according to Bexar County Central Magistrate records. His charges were set at a total bond of $160,000.
“Here a family member called police, resulting in detectives investigating the case which concluded in an arrested,” the San Antonio Police Department said Tuesday on Facebook. “With school starting, SAPD wants parents and faculty to know, that SAPD takes all reports of threats seriously and will investigate and take appropriate action.”
USA TODAY reached out to the San Antonio Police Department for comment.
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Sister said teen threatened to ‘shoot the school’
His sister told police that Cruz threatened to shoot her in the head. Cruz also told her that he would “shoot the school,” adding that “School is starting soon,” the arrest affidavit said.
Cruz denied making any threats when interviewed by detectives, according to the court record. The Bexar County Public Defender’s Office, which is representing him, declined to comment.
San Antonio Police Sgt. Washington Moscoso confirmed to the Times that Cruz is a cousin of Salvador Ramos, the 18-year-old who had walked into Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on the morning of May 24 and opened fire. The massacre left 19 children and two teachers dead, making it Texas’ deadliest school shooting in modern history.
Nearly 400 law enforcement members had responded to the incident but were unable to stop the shooting. The response was heavily criticized as authorities waited more than an hour before entering a fourth-grade classroom.
Following the attack, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has waved off calls for tougher gun laws, just as he did after mass shootings at a Sutherland Springs church in 2017 and an El Paso Walmart in 2018. The issue didn’t turn Texas voters away from the Republican, who easily won a third term months after the shooting.
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Contributing: Associated Press
