Image of Transgender Lady Falsely Shared as Uvalde Shooter
The Claim
The Uvalde shooter was a transgender female.
News posted on
Emerging story
Social media users are sharing an image of a trangender lady with the claim that she is the Uvalde shooter. Some users called the school shooter a cross dresser and blamed his gender identification as the reason for the shooting spree. The claim began to further spread when it was tweeted by American congressman Paul Gosar, who has since deleted the tweet.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar investigated the claim and found it to be fake. The individual in the circulating claim is still alive, whereas the shooter was killed on the scene. Furthermore, police have already identified the shooter as Salvador Rolando Ramos.
Owner of the Circulating Image
Misbar tracked the original photo in the claim by reviewing and following the online claims made. It is the work of transgender artist @nsfw_transgirlart on Instagram. As seen in the screenshot below, she posted a photo of herself with the caption "just checked, still not in TX (Texas) and not a murderer."
She also posted an image of herself on the date of May 26, 2022, as proof that she is still alive after the Uvalde shooter was killed by police on the day of the spree on May 24.
Salvador Rolando Ramos
Salvador Rolando Ramos, 18, of Uvalde, Texas, was identified as the shooter. According to police, Ramos entered the school and shot and killed 19 students and two teachers after killing his grandmother first. The image of Ramos is shown below.
Ramos is the first Latino to be the shooter in one of the country's ten worst mass shootings. The "tactical team engaged Ramon 40 to 60 minutes after the gunman's initial encounter with the school police officer," according to news outlets. This gave him more time to kill more people.
Furthermore, there have been no reports that Ramos was transgender. Misinformation like this promotes transphobia, as well as discrimination and marginalization of transgender people.
Misbar's team confirms that the circulating photo does not depict the Uvalde shooter.
