Mexico school shooting: 11-year-old boy told pupils 'today is the day' before shooting teacher dead

State governor suggests perpetrator influenced by playing violent video game

A paramedic wheels a stretcher out of the school after the deadly shooting (Reuters)

An 11-year-old boy was behind a deadly school shooting in Mexico, local officials have announced.

The youngster, named by the state governor as Jose Angel Ramos, arrived at his classroom on Friday in the school in Torreon, in the northern Mexico state of Coahuila, and told a fellow pupil: “Today is the day”.

He then asked permission to go to the toilet before returning armed with two guns, the governor Miguel Angel Riquelme said.

After he had shot dead a teacher and wounded six others, the sixth-grader fatally shot himself.

Those injured – five students and a teacher – have been taken to hospital but would be discharged soon as their injuries are not life-threatening.

The episode has shocked Mexico, which does not often see mass shootings in public places and where access to legal firearms is tightly controlled.

The mayor of Torreon, Jorge Zermano, told local television: “It’s a tragedy. It’s very, very sad that a boy of 11 can come to school with two guns.”

Mr Riquelme said Jose Angel did not have any behavioural problems at the school, a small private establishment called Collegio Cervantes.

His mother had died and he was at the time of the shooting living with his grandparents.

On the day of the shooting, Jose Angel was wearing a t-shirt with the logo ‘Natural Selection’, the name of a video game where players battle to shoot and kill an invading alien species.

Mr Riquelme suggested the 11-year-old had been influenced by video games and may have even tried to recreate it in real life, although studies show there is no evidence playing violent games impacts real world behaviour.

The president of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, offered his condolences to the relatives of the victims and said more needed to be done to strengthen family life and prevent such events from happening in future.

A candle is lit during a vigil outside the school in Torreon (Reuters)

Other officials said they would intensify a programme which sees every school pupil’s backpack searched each day as they enter the building.

Although school shootings are rare in Mexico, the incident was reminiscent of another attack at a private school in Monterrey, 200 miles to the east of Torreon, in January 2017.

There, a student at a private high school opened fire, killing a teacher and wounding two pupils before shooting himself dead.

Danya Mendizabal, whose daughter is in 4th grade at Colegio Cervantes, said she was shocked by the killing.

“Colegio Cervantes has always distinguished itself as a very safe school of middle class kids,” she said.