UVALDE, Texas — A trail of warning signs preceded the gunman’s May 24 rampage at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, including evidence that he was bullied as a student in the very classrooms he targeted, according to a report released Sunday by Texas State Police.
Ramos fatally shot 19 students and two teachers before being killed by responding officers.
According to The Associated Press, the nearly 80-page report compiled to assess law enforcement’s response to the massacre included interviews with Ramos’ family members, acquaintances and data found on his cellphone, detailing missed “red flags and possible motivations.”
Per the report, an ex-girlfriend of Ramos told the FBI that she thought Ramos was sexually assaulted by a former boyfriend of his mother’s when he was little. Ramos told his mother what had happened, but she didn’t believe him.
Investigators spoke with family members who told them that Ramos was bullied for his “stutter, short hair and for wearing the same clothing nearly every day” when he was in the fourth grade in one of the classrooms he targeted.
“The attacker became focused on achieving notoriety,” according to the interim report released Sunday by an investigative panel of the Texas House of Representatives, per the AP. “He believed his TikTok and YouTube channels would be successful. The small number of views he received led him to tell those with whom he interacted that he was ‘famous,’ that they were mere ‘randoms’ by comparison.”
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Other warning signs highlighted in the report included Ramos’ failing grades and his absences. As he averaged about 100 absences per year since 2018, officials at Uvalde High School “involuntary withdrew him last fall,” noting that he had only amassed enough credit to complete his freshman year.
Ramos had apparently started to reach out to people on Instagram, sharing dark messages with them and that he got two fast-food restaurant jobs to save up money. Family in the report said that they believed the money was for an apartment or a car, but Ramos had tried to get some people to buy him guns and bullets with his savings because he was still only 17, the AP reported.
Per the report, Ramos had an uncle drive him to a gun store on his 18th birthday, when he could buy the guns himself legally.
According to the AP, Ramos, who had no criminal history, went on to purchase two AR-style rifles, ammunition and gear, passing all background checks.
The report also stated that Ramos spent time playing video games with his cousin’s son who went to Robb Elementary School and worked on getting details about the child’s schedules and lunch periods.
Days before the attack, Ramos posted online about his plans, the AP reported, noting that he talked about suicide and shared violent videos, including ones of him “holding a plastic bag containing a dead cat and pointing BB guns at people out the window.”
The report also claimed that none of Ramos’ online behavior were ever reported to police, and it was unclear if any users on the social media platforms he had frequented reported him
-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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