In article <t1tjsc$38qj6$84@news.freedyn.de>
<governor.swill@gmail.com> wrote:

Texas officials have offered the clearest picture yet of the
gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb
Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

It comes as part of a 77-page Texas House committee report that
is the most thorough evaluation so far of the security of the
school, missed warning signs about the shooter and the law
enforcement response to the May 24 shooting.

Investigators describe 18-year-old Salvador Ramos as an isolated
individual who became obsessed with school shootings after many
years of struggling at home and at school, but who received no
mental health support.

The report gives a glimpse of the gunman's own experiences at
Robb Elementary School in the same classroom where the shooting
occurred, to his behavior in the year and weeks leading up to
the shooting that earned him the nickname "school shooter" among
those who knew him.

The investigative committee identified many of the gunman's
motives, including a large one to seek "notoriety and fame." The
committee refused to use his name in the report.

The gunman had an unstable home life
Born in Fargo, N.D., he grew up in Uvalde without consistent
parental figures, in unstable housing conditions and in
"relative poverty." While his life at home was fractured, life
at school did not necessarily appear better.

By the time he reached fourth grade, investigators say he was
clearly struggling academically as he was identified as "at-
risk." A speech impediment that was not addressed or treated
likely contributed to an overall lack of friends and bullying by
other students, according to testimony from his family members.

Problems continued into middle school and high school, when the
gunman "had declining attendance, with more than one hundred
absences annually beginning in 2018 along with failing grades
and increasingly dismal performance on standardized and end-of-
course exams."

At age 17 he had only completely ninth grade and was then
involuntarily withdrawn from Uvalde High School because of his
lack of attendance and poor academic performance. After dropping
out of high school, the gunman "turned down a dark path,"
becoming more isolated from those around him, according to the
report.

"The attacker began to demonstrate interest in gore and violent
sex, watching and sometimes sharing gruesome videos and images
of suicides, beheadings, accidents, and the like, as well as
sending unexpected explicit messages to others online," the
report said.

He also sent "over-the-top threats" on social media. Those sent
to women included "graphic descriptions of violence and rape."
The aggression toward women was not only online. A job at
Whataburger in late 2021 ended when he was fired for threatening
a female co-worker.

While some of the threats may have been reported on the
platforms where they took place, they did not appear to result
in restrictions on the gunman's usage and did not appear to be
flagged for any law enforcement agencies.

He legally purchased two AR-15-style rifles just after turning 18
Though the gunman did not purchase the guns until he was 18, he
started buying accessories and ammunition in the months leading
up to the shooting, the report said. Living at home, he did not
have many living expenses which allowed him to save money that
he said was "for something big" that people around him would see
about in the news, but those he told thought he meant something
like a car or apartment.

When he went to pick up the guns, the owner of the store said he
looked like an "average customer with no 'red flags' or
suspicious conditions," but others in the store described him as
" 'very nervous looking' and that he 'appeared odd and looked
like one of those school shooters.' "

Investigators say there was nothing in the law to prevent him
from buying "two AR-15-style rifles, 60 magazines, and over
2,000 rounds of ammunition" as soon as he turned 18.

While the quick succession of gun sales was reported to the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, it was not
reported to local law enforcement. Only handgun purchases are
required to be reported to local police. The report concluded
that "there apparently was no information actually known to
local Uvalde law enforcement should have identified this
attacker as a threat to any school campus" before the shooting
occurred.

https://www.npr.org/2022/07/17/1111945402/uvalde-shooter-warning-
signs-report