TX - Uvalde; Robb Elementary, 19 children and 3 adults killed, shooter dead, 24 MAY 2022

Fika · May 25, 2022

Libra243 said:
"Ramos lived with his mother and sometimes his grandmother, Valdez said, adding that Ramos’s grandmother taught at their elementary school — a different school than the site of Tuesday’s shooting.
Ramos was bullied by other students and sometimes started fights, Valdez said. “He got bullied worse in high school.”
..........Valdez said Ramos went driving around with another friend at night and shot random people with a BB gun. He egged people’s cars, Valdez said, and started wearing black clothes, leather and military-style boots. archive.ph

That’s like a huge red flags flying around. It should have been dealt with right there. This isn’t a normal behaviour.

Anance · May 25, 2022

steeltowngirl said:
There had to be red flags.

Of course, there were red flags, but probably no one was paying attention. A kid doesn't reach 18 with an unbearable desire to kill if he has been responsibly cared for. In most cases, the parents don't care about their little shooter-in-the-making or are absent, a quiet kid does not attract the attention of teachers and school administrators, and troubled taciturn children rarely have many friends, they are often invisible to their peers.

(I realize there are some mass murderers whose family and friends tried to contact the authorities to no avail. I don't mean to make a blanket statement.)

nightowl1975 · May 25, 2022

citizen_sleuth said:
What have we done after Virginia Tech? After Sandy Hook? After Marjory Stoneman Douglas?

Despite hundreds of young people dying as the result of senseless violence, we haven't done anything to try and prevent such incidents from happening in the future, which is why they continue apace.

I’m not sure I agree that we’ve done *nothing* to prevent things like this from happening. Of course, it’s impossible to really prove if we would have had more without some of the interventions/precautions, but schools locally have certainly dramatically altered how they’re built. My youngest is in a new high school, and it’s immediately obvious that the whole campus was designed with security in mind. There are precautions and features in place that just weren’t part of schools 10-20 years ago.

One example is the way the entrances are set up. A person can’t enter the school without being buzzed through the office first. There’s a lengthy process to getting through those doors. There are armed sheriffs patrolling throughout the day. There are numerous armed sheriffs directing traffic both before and after school (there’s really not a significant need for the actual traffic control, but they are there in place regardless).

I’m not saying these things will prevent all school shootings because nothing will ever do that. But to say we’ve done nothing is inaccurate IMO.

CoverMeCagney · May 25, 2022

Just waking up to this terrible news across the pond and I feel sick and angry this has happened yet again.

<modsnip>

Thoughts with all the families of these lovely children and teachers. Devastating.

SouthAussie · May 25, 2022

The FBI released a document called " Active Shooter Incidents in the United States in 2021". As per the NY Times, they released it one day before this killer committed these murders.
Not suggesting any connection between the release of the document and this killer - but this massacre will be treated as an active shooter event, according to the FBI definition.

It says that these active shooter incidents are in a steep upward trend.

2017-2021

Active Shooter Incidents in the United States in 2021 | Federal Bureau of Investigation

The FBI has designated 61 shootings in 2021 as active shooter incidents. The FBI defines an active shooter as one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area.

www.fbi.gov

Live Updates: ‘Dark Day’ as Gunman Kills 18 Children at a Texas Elementary School

A teacher and the 18-year-old gunman were also dead. It was the deadliest elementary school shooting since the 2012 massacre in Newtown, Conn.

www.nytimes.com

LolaAngelina · May 25, 2022

SouthAussie said:
The FBI released a document called " Active Shooter Incidents in the United States in 2021". As per the NY Times, they released it one day before this killer committed these murders.
Not suggesting any connection between the release of the document and this killer - but this massacre will be treated as an active shooter event, according to the FBI definition.

It says that these active shooter incidents are in a steep upward trend.

2017-2021
View attachment 345851

Active Shooter Incidents in the United States in 2021 | Federal Bureau of Investigation

The FBI has designated 61 shootings in 2021 as active shooter incidents. The FBI defines an active shooter as one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area.

www.fbi.gov

Live Updates: ‘Dark Day’ as Gunman Kills 18 Children at a Texas Elementary School

A teacher and the 18-year-old gunman were also dead. It was the deadliest elementary school shooting since the 2012 massacre in Newtown, Conn.

www.nytimes.com

Well that’s scary! Why do they seem to be teenage boys lately?

SouthAussie · May 25, 2022

Graduating seniors from Uvalde High School, where the gunman was a student, had visited Robb Elementary School on Monday, high-fiving the young students there as part of Senior Week. That was one day before the gunman killed at least 18 students there. One senior who participated in the event said on Twitter that the gunman had not attended.

Live Updates: ‘Dark Day’ as Gunman Kills 18 Children at a Texas Elementary School

A teacher and the 18-year-old gunman were also dead. It was the deadliest elementary school shooting since the 2012 massacre in Newtown, Conn.

www.nytimes.com

coastal · May 25, 2022

zecats said:
I'm teaching tomorrow. No word of anything similar, but I'm betting there will be a discussion or at least a lockdown drill.

God bless you and all teachers.

Bishop Black · May 25, 2022

I think that all entrances to schools should have metal detectors and security guards with body armor and non-lethal firearms such as tasers or riot ammunition, which should be enough to stop a lone shooter or pair of shooters.

As far as we know, the shooter was able to just walk into the school with guns, and when he started firing, they had to wait for police to arrive at the school. This is a huge security flaw, which is likely why vulnerable places like this are targeted.

Sarahlou · May 25, 2022

<modsnip - quoted post was removed>
This article said he had these guns
"The 18-year-old suspect had a handgun, an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and high-capacity magazines, investigators say."

Texas shooting: 19 children among dead in primary school attack

Nineteen children are shot dead by a teenage gunman, who is himself killed by law enforcement.

www.bbc.co.uk

Dotta · May 25, 2022

"You are going to die"

Hero girl shot dead at Texas school 'as she tried to call 911'

Amerie Jo Garza, a fourth grader at Robb Elementary in the city Uvalde, Texas, was among 19 children under the age of 11 killed in the latest school mass shooting to hit America.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Anance · May 25, 2022

Does anyone know if this true?

"the shooter was using .556 ammo. Those rounds are huge, literally the size of AA batteries."

May explain why DNA testing is needed to identify bodies.

girlhasnoname · May 25, 2022

So sad about these innocent little angels and teacher. I can’t imagine how these parents feel. Grace to all involved.

Seattle1 · May 25, 2022

Who is Salvador Ramos? What we know about Texas elementary school shooting suspect

Salvador Ramos, an 18-year-old resident of Uvalde, Texas, was named as the gunman who killed 14 students and a teacher at Robb Elementary School.

www.fox7austin.com

May 24, 2022 4:29PM
Updated 10:01PM

UVALDE, Texas - Twenty-one people are dead, including 19 children, and two adults were killed in a shooting at a Texas elementary school Tuesday.

[..]

Abbott identified the suspect as Salvador Ramos, a Uvalde resident and was likely killed by responding officers but that the events were still being investigated.

Ramos who was wearing body armor, crashed his car outside the school before going inside, Sgt. Erick Estrada of the Texas Department of Public Safety told CNN.

He killed his grandmother before heading to the school with two military-style rifles he had purchased on his birthday, state Sen. Roland Gutierrez said.

"That was the first thing he did on his 18th birthday," he said.

Officials did not immediately reveal a motive, but the governor identified the assailant as Salvador Ramos and said he was a resident of the community about 85 miles (135 kilometers) west of San Antonio.

ETA: Seems Senator Gutierrez had bad intel according to ABC reporting the Grandmother is not deceased but in critical condition:

Initial reports from law enforcement said the shooter's grandmother had died, but law enforcement sources told ABC News the grandmother was in critical condition but still alive.

Sources tell ABC News the death toll is expected to rise.

Teacher, student killed in Texas school shooting identified: What we know about victims

Fourth-grade teacher Eva Mireles was killed along with at least 19 children in a shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

abc7.com

Kristin Esq. · May 25, 2022

steeltowngirl said:
I’m so sorry Kristen. I sent this to my daughter to talk to my young grandkids.

In situations like a mass tragedy, it is "extremely important" for parents and caregivers to "be willing to bring this topic up," one expert said. - How to talk to kids after 14 children, teacher killed in Uvalde, Texas, school shooting

Thank you

steeltowngirl · May 25, 2022

Libra243 said:
"Ramos lived with his mother and sometimes his grandmother, Valdez said, adding that Ramos’s grandmother taught at their elementary school — a different school than the site of Tuesday’s shooting.
Ramos was bullied by other students and sometimes started fights, Valdez said. “He got bullied worse in high school.”
..........Valdez said Ramos went driving around with another friend at night and shot random people with a BB gun. He egged people’s cars, Valdez said, and started wearing black clothes, leather and military-style boots. archive.ph

I highly doubt he was bullied by 8-10 year olds. Yet, that is who he chose to slaughter. Coward. Monster.

Seattle1 · May 25, 2022

5/25/22 'We are in mourning': As parents waited, Uvalde residents processed their shock and grief

steeltowngirl · May 25, 2022

Dotta said:
"You are going to die"

Hero girl shot dead at Texas school 'as she tried to call 911'

Amerie Jo Garza, a fourth grader at Robb Elementary in the city Uvalde, Texas, was among 19 children under the age of 11 killed in the latest school mass shooting to hit America.

www.dailymail.co.uk

The photos are heartbreaking. This stood out at me from the article. Red flag.

A school friend of Ramos's said that he sent him the photos of his guns too.

'He would message me here and there, and four days ago he sent me a picture of the AR he was using … and a backpack full of 5.56 rounds, probably like seven mags,' the friend told CNN.

'I was like, 'bro, why do you have this?' and he was like, 'Don't worry about it.'

'He proceeded to text me, 'I look very different now. You wouldn't recognize me,' he added.

SouthAussie · May 25, 2022

steeltowngirl said:
I highly doubt he was bullied by 8-10 year olds. Yet, that is who he chose to slaughter. Coward. Monster.

It seems to have some kind of link (to me) between him being angry at not graduating, and the graduate class visiting that elementary school the day before, to visit the younger children as part of Seniors Week.

A neighbour heard him arguing with his grandmother that morning about him not graduating.

While the motive for the massacre is not yet known, one neighbor told local news channel Newsy that he witnessed Ramos, who worked at a Wendy's, arguing with his grandmother, claiming he was 'angry that he did not graduate'.
He said the grandmother then screamed: 'He shot me, he shot me' ......

TX school shooter was bullied at school because of the clothes he wore

The unidentified friend said Ramos began showing up to class less and less from the bullying and 'slowly dropped out.'

www.dailymail.co.uk