The gunman who slaughtered 19 children and two lecturers at a Texas elementary college reportedly exhibited more and more weird conduct main as much as the rampage – together with reducing up his face with knives simply “for enjoyable,” buddies stated.
Gunman Salvador Ramos’ good friend Santos Valdez Jr., 18, stated the 2 had been shut, enjoying video video games and basketball commonly, till his good friend’s conduct started to “deteriorate,” the Washington Put up reported.
At one level, he recounted, Ramos confirmed up at a park with scratch marks throughout his face and stated he had been attacked by a cat.
“Then he advised me the reality, that he’d reduce up his face with knives again and again and over,” Valdez advised the newspaper
“I used to be like, ‘You’re loopy, bro, why would you do this?’” he stated. Ramos advised him it was simply “for enjoyable,” Valdez stated.
At college, he advised classmates he reduce himself “as a result of I like the way it appears,” a pupil advised KSAT.
Valdez stated he final interacted with Ramos simply two hours earlier than the assault at Robb Elementary Faculty in Uvalde.
The 2 messaged on Instagram, the place Valdez reshared a meme that stated, “WHY TF IS SCHOOL STILL OPEN,” in accordance with the Washington Put up, which reported that Ramos replied, “Info” and “That’s good tho proper?”
Valdez reportedly wrote: “Idek [I don’t even know] I don’t even go to high school lmao.”
However Ramos by no means responded to the message – and even opened it, he stated.
Valdez additionally described how Ramos used to drive round with one other pal and shoot folks at random with a BB gun – and in addition egged folks’s vehicles.
He stated Ramos final 12 months posted on social media photographs of automated rifles that “he would have on his want checklist” – and some days in the past, he posted pictures of two rifles he known as “my gun pics,” the paper reported.
Associates and family additionally stated Ramos had been bullied all through center college for a speech obstacle – a stutter and lisp, in accordance with the Washington Put up.
His cousin Mia stated she noticed college students mocking his obstacle throughout center college, the place he tried at first to disregard the bullying however then advised his grandmother that he didn’t wish to return to high school.
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“He wasn’t very a lot of a social individual after being bullied for the stutter,” stated Mia, who declined to supply her final identify. “I feel he simply didn’t really feel snug anymore at college.”
Childhood good friend Stephen Garcia advised the paper that Ramos “would get bullied exhausting, like bullied by lots of people. Over social media, over gaming, over every little thing.
“He was the nicest child, essentially the most shiest child. He simply wanted to interrupt out of his shell,” he stated, including that Ramos was as soon as subjected to homophobic slurs after posting a photograph of himself sporting black eyeliner.
Garcia stated he tried to defend his good friend earlier than transferring along with his mom to a different a part of the state for her job.
“He simply began being a distinct individual. He stored getting worse and worse, and I don’t even know,” he advised the paper.
Ramos quickly started sporting all black, walked in giant navy boots and grew out his hair, in accordance with the report.
Nadia Reyes, one other highschool classmate, advised the paper that Ramos lately posted an Instagram Story of himself yelling at his mother, who he stated was making an attempt to kick him out of their dwelling.
“He posted movies on his Instagram the place the cops had been there and he’d name his mother a b—- and say she needed to kick him out,” she advised the paper. “He’d be screaming and speaking to his mother actually aggressively.”
Ramos’ neighbor Ruben Flores, 41, stated he tried to be a form of father determine to the troubled teen, who had “a fairly tough life along with his mother.”
He advised the paper he noticed police on the Hood Avenue dwelling, the place he witnessed blowups between the 2.
Flores and a number of other different folks acquainted with the household stated Ramos’ mom used medication, which contributed to the difficulty at dwelling, in accordance with the Washington Put up, which stated it couldn't attain her for remark.
Ramos moved to his grandmother’s dwelling throughout city a couple of months in the past, in accordance with Flores, who stated he final noticed the grandmother Sunday when she stopped by the mother’s Hood Avenue property, which she additionally owned.
He stated she advised him she was within the strategy of evicting Ramos’ mom due to her drug points.
Ramos allegedly shot his grandmother earlier than heading over to Robb Elementary Faculty in Uvalde with two assault rifles round 11:32 a.m. native time Tuesday, in accordance with officers.
In the meantime, new particulars even have been reported about Ramos’ conduct at a neighborhood Wendy’s, the place he labored from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. or 5 p.m. 5 days per week.
Adrian Mendes, the night supervisor on the fast-food joint, advised CNN that he “stored to himself largely.”
“He felt just like the quiet sort, the one who doesn’t say a lot. He didn’t actually socialize with the opposite workers,” Mendes stated. “He simply labored, bought paid, and got here in to get his test.”
A younger lady who labored with him till March observed an aggressive streak.
“He can be very impolite in direction of the women typically, and one of many cooks, threatening them by asking, ‘Have you learnt who I'm?’ And he would additionally ship inappropriate texts to the women,” the previous co-worker advised the Each day Beast on situation of anonymity.
“On the park, there’d be movies of him making an attempt to struggle folks with boxing gloves. He’d take them round with him,” she stated.
Yarelli Vasquez, who used to work with Ramos at Whataburger, advised KSAT he was sometimes quiet nevertheless it was “form of frequent” for him to make aggressive feedback.
“He was very quiet… didn’t actually have plenty of buddies, so he stored to himself plenty of the time,” she advised the outlet.
“I bear in mind an interplay we had with this couple that labored there … he advised the boyfriend that he needed to struggle his girlfriend for no cause.”
She stated the incident by no means escalated nevertheless it was “nonetheless bizarre.”
Classmates advised the outlet they'd related interactions.
Crystal Foutz, 17, stated Ramos can be “aggressive for no cause” and he used to publish movies on-line that confirmed him with weapons and knives, or boxing and coaching for fights.
“I might see [TikTok videos] on a regular basis and they'd be like, ‘I might struggle anybody, none of y’all can contact me … I’m untouchable,’” she advised the outlet.
Whereas Ramos did exhibit “eerie” conduct, classmates had been shocked to see him turn into murderous.
“Like this nonetheless doesn’t really feel actual. It appears like I’m in a dream, like until this complete day,” stated Keanna Baxter, 17.
The shooters grandfather, Rolando Reyes, 72, stated he wasn’t conscious that his grandson had bought two rifles at a gun store on the town and whereas he agreed that Ramos was quiet, he didn’t seem violent.
Meawnhile, a photograph of two AR-15-style rifles appeared on an Instagram account linked to Ramos simply three days earlier than the bloodbath, in accordance with CNN.
His TikTok web page has solely a single publish of a cell recreation, but the bio underneath his profile picture reads: “Children be scared irl” — an acronym for “in actual life.”
Simply hours earlier than the massacre, Ramos cryptically messaged a stranger: “I’m about to.”
The Instagram account with the username “salv8dor_” contained pictures of weapons and selfies. It was taken down after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott launched his identify.
The account’s single grid publish options three pictures — a mirror selfie of Ramos in a sweatshirt, a grainy black-and-white closeup of his face, and a first-person shot of an individual holding a firearm journal of their lap.
The identical account shared a photograph of two rifles mendacity facet by facet to its Tales. The account tagged one other consumer within the photograph.
That consumer, @epnupues, stated Ramos was a complete stranger who tagged her within the gun photograph and messaged her that he “bought a lil secret.”
The Instagram consumer, who stated she doesn’t stay in Texas, questioned why he tagged her within the pic of the rifles and stated she discovered it scary that he tagged her.
“You gonna repost my gun pics,” @sal8dor_ direct messaged the lady on Might 12.
“what your weapons gotta do with me,” she replied on Friday.
“Simply needed to tag you,” he stated again.
Then at 5:43 a.m. Tuesday, @salv8dor_ messaged her: “I’m about to.”
The lady requested “about to what” to which he replied, “I’ll inform you earlier than 11.”
He stated he’d textual content her in an hour and urged her to reply.
“I bought a lil secret I wanna inform u,” he messaged with a smiley-face emoji masking its mouth.
He by no means advised the lady his secret. His final message at 9:16 a.m. was “Ima air out.”
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