Salvador Ramos, shooter from Texas, suffered from bullying: "He needed love"
21 people were murdered in an elementary school in the city of Ovalda in Texas.
The shooter - an 18-year-old local high school student - suffered, according to his friends, from a speech impediment and stuttering, was lonely, his relationship with his mother was shaky, and his behavior became violent over the years: "He was a nice, shy boy who just had to open up"
Tali Goldstein
25/05/2022
Wednesday, 25 May 2022, 09:46 Updated: 09:56
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18-year-old Salvador Ramos, a student at Ovalda High School in Texas, entered the Rob Elementary School in the small town of 15,000 residents yesterday (Tuesday), and began shooting from class to class and firing in all directions.
At least 19 children were killed, along with two adults, one of them a teacher.
Ramos was killed by law enforcement.
The mostly school shooting campaign in most of the Latin city is the deadliest in the United States in about a decade.
In December 2012, 20 children and six adults were killed at Sandy Hawk Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut.
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Relatives of victims of shooting at school in Texas (Photo: Reuters)
The sights after the event ended were heartbreaking.
Hours after the attack, parents were still waiting for information about their children.
Outside the community center in the city, where families waited for the news, shouts of grief shattered the silence.
"No! Please no", one person shouted and hugged another person.
"My heart is broken," Hull Earl, the district school superintendent, told the Associated Press.
"We are a small community, and we will need your prayers."
Adolfo Cruz, a 69-year-old air conditioning technician, waited outside the school for hours while waiting for information about his ten-year-old granddaughter, Elijah Cruz Torrez.
He drove to the scene after receiving a terrifying phone call from his daughter, shortly after initial reports of the shooting.
"I just hope she's alive," he said.
The scene of the incident yesterday in the city of Ovalda in Texas (Photo: Reuters)
US President Joe Biden later called for new arms restrictions in a speech to the nation he delivered from the White House.
"As a nation, we must ask, how in the name of God, are we going to stand before the arms lobby? When in the name of God will we do what must be done?"
He asked.
"Why do we agree to live with this massacre?"
Archbishop of San Antonio Menachem Relatives in Ovalda, Texas (Photo: Reuters)
Rob Elementary School was preparing for the upcoming summer vacation, and each day was characterized by a special theme.
Yesterday the students arrived dressed for a festive event.
The school has 600 registered students, in second, third and fourth grades.
Most of them are of Latin descent.
Ramos has hinted on social media that the attack is approaching, according to Texas State Senator Roland Gutierrez.
He said the shooter noted that "children need to be careful".
Before he got to school, Ramos killed his grandmother using two guns he bought on his birthday, Guttierez said.
"This is the first thing he did on his 18th birthday," he added.
According to officials, the grandmother survived and is being treated, but her condition is unknown.
Investigators believe Ramos uploaded photos to Instagram of the two guns he used in the shooting.
They are checking to see if he has made any statements suggesting the shooting in the previous hours, and are also looking for Ramos' relatives.
Parents cry after shooting at Obadiah Elementary School in Texas (Photo: Reuters)
According to his friends, Ramos Ramos was a lonely boy who suffered from a speech disorder.
He suffered bullying as a child and gradually became an increasingly violent boy.
His relationship with his mother was shaky and he used to lash out at everyone around him, they told the Washington Post.
According to 18-year-old Santos Valdez, who knew Ramos as a child, the two were friends until Ramos' behavior began to deteriorate.
The two used to play video games like "Fortnight" and "Voice of Duty."
But Ramos this year.
In one case, Valdes said, he came to the park where they played basketball with cuts on his face and said the cat had scratched him.
"So he told me the truth, that he cut his own face with knives over and over again. I said to him, 'You're crazy, bro, why are you doing this?'"
For fun, Ramos replied, Valdes remembered.
Relatives wait for information about their loved ones after the shooting at a school in Texas (Photo: Reuters)
In middle school, Ramos suffered bullying due to stuttering and impaired pronunciation, his friends said.
Stephen Garcia, who claims to have been Ramos' best friend in eighth grade, said Ramos had a hard time.
"He was bothered by a lot of people. On social media too, about almost everything," he said.
"He was a nice kid. The most shy kid. He just had to open up a little bit," he told the Washington Post.
In another case, Ramos uploaded a photo of himself with black eye makeup, and suffered insults for being gay.
Garcia said he tried to protect Ramos.
But he and his mother moved.
"He started behaving like another human being. He deteriorated more and more."
According to Garcia, Ramos left school, began wearing only black, extended a lesson and wore military boots.
Ramos' cousin, Mia, said students laughed at his speech impediment but at the time he did not address it.
Ramos then used to complain to his grandmother that he did not want to go back to school.
According to Valdez, Ramos used to drive in his car with another friend and shoot people with an air rifle.
He also used to throw eggs at passing cars.
A year ago, he uploaded pictures of automatic rifles.
"They were on his wish list," Valdez said.
"I think he needed psychological treatment. And a better relationship with his family. And love," said one of his friends.
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