The Texas massacre had a turbulent history | world and science

Policemen in front of the shooter’s houseFrance Press agency

Posted on 05/26/2022 12:53

A victim of school bullying, with problems at home and a history of self-harm: The teen who shot and killed 19 children at a Texas school yesterday had a similar background to other perpetrators of the school massacre.

Salvador Ramos, the 18-year-old who was killed by a Border Patrol agent while attacking an elementary school in Ovaldi, Texas, was a US citizen who lived with his grandmother.

His now-deleted Instagram account showed pictures of a young man with shoulder-length hair and eyes closed. His profile also included photos of two semi-automatic rifles and a pistol magazine.

A day after the Robb Elementary School bombing, which also killed two teachers, details emerged of Ramos, who allegedly walked and shot around the site and then barricaded himself in a classroom, shooting everyone present.

The young man had left school and had no criminal record. His cousin, Mia, told the Washington Post that he was teased during elementary school for stuttering and tongue-tied, and begged his grandmother to stop attending classes.

Steven Garcia, an old friend of Ramos, confirmed that bullying was a problem. “He was tortured so badly by so many people,” Garcia told the newspaper.

The American press also reported that Ramos had problems with his mother, who, according to neighbors, was a drug user. They said the disagreements between the two were so serious that the police had already been called. Another friend of the boy, Santos Valdez, recalled that Ramos once cut his face “just for fun”.

Bullying and mental health issues have become a common denominator in frequent tragic and fatal school shootings across the United States.

More than 20 years ago, two teens who were bullied by other students killed 13 people and took their lives at their high school in Columbine, Colorado.

In 2007, a mentally retarded student killed 32 people in a massacre at Virginia Polytechnic. The attacker, who also committed suicide, had called the Columbine shooters “martyrs” in a video before the attack.

– Grandma’s archery –
The perpetrator of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut was also mentally ill, which in 2012 killed 26 people, and a student who was expelled for disciplinary reasons and later killed 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Florida, in 2018. .

Today, Texas Governor Greg Abbott shrugged off a question about whether changes were needed in the gun law, focusing on mental health care: “As a state, we as a society need to do a better job on mental health.”

The National Rifle Association (NRA), a powerful lobby group that was instrumental in thwarting efforts to toughen US gun laws, adopted a similar tactic and claimed the shooting was the work of a “lonely and troubled criminal.”

Ramos’ first victim was his grandmother, 66, who was shot in the face. She was able to call the police and was flown by helicopter in critical condition to a hospital near San Antonio.

The gunman, who announced on Facebook his intention to attack an elementary school, fled his grandmother’s home in a car wearing a tactical vest and armed with a shotgun. His car then crashed near Robb Elementary School, and he got out of the car and entered the scene where officers tried to arrest him.

Officials said that Ramos took refuge in two adjacent rooms and shot students and teachers. Pete Arredondo, the Ovaldi School District Police Chief in charge of the investigation, said Ramos acted alone.