Mail Online

Loner bought rifles to mark his 18th birthday

... days later teen who was bullied for his stutter went on killing spree

By Inderdeep Bains Deputy Chief Reporter

WHEN Salvador Ramos turned 18 last week, he celebrated by legally buying two assault rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

Just days later, the high school dropout used one of the guns to shoot his grandmother in the face before embarking on a killing spree at a Texas primary school – murdering 19 children and two teachers.

Before going on his sick rampage, the teenager sent a Facebook message announcing: ‘I’m going to shoot my grandmother.’ It was soon followed by: ‘I shot my grandmother.’

Minutes later, a final chilling warning: ‘I’m going to shoot an elementary school.’ While the shooter was unknown to police, those who did know him painted a picture of an aggressive loner who attacked strangers and cut his own face ‘for fun’.

One former classmate said Ramos

‘Attacked strangers and cut his face for fun’

dropped out of school in Uvalde after being bullied for his lisp and stutter, being mocked for being poor and branded an ‘emo’ for wearing eyeliner.

Another friend said Ramos, obsessed with violent video game Call of Duty, used to egg vehicles and shoot strangers at random with a ball-bearing gun from a car.

Co-workers at fast-food restaurant Wendy’s, where he worked for a year before recently quitting, said he carried a pair of boxing gloves and accosted female members of staff.

Ramos revealed his fraught home life on social media, posting videos of him arguing with his mother before moving in with his grandparents, who said they had no idea he had bought the firearms.

Last night, his mother insisted he ‘wasn’t a violent person’.

Adriana Reyes said she was ‘surprised’ by the slaughter, telling MailOnline her son was a loner who ‘kept to himself and didn’t have many friends’.

She added: ‘I pray for those families. I’m praying for all of those innocent children. They (the children) had no part in this.’

The killer reportedly went to live with his grandparents after arguing with his mother when she cut off the wi-fi to their home. Former neighbour Ruben Flores, 41, said: ‘He was quiet and, from what I could see, the mother never really showed love. He had a rough life.’

Describing Ramos as an ‘outcast in school’, he added: ‘It was hard to carry a conversation with him. He seemed really frustrated.’

Ramos’s grandmother Celia Martinez, 66, took him out for dinner on May 16 to celebrate his milestone birthday.

On the morning of the massacre, he shot her, but despite being hit in the head she was able to raise the alarm and was airlifted to hospital where she remains.

Her husband Rolando Reyes, 74, who has a felony conviction and cannot be in a home with firearms, said yesterday: ‘I didn’t know he had weapons. If I’d have known, I would have reported it.’

He said his grandson had become increasingly withdrawn in the past year and had dropped out of school. ‘He was very quiet, he didn’t talk very much,’ he added.

A neighbour said he saw Ramos arguing with his grandmother, claiming that he was ‘angry that he did not graduate’.

He said she screamed, ‘He shot me, he shot me’, before Ramos ‘zoomed down the street’.

As Ramos fled, leaving his grandmother for dead, he crashed her car near Robb Elementary School. Leaving one rifle in his truck, Ramos headed into the school, dropping a backpack with magazines near the entrance.

Christopher Olivarez, of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said the teenager, who had no known criminal history, had displayed ‘complete evil’.

Investigators are examining a photo of two AR-15-style rifles posted on an Instagram account linked to Ramos, as well as messages alluding to his sick plans. In the hours before the killings, Ramos reportedly showed off his guns to a random woman via his Instagram page, taunting that he was ‘about to do’ something.

A former classmate said the gunman also texted him photos of weapons. ‘Four days ago he sent me a picture of the AR he was using... and a backpack full of 5.56 (calibre) rounds, probably like seven mags [magazines].’ The teen said he questioned why he had the weapons but was told, ‘don’t worry about it’.

His Wendy’s co-workers said he had an ‘aggressive streak’ and would send inappropriate messages to female employees.

One said: ‘He would be very rude towards the girls sometimes, and one of the cooks, threatening them by asking, “Do you know who I am?” ’

Adrian Mendes, manager at the restaurant, said Ramos ‘kept to himself mostly’. ‘He didn’t really socialise with the other employees. He just worked, got paid, and came in to get his cheque.’

Partygate: The Verdict

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