A year before Uvalde shooting, gunman had threatened women, carried around a dead cat and been nicknamed “school shooter”

School chairs sit outside a store on June 2, 2022, in remembrance of the victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting. (Credit: Kaylee Greenlee Beal for The Texas Tribune)

For 24/7 mental health support in English or Spanish, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s free help line at 800-662-4357. You can also reach a trained crisis counselor through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by calling or texting 988, or you can reach the Crisis Text Line by texting “HOME” to 741741.

A year before the Uvalde school massacre, the gunman had already earned the nickname “school shooter” — a running joke among those he played online games with. He had also started wearing all black and making over-the-top threats, especially toward women, who he terrorized with graphic descriptions of violence and rape.