Gunman Salvador Ramos had never fired a gun before he murdered 19 schoolchildren and two teachers in the massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, according to bombshell findings of a Texas House committee investigation.
The committee released its report on Sunday into the 24 May massacre, detailing how “systemic failures” enabled the 18-year-old gunman to carry out his deadly rampage for a staggering 77 minutes before he was finally shot dead by law enforcement.
The report reveals that the killer was inexperienced with firearms prior to the attack and that it was likely his first time shooting a gun when he killed 21 people.
This lack of experience was noticed by his family members who witnessed him struggling to load a magazine and in his internet search history where he appeared to be trying to teach himself how to use a firearm.
“The attacker had no experience with firearms, and based on other investigators’ interviews of friends and family, the shooting was likely the first time he fired one,” the report found.
“The uncle recalled the attacker attempting to seat a magazine in the rifle and the magazine repeatedly falling out onto the floor.
“Internet search history shows the attacker sought out ranges but was unable to get to one that allowed long guns before the shooting. He also searched the internet for basic information such as what kind of ammunition an AR-15 fires and whether a magazine can be reused after being emptied, and he looked for information on how to buy ‘juggernaut armor,’ a fictional armor system depicted in videogame.”
Despite his inexperience with firearms, Ramos displayed an obsession with obtaining firearms in the lead-up to the attack, the report found.
When he was still 17 – below the minimum age of 18 to own a firearm in Texas – Ramos asked multiple family members to buy him a gun, according to the findings.
His family members refused. Ramos then began buying ammunition and gun equipment in anticipation of his 18th birthday.
As soon as he turned 18 on 16 May, he began buying firearms, spending more than $3,000 in a few days. His uncle drove him twice to the gun store to pick up firearms, the report found.
Eight days after turning 18, Ramos carried out the deadliest school shooting in Texas history, unleashing more than 142 rounds on the victims.
The committee said that, prior to the attack, there were multiple warning signs that Ramos would go on to carry out mass violence but his behaviour was never reported to authorities.
In the months leading up to the attack, Ramos had earned the nickname “school shooter” on social media, became interested in violent sex and was fired from two jobs including one for harassing a female coworker, the report found.
The committee also detailed the gunman’s “unstable home life”, including “relative poverty”, his mother’s struggles with addiction isssues and a claim that he may have been abused by his mother’s girlfriend at a young age.
In the week between his 18th birthday and the massacre, the report stated that Ramos told family members he was feeling suicidal.
That same week, other family members became aware that he had bought guns. His family told him to get rid of the guns but did not report him to authorities.
The committee report also outlined multiple failures from almost all authorities involved including the overall law enforcement response, the Uvalde school system, the shooter’s family and social media platforms.
Questions have been mounting for the last six weeks over the law enforcement response after it was revealed that officers waited 77 minutes from the time that Ramos entered the school and began shooting to when an elite Border Patrol unit shot him dead.
The law enforcement response was described as “chaos” with no clear leadership and where officers on the scene “failed to prioritise saving the lives of innocent victims over their own safety”.
“There was an overall lackadaisical approach by law enforcement at the scene. For many, that was because they were given and relied upon inaccurate information. For others, they had enough information to know better,” the report states.
The long-awaited report was first shared with family members of the victims on Sunday morning before being released to the public.
After giving them time to review the report, the House committee met with families on Sunday afternoon to discuss its findings. In the meeting, they were also to be shown the 77-minute surveillance footage from the hallway inside the school.
The footage was obtained by the Austin American-Statesman this week and released ahead of being shown to the families. In it, officers were seen retreating from the gunfire and huddling in the hallway outside the classroom while the massacre continued inside.
The three Texas House committee members — Rep Dustin Burrows, Rep Joe Moody and former state Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman — said that “the victims, their families, and the entire Uvalde community have already waited too long for answers and transparency”.
