This post reflects on the tragic events in Uvalde, Texas that occurred 2 years ago this week. The day started normally enough with a ceremony for children who had made the honor roll. The parents of these children had no idea that the ceremony would be the last bright moments of their young child’s life. Shortly after the end of the honor roll ceremony the proud fourth graders went back to their classrooms. When a few minutes later, the school was breached by a former student – a wolf in sheep’s clothing. At 11:28 AM, Salvadore Ramos entered the Robb elementary school through an open door. The 911 system had been activated. Law enforcement was in the building and then took fire. Retreat.
Only months earlier, they had trained for this. The tactical training instructs officers to move to contact and bring the fight to the sound of the guns even when you must step around or over victims. In the Pulse Nightclub massacre in Orlando, FL officers had to ignore victims pleading for their lives as a small group of sheriff’s deputies chased the shooter in pitch darkness into a men’s room and neutralized the threat. We were taught that as few as three officers could bring an end to an active shooter incident by quickly entering a building and moving to the sound of the shooting to neutralize the threat. The FBI says as few as two officers to teams of five should enter the scene without hesitation and move to contact. Moving forward not back.
Our chief in New Braintree, MA vowed that he would drive his cruiser through the front door of the school if needed, to gain immediate access to save lives. The New Braintree elementary school was much like the school in Uvalde with many doors and easy access to classrooms.
We knew from Columbine, that the longer we waited the more children, teachers, and staff would be lost. There was no way a swat team could deploy in the time needed to move into the school, find the bad guy, and put an end to the killing. We trained in neighboring schools too so we might be familiar with the maze of corridors common in most school buildings.
A large crime scene and a heart breaking situation. At least 19 ten-year old children and 2 teachers were killed by a member of their own community. Former Uvalde High School student Salvadore Ramos was just 18 years old. He killed nineteen 3rd and 4th grade students and their teachers in tiny Robb elementary school in west Texas over the course of an hour. That hour will be carefully scrutinized by the FBI, Texas Rangers, and other active shooter experts to discern law enforcement strengths and weaknesses in the handling of this event. Had law enforcement followed the protocol as practiced?
Much of the aftermath scrutiny will catalog social media red flags that may have informed law enforcement of his disaffected beliefs. The psychological autopsy will chronicle the facts of Ramos’ final weeks. Information about his state of mind will slowly emerge and the roadmap of his disaffected early beginning. No one knows how long Ramos may have been percolating when he purchased 2 high powered rifles after turning 18 in March. His mother, Adriana Reyes said he was angry for failing to graduate high school with his fellow classmates Friday, adding that “he was not a monster.” In an NBC News interview, Adriana Ramos’ boyfriend, Juan Alvarez, said that Ramos went to live with his grandmother after a fight with his mom over Wi-Fi. He said the relationship between Ramos and his mother was tumultuous and that the two often fought.” Since the pandemic quarantine Ramos’ mother described him as mean. His closest friend said that Ramos was bullied in middle school because of a stutter and years later after posting a photo of himself wearing black eye liner. He grew distant from friends and sometimes used a BB gun to shoot people while driving around with friends. He had an online presence and played violent video games with friends like Tour of Duty. These psychological underpinnings will be studied for years to come.
But Valdez (Ramos’ friend) said he was horrified when Ramos once showed up at the park with numerous slashes across his face, initially claiming the cuts had been caused by a cat scratching him. “Then he told me the truth,” Valdez said. “That he’d cut up his face with knives over and over and over. I was like, ‘You’re crazy, bro, why would you do that?'” Ramos reportedly told him he did it “for fun,” the newspaper stated.
Chloe Mayer, Newsweek Newsletter
The 18-year old high school student shot his grandmother in the face before heading for his primary target in much the same way mass murderer Adam Lanza, age 20 killed his mother in December 2012 before heading to the elementary school in Newtown, CT at 9:39 in the morning. He engaged in repetitive behaviors and exhibited behavioral elements consistent with ASD. Lanza had rigid thoughts and compulsive behavior like sock changing and tissue use due to anxiety about touching door knobs. Anxiety in middle school due to chaotic school changes – both were bullied. The two killers are seen as a similar in mental health domains. Gradually Ramos withdrew from the family and from school. Lanza too was detached and played video games hours each day. He was homeschooled at age 16 and was fixated on guns. His mother purchased him his first one. He took some college classes. Bought some guns like a Savage Mark II bolt action .22 caliber. Then back to school – Sandy Hook with his Bushmaster XM-15 E2S semiautomatic rifle Glock 20 .22 & the shiny Sig Sauer .226. There are many questions about the time line of events at Robb elementary on May 24th.
For his part, Salvadore Ramos would receive no awards on this day. He was no longer a student; he was a hunter. By all rights his rampage may have been cut short by an hour or so, had law enforcement brought the tip of the spear to him as shots first rang out. We know this from Columbine. His day would end in blackness, just like the front page of the Uvalde Leader-News.