EP. 142: TEXAS - The Uvalde School Shooting Pt. 1: RED FLAGS
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Warning, the following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects. Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children. This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned. On the morning of May 24th, 2022, the sun began to peak over the horizon.

shining its warm light on the small Texas town of Uvalde. Soon enough, alarm clocks would ring, pots of coffee were made, and the quiet streets eventually filled with the rhythmic hum of traffic, just like they did every morning. But that's the thing about tragedy. There is no warning that the day ahead is about to change your life forever.

In that fateful morning, two teachers and 19 children woke up thinking it was an average Tuesday. The kids had breakfast, grabbed their backpacks, kissed their parents goodbye, and made their way over to Robb Elementary, completely unaware that their lives were about to come to a tragic end.

It was supposed to be a fun day at school. Summer was right around the corner and an awards ceremony was scheduled for later that morning. But at 11:29 AM, a gunman with an AR-15 would walk through the doors of Robb Elementary and rain terror on the teachers and students. For over an hour, the gunman would sit inside of room 111 and 112 amongst his murder victims

while nearly 400 police officers waited outside. During the 77 minutes the police failed to breach the classrooms, the gunman would play in the victim's blood. He would also watch TV and play music, while some of the surviving children pleaded on the phone with 911 to come in and help. But that help wouldn't come until over an hour later, and during that wait, people would die.

Every tragic event starts out like a normal day, but at the end of this day, 19 children and two teachers would lose their lives at an elementary school in the small town of Uvalde, Texas.

Now, before we get into this story, we do want to preface that in this episode, we will be discussing the history of Uvalde, the way their school district planned for mass shooters, and then at the end, we will discuss the gunman and his background. Like always, when we cover a case, we like to cover it in its entirety, but we also understand that not everyone wants to hear about this monster.

So if that's not something you want to listen to, we will give a warning when we are about to talk about the shooter and you can turn it off. But make sure to join us next week because in part two, we will discuss the shooting itself, the victims, and the horrific aftermath, including the police response. But with that being said, this is the story of the Uvalde mass shooting.

I'm Courtney Brown. And I'm Colin Brown. And you're listening to Murder in America. ♪♪

About 80 miles west of San Antonio, in the Texas Hill Country sits the small town of Uvalde, Texas. It was founded in 1853 by a 22-year-old New Jersey man named Reading Wood Black, and his goal was to create a prosperous stock-raising town. The population of Uvalde started to grow in 1881 when a new railroad was built.

And nowadays, around 15,430 residents call it home. Uvalde County is known for its beautiful rivers, including the Frio and Nueces, that are perfect for floating and kayaking. It's also home to Garner State Park, one of the most popular camping sites in all of Texas. With all of its beautiful landscapes and outdoor attractions, it's no wonder that the town's slogan is, Surround Yourself With Adventure.

If you were to go around Uvalde and ask its residents why they live there, they would likely tell you that it's a good community and a great place to raise a family. There are a ton of small locally owned businesses, good schools, diversity, and of course, southern hospitality.

If you walk down the streets of Uvalde, you will likely catch a few smiles from the people you pass. If you're baking a cake and you need an extra egg, you can ask any one of your neighbors and they would be happy to lend you one. It's the kind of small town where everyone knows each other and people watch out for their neighbors. The locals call it a small town with a big heart.

The city of Uvalde even has a brochure that says "And then it happens. You find yourself in a place that's as close to far away as you'll ever be. A place where you can get reacquainted with the things that matter. Where traffic jams are called parades. Team meetings are held at the swimming hole. And the biggest stress of the day is the decision between buttermilk biscuits and cornbread.

And of course, the people of Uvalde know just how important it is to create a good atmosphere for the children of their town. After all, children are the future, so it's very important that their school district lives up to standards.

The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District covers 1,093 square miles in between the counties of Uvalde, Rial, and Zavala. There are four secondary schools: Crossroads Academy, Morales Junior High, Uvalde High School, and Uvalde Early College High School.

and then there are six elementary schools uvalde dual language academy batesville school uvalde elementary flores elementary and dalton elementary dalton elementary and of course rob elementary however after may 24th 2022 a horrific tragedy caused rob elementary to shut its doors forever but before we get into that let's take a look at the school's history built in 1955

Robb Elementary was named after a Uvalde woman named Annie Robb, who made a lasting impression on the town. In the late 1800s, Annie was an elementary school teacher who spent a decade of her life trying to find books and funding so that Uvalde could build a public library. It was Annie's life mission to enrich children's lives so that they could have a promising future. And when she passed away in 1954, she left almost all of her money to the children of Uvalde.

So in her honor, they named their town's new school Rob Elementary. No one knew it at the time, but Rob Elementary would end up playing a very important role in the Mexican-American civil rights movement. You see, the town of Uvalde has a very large Hispanic population. In fact, according to the U.S. Census, 82% of its population is Hispanic.

But in the 1960s, they faced a lot of discrimination. Robb Elementary was known as being the worst elementary school in town. The building was smaller, they didn't have trees or any landscaping, and there wasn't even a playground for the children to play on. This also happened to be the school where all of the Mexican children were sent.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town was Dalton Elementary, where all of the white kids went to school. Dalton Elementary was equipped with beautiful landscaping, paved driveways, and an abundance of trees and playground equipment.

And it was very obvious that the maintenance and upkeep of the two schools was extremely different. And everyone knew exactly why. But then in 1965, a man named George Garza started working at Robb Elementary as the new 5th grade teacher. And as soon as he started, he was very disappointed about how the school was being run.

Not only did they not have a lot of funding, but he also noticed that the Spanish-speaking children would get punished for speaking in Spanish. At the time, he was actually the only staff member on campus that could speak Spanish, so it was a huge relief for the parents and students to finally have someone that spoke their native language.

George Garza would serve as a translator, even helping parents voice their concerns to the administration, especially when students were being punished for speaking Spanish in their classrooms. George became a huge advocate for the students of Robb Elementary, and he even helped plant trees around campus. He wanted his Mexican students to feel valued and appreciated, just like their white counterparts.

While George was working hard to try and prove the school, many of the staff at Robb Elementary were not happy. Here was this Mexican teacher giving Mexican students a voice, and people didn't like that. Soon enough, George even started taking graduate classes at Texas State University to further his career, and the principal at his school accused him of trying to take his job.

By the end of the school year, George received a letter from the superintendent that stated his teaching contract would not be extended. And according to George, they didn't even give him a reason. However, word quickly spread throughout the small community and the parents of Robb Elementary were infuriated. They even filled the school board meeting that was held to determine his standing at the school and protested that he keep his job. Ultimately, there was a 6-1 vote to end George's teaching contract and many of the parents were angry.

One woman named Manuela Canales uttered one simple statement as she left. Walk out, walk out, she told them. And that's exactly what they did. In April of 1970, a high school senior named Elvia Perez organized a walkout at her school. And she did so so that their voices could finally be heard.

Mexican-American students were tired of the unjust education system and they were determined to make a difference. It all started at the high school when 200 students walked out of school and came up with a list of demands for their school board. They wanted more Hispanic teachers, they wanted more Hispanic books in their libraries, and they didn't want to be punished for speaking their native language.

When Elvia returned later that night with a group of protesters to deliver the list, she noticed a group of Texas Rangers on the roof of the school with their rifles pointed in their direction. But this wouldn't stop them. The walkout lasted six weeks with 650 students participating across several campuses.

First, it was just the high school students, then junior high students, and eventually towards the end, students from Robb Elementary were joining in as well.

Many of the students involved in this walkout were punished by the school administration, and sadly, the list of demands were mostly ignored. But by that summer of 1970, a mother named Genaviva Morales filed a lawsuit against the Ivalde school district, arguing that Hispanic children didn't receive the same education as the white kids.

and that the Uvalde schools were segregated, with the Mexican schools receiving less funding. Now, the lawsuit was dismissed by Judge John H. Wood Jr., but Ginaveva Morales would file an appeal. And finally, five years later, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Uvalde school district did indeed have a segregated school system, which violated the rights of Hispanics in the community. From there, the Uvalde school district had to make a lot of changes to desegregate.

They now had to let Hispanic members of the community participate in their local government, including serving on the school board. And interestingly enough, up until 2017, the school district was under court supervision to make sure they were still following these rules. But now, according to the Texas Tribune, Uvalde's school board mostly consists of Hispanic members,

which is great because they are the majority of the population there, and they deserve to have a say on what goes on in their community. Local resident Lalo Castillo explained in an interview with KSAT, We did a lot of good. We had a lot of students that did voter registration. We energized a lot of younger people, a lot of people to run for office. That's when things started to change. Now, 50 years later, I understand why they walked out.

So as you can see, Uvalde is a town with a lot of history. A town that Mexican Americans are proud to call home, thanks to the brave men and women who stood up for their rights all those years ago. But as time went on, the Uvalde schools were desegregated, there was more diversity, and the Mexican American students were finally given a proper education.

But sadly, in this day and age, parents have other things to worry about now, something our nation has to worry about as a whole, and that's mass shootings. As most of us know, guns are the leading cause of death for children and teens in the United States.

And mass shootings are now something each and every one of us have to think about daily. It's hard going a single week here in America without turning on your TV and seeing that children have been slaughtered in their classrooms.

But even with its prevalence, there's a collective thought that that will never happen to me. That happens to other people, but it would never happen in a small and close-knit community like Uvalde. But if this story teaches us anything, it's that evil is everywhere and it can happen to anyone. So the best thing we can do is prepare ourselves, which is exactly what the Uvalde school district did.

With the rise of school shootings, Uvalde CISD did want to prepare for any future threat. In fact, they were one of the few school districts in Texas that submitted a quote, viable active shooter policy in which the staff was instructed to check their classrooms to make sure all doors and windows could be locked and secured.

A part of this policy also made it to where their classroom doors had to be locked while school was in session and if anything were to happen to their locks, like they were broken or malfunctioning, they were to immediately report it so it could be repaired. This policy also made it to where there could only be one main entry point to access the school during business hours.

meaning all other doors leading into the school had to be locked up. Now, of course, these policies are not going to prevent school shootings. If a shooter has to spend five more minutes shooting through locked doors to get inside, that gives the students and teachers five more minutes to prepare. It also gives law enforcement five more minutes to make it to the scene.

Interestingly enough, Robb Elementary School had even more precautions put in place to ensure their students' safety They put up perimeter fencing, radios, they had partnerships with local law enforcement, threat assessment teams, staff training, student training and drills And a threat reporting system So it seemed like the Uvalde School District was well prepared for an active shooter scenario Or so they thought

The district even listed a chain of command if a school shooting occurred. Now, clearly the town of Uvalde has its own police department, but the Uvalde school district had officers of their own. There was a chief of police named Pete Arredondo, whose name will come up a lot later on, but the second in command was Lieutenant Mike Hernandez, and then third was the director of student services, Kenneth Mueller.

Now, according to their policy, if a school shooting were to occur at any of the campuses within their district, the person in charge would be Pete Arredondo, the school district's chief of police. And he would be in charge of all of the officers and first responders that responded to the scene. He would be in charge of securing the area, gathering information about where everyone in the school is located.

And he would pretty much be in charge of everything that goes on that day, which is a very big responsibility. And from the outside looking in, it seemed as though Pete Arredondo was a good person for the job.

In fact, before he became chief of the district, he received active shooter training from the Alert Center, which has been described by the FBI as the "national standard in active shooter response training." The alert training is a hands-on dynamic scenario-based training.

officers learn by doing. So when the alert training was put together, they took that into consideration. They knew that they had to have the officers physically and mentally prepared by actually running through the exercises, trying to do life scenarios of what an active shooter event might be like so that they might be prepared if such a thing were to happen.

So, with this extensive training, Chief Pete Arredondo should have been prepared for May 24th, 2022. But he wasn't. Not even close. And unbeknownst to everyone, a young man in their community was gearing up for one of the worst mass shootings in our country's history.

This is the part of the episode where we're about to talk about the gunman and his background, so if you don't wish to hear about him, this would be a good time to turn off the episode. But again, if you're skipping this, make sure to join us next week for part two when we examine the crime itself. With that being said, Salvador Ramos was born in Fargo, North Dakota on May 16th, 2004, to his parents Adriana Martinez Reyes and her then-boyfriend Salvador Ramos Sr.,

Now, his father wasn't around much, and after he split up with Adriana, he never really played a role in his son's life.

But shortly after this, when Salvador was a young child, he, his mom, and his older sister moved to Uvalde. It's unclear why they chose to move here, but it's noted that Adriana had a criminal record and a long history of drug abuse. According to the New York Post, she had been arrested twice and received two misdemeanors, one for family violence assault in 2007 and another for theft in 2005.

The theft charge had resulted in probation, and the family violence charge was ultimately dismissed. But because of all this, his childhood wasn't ideal. His former girlfriend would later tell the FBI that she believed he had been sexually assaulted as a child by one of his mom's live-in boyfriends. However, when he told his mother about the abuse, she just didn't believe him.

And just to preface, nothing we mention about his childhood is an excuse for what he would later go on to do. But I do think it's important to mention because these events would help shape him into the monster he would later become. Now, growing up, he and his family never really had a lot of money.

Adriana tried to support her children by working as a waitress at various restaurants throughout Uvalde, but despite her job, the family remained in poverty and over time, her relationship with both of her children became strained. Throughout elementary school, Salvador was a shy and quiet kid who struggled with a speech impediment, but his pre-K teacher said that he was a quote, "wonderful student always ready to learn."

However, things slowly changed by the time he entered third grade. Salvador started to fall behind in his schoolwork, and the school labeled him as at risk. They even requested he be given speech therapy for his impediment, but for whatever reason, he never received it.

Now by the end of his third grade year, he was really struggling in school and consistently had poor test scores. But his fourth grade year was his most difficult. He actually went to school at Robb Elementary.

and according to his 4th grade teacher, it was clear he needed extra help in the classroom and it was also here where he was bullied by his peers. His teacher spoke with his mother Adriana about how he was struggling and she promised that she would help him so that he would have a better year, but it was difficult for him because of the bullying he faced.

Salvador came from a low-income family, so not only did children make fun of his stutter, but they also made fun of his clothing. He was known to wear the same outfits over and over again because he couldn't afford new clothes, and kids made fun of him for it.

They also made fun of his haircut and lack of hygiene. In one particular incident in his fourth grade year, a girl in one of his classes tied his shoelaces together and when he stood up, he fell face first to the ground. Now notes later found on his phone would show that Salvador was deeply affected by bullying throughout his life, but he mentioned it started around middle school.

And his fourth grade year at Robb Elementary wasn't noted in his phone, but some suspect that it played more of a role than he let on as he would later target Robb Elementary's fourth grade classrooms.

And again, we want to make this clear that we aren't mentioning any of this so that you'll feel any sort of empathy towards Salvador, but it's clear that the bullying he faced ignited a hatred within him, and for whatever reason, he would later take that hatred out on innocent children. But by 2018, when Salvador was 14 years old, he was still struggling in school.

his test scores had plummeted and he had flunked nearly every final, midterm, and standardized test he was given. It was clear that he not only struggled to understand the schoolwork, but he also just didn't care.

During his freshman year of high school, he started skipping school, and for that year alone he had over 100 absences According to official documents, while Uvalde CISD school success officers do try to bring truant children back to school, many Uvalde students have spotty attendance, and the local judicial system reportedly does not consistently enforce truancy rules It's unclear whether any school resource officers ever visited the home of the attacker

As for his school record, he had only one reported disciplinary incident that stated he was involved in a "mutual combat" where he fought another student in the hallway in late 2018. And from that, he was put on a three-day suspension from school. Now, from what we could tell, there are people out there that said Salvador was bullied in school. They said he was constantly picked on. But some students said the only reason he was picked on is because he himself was the bully.

Salvador was apparently always trying to seem like a tough, cool guy. So he would pick on those around him. Here's what one student had to say. Salvador Ramos was a boy who was not bullied. He would try to pick on people but fail and it would aggravate him. I would like to get that out of the way. He was not bullied. He, prior, and I don't see this covered and I'm going to put this out there, he would hurt animals. He was not a good person. He would go to the parks and try to pick fights.

But there were videos that circulated of him getting bullied about his clothing and how he wore the same things over and over. Here is that video.

Now, we obviously aren't condoning bullying in any way, but according to people at his school, Salvador was usually the instigator in fights like the video we just played. He would pick on students in class and they would react.

But other students at Uvalde High School described him as a quiet person who only really spoke when he was fighting with people. Ariana Diaz, a senior at the time, stated that Salvador was known as the "popular loner." She also mentioned that towards the end of 2021, he seemed to be going through a dark phase.

where he exclusively wore dark clothing, combat boots, and had long unkempt hair, which seems to be the stereotypical school shooter attire. And according to the teachers at his school, his behavior during this time was frightening. According to the public safety director, Steve McGraw, quote,

We had one teacher who said she was always worried about him. He was the student that scared her the most. He started dressing like a school shooter, started acting like a school shooter. He certainly took on the persona of a school shooter in dress and demeanor over the last year, but yet it didn't get reported."

And according to Salvador's cell phone records from around this time, it was clear that he was trying to fit in with his peers, although he was unsuccessful in maintaining any meaningful friendships. It's also around this time when he became fixated on weight loss and fitness.

something that eventually led to an eating disorder. Now, by the time the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Salvador had still only completed the ninth grade. He was doing so poorly in his classes, he was very far behind the other students his age. And then when COVID hit and the students were forced to work from home,

Salvador just completely stopped doing his schoolwork altogether. And according to his loved ones, it's here where he really started struggling. By that time, his older sister had moved out of their family home to join the Navy and Salvador became very isolated and withdrawn. His mom also didn't make him complete his schoolwork. So he got even more behind in his classes.

Now, he wouldn't officially drop out of high school until October 28th, 2021. By then, he was 17 years old and had still only completed the 9th grade.

So Uvalde High School officially withdrew him, citing, quote, poor academic performance and lack of attendance. But with no school, no job, and no driver's license, Salvador had a lot of time on his hands, and he spent most of that time isolated in his bedroom.

According to his former girlfriend, it's around this time when he became interested in mixed martial arts and was constantly hitting his punching bag. Apparently, he picked up this hobby because a group of his friends attempted to jump him earlier that year, and he wanted to be prepared just in case it happened again.

but the only real companion he had was that girlfriend, and he would often vent to her about his frustrations with life. She would later say that Salvador's friends teased him and would always refer to him as "school shooter." However, I have a feeling that he didn't really mind that label. But his ex-girlfriend also admitted that Salvador constantly talked about how he had no plans to live past 18 years old. He reportedly hated his life and repeatedly told her that he wouldn't live long.

By mid-2021, his girlfriend was tired of dealing with his constant pessimistic attitude, so she decided to end things with him, and he did not respond in a healthy way. In fact, following their breakup, he started harassing her and her friends. According to Kiana Baxter, a friend of Salvador's ex-girlfriend, quote, she told me that he was scary, like he would get super violent, and

And when he would lose his temper, she would literally be scared for her life. Following their breakup, Salvador became even more withdrawn, and he spent a lot of his time online. He was very active on social media sites, including TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, and a French live streaming platform called Youbo.

He also started playing more video games and had an interest in Grand Theft Auto and the Call of Duty series. And according to the people he would play with, when Salvador lost these games, he would throw a fit. He would even threaten other players and for his female opponents, he would send them graphic depictions of rape and violence, which is something he had a growing fascination with.

During that time, he was googling gory and violent sex, and he would even send people videos of people being beheaded or dying by suicide. His online profile suggested that he liked being known as an outcast. On Snapchat and Yubo, he named himself the biggest op and salve8dor. Disturbingly, his bio on TikTok read, "'Kids be scared in real life.'"

And he didn't share a lot of his personal life on social media. But his profiles were filled with selfies. One with his shirt lifted up in front of a broken mirror. On the exterior, it was clear that he resonated with this cold and dark persona. But on his private Google searches, it was obvious that he longed for interpersonal relationships. In some searches, he googled about how he didn't feel human. In others, he looked up information on sociopaths.

Because it was difficult for him to make friends, he felt as if he might be a sociopath. After looking this up, he began receiving emails about connecting with a psychologist in his area to receive treatment. But he never did.

But like many of these monsters, the online world gave him an opportunity to be whoever he wanted to be. Behind the protection of a screen, Salvador could say and do whatever he wanted. He could come across as this big violent man who people were scared of, and he definitely liked the notoriety of it all.

When he would post on YouTube or TikTok, he would interact with his quote, quote, fans and sometimes referred to himself as famous, even though he barely got any views. Now, this next part is extremely disturbing and involves animal cruelty.

But one day, he and a friend who he met on the internet were hanging out and they decided to post a video on Yubo where they were driving around with a bag of dead cats. He apparently was known to go through neighborhoods killing the innocent animals for fun.

And in this video, he holds up the bloody bag of dead cats and is smiling, showing it off. He then throws the bag into the street and spits on it, while the driver of the car laughs.

In the video, Salvador is also wearing a bulletproof vest. And for whatever reason, after discarding the bag of cats, he and his friend take off down the road and began shooting BB guns at people in the streets. They were also driving so carelessly, they actually caused a serious car accident where emergency services had to respond.

But law enforcement wouldn't find out about this Yubo video until after the mass shooting. Yeah, and surprisingly, no one on Yubo reported the video either, which is concerning in and of itself. But in late 2021, Salvador managed to get a job at the fast food chain called Whataburger. Interestingly, one of his friend's grandmother saw him working there and secretly took a picture of him to show her grandson. She sent the picture along with the message, "An example of what your life will be if you quit school."

Now, Salvador would only last at this job for about a month because he was fired for threatening a female coworker. Her name was Crystal Fouts and she told Fox 7, "He always seemed to take his anger out on the most innocent person in the room. He would get angry at people thinking he wasn't okay. He was just always super odd." Now, after being fired, he went on to work at Wendy's. The coworkers immediately noticed something was wrong with him.

One female employee said she maintained her distance because he was "rude, creepy, and scruffy"

Others described him as "not a good person, troubled, and someone who put himself in a box and would not talk or associate with anyone he worked with" 18-year-old Grace Cruz, who also worked at Wendy's, claimed he openly talked about using his earnings to purchase weapons, saying "He told us he was saving up money for guns and ammo. We would ask him, 'Why would you spend your money on that? Spend it on a car or something useful.'"

Salvador worked at the Wendy's drive-thru window, and it was known that he would make customers feel unsettled. Grace Cruz admitted that people sometimes complained about his appearance, saying, quote, he didn't smell, but he was definitely scruffy. Something was off about him. I didn't feel safe around him, so I always kept my distance, even though we worked the same hours, end quote.

One of the evening managers, Adrian Mendez, said that Salvador mostly kept to himself during his shift and didn't interact with other employees. She told CNN, quote, he felt like the quiet type, the one who doesn't say much. He didn't really socialize with employees. He just worked, got paid, and came in to get his check, end quote.

But as the weeks continued, Salvador started sending threatening and inappropriate messages to his female coworkers, asking them, "Do you know who I am?" He also tried to fight his male coworkers and was known to carry his boxing gloves around with him. One coworker stated, "At the park, there'd be videos of him trying to fight people with boxing gloves."

Towards the end of his employment there, it was reported that Salvador even said he was going to "shoot up the Wendy's." But none of his coworkers ever took him seriously. However, after a while, this odd behavior got him fired.

So that was the second job he was fired from simply because he couldn't get along with people. And from there, Salvador would occasionally work with his grandfather, who owned an air conditioning business. But he only did that occasionally and he definitely didn't care about the job. And because he still lived at home, he didn't have any bills or real-world expenses he had to save up for.

So all of the money he got from Whataburger and Wendy's went towards buying guns and ammunition. It's also around this time when he began telling his friends that he was quote, "saving for something big." He seemed to be ambiguous with these comments, but he did make it known that one day he would be famous.

Salvador Ramos was exhibiting a ton of red flags that would go unnoticed. By the end of 2021, he purchased a red dot sight, rifle slings, shin guards, and body armor. Now, it's important to note that he was only 17 years old, so legally, he could not purchase guns himself. But he did ask at least two people to buy guns for him, including his older sister who refused.

Documents provided by the committee stated that family members and friends were aware that Salvador was trying to purchase guns Even though he wasn't of age And as 2021 came to an end, Salvador's alarming behavior only intensified At that point, he was even more involved on the streaming platform Yubo And it's there where his online friends started referring to him as "Yubo's school shooter"

and even when he played video games his friends referred to him as the school shooter it eventually became an ongoing joke for people who interacted with him online and you don't get a name like that out of nowhere it's clear that salvador was alluding to the fact that he was capable of a school shooting amongst other disturbing comments he would make on yubo salvador went into a chat room and said quote everyone in this world deserves to get raped

And that was just one of the many rape comments he made on their website. One girl, 19-year-old Amanda Robbins, who lived in California, said that she interacted with him on Yubo and he started making sexual advances.

Then, when she turned him down, he threatened to "break down her door, rape and murder her." Following this, Amanda reported his account to Yubo and blocked him, but somehow, she continued seeing his username on different livestreams. Yubo also told her that if she saw anything else like that to report it, but for whatever reason, his account continued to stay up on their website.

And this wasn't the only instance where Salvador said threatening things like this. On February 14th, 2022, at 9:48 PM, he sent a message to a 17 year old user.

"Hey, I'd worship you. Want me to? Are you a celebrity now?" The 17-year-old wasn't interested in his advances, so she didn't respond. And when he realized that she read the message and ignored it, he sent her another message. "Go jump off a bridge." The girl was understandably disturbed by the aggressive comment, and she thought it would be best to just ignore him altogether.

This guy was clearly unhinged and she didn't want to entertain it, but that wouldn't stop him from harassing her. Somehow, in the weeks after this, Salvador was able to get the girl's real name and phone number, and from there, he started texting her threatening messages. "Hi, are you going to ask how I got your number? Answer me. You're going to regret not doing what I say. Biggest op here." Smiley face.

The biggest op was his username, so as soon as the text came through, she knew exactly who it was. This girl, just like the one before, would also report his account for harassment and hate speech, but she said she only received automated replies, and again, his account was not banned.

Then in April of 2022, another girl would get harassed. 18-year-old Hannah lived in Ontario, Canada, and one day, Salvador messaged her threatening to shoot up her school, rape her, and then murder her and her mom.

Again, she would report his account to Yubo, but in response, his account was only temporarily banned and just days later he was back to live streaming and harassing women, which is absolutely unacceptable. If members of this website are consistently threatening to rape and murder people, their account should be permanently banned, no exceptions. But sadly, that wasn't the case.

Now, apparently, when Salvador would make these threats to women, other people in the livestream would stand up for them and say things like "Get the fuck out of here, you weirdo. These girls don't want you. Leave them alone." One member reported, "I'm not going to lie, he was bullied on the app. It's almost a high school community. There are losers, there are popular people there. It's weird to explain. Like, when he would join lives, most people would say 'Youbo's school shooter' because he was known as being weird."

A school friend of Salvador's named Santo Valdez Jr. told CNN that one day while he was at the park, Salvador showed up with these deep cuts all over his face. And when asked what happened, Salvador said that his cat scratched him. However, a few months later, it was revealed that he actually cut his own face, quote, "just for fun."

He admitted to Santos that he had used knives to cut his face over and over again. Now, who knows which story is true, but it was reported that the cuts did not look like cat scratches.

But nonetheless, it was clear that Salvador enjoyed being an outcast. His former classmates admitted, quote, the people that did try to give him a chance to be friends with, he scared them away. He was a bully, really. If you didn't give him what he wanted, he was a bully to you, end quote.

In his isolation, Salvador continued to post online. He even posted a wish list on one of his social media accounts that showed which automatic rifles he wanted to purchase. Then on TikTok, he posted videos of himself punching walls, wearing his boxing gloves. He also declared that he could fight anyone.

and he even encouraged people to do so. It was obvious by looking at his social media that he was one of those people who tried really hard to look tough. He thought it was cool to post videos of himself fighting, harming animals, egging cars, shooting people with BB guns, but his attempts at looking tough really missed the mark.

Not that I should even have to say this, but if you're posting that kind of stuff online, you don't look cool. In reality, you're just screaming that you're an insecure person, which is exactly what he was.

In early 2022, Salvador also openly posted about his volatile relationship with his mother, Adriana. At one point, he even livestreamed a huge argument he had with her that started because she disconnected their wifi. Now, on this livestream, many of his family members listened in, and the argument got so intense, the police were called to their home, but no arrests were made.

And according to Adriana's live-in boyfriend, 62-year-old Juan Alvarez, fights like this were extremely common Salvador was very disrespectful to his mother

and their fights usually ended in him punching holes in the walls. According to Juan, anytime he would try to sit down and talk to him about it, Salvador would just stare at him, never uttering a word, and then get up and walk away. Juan would later say, "He was kind of a weird one. I never got along with him. I never socialized with him. He doesn't talk to nobody."

When you tried to talk to him, he'd just sit there and walk away. Now, this fight, the one that was livestreamed, seemed to be the final straw for Adriana. And afterwards, she kicked Salvador out of the house, and he was forced to go live with his grandmother.

Unfortunately, Salvador's grandma lived just a few blocks away from Robb Elementary School. So every day, Salvador, who was full of hatred, would drive by the school with horribly disgusting thoughts running through his head. Now, interestingly enough, while he was estranged from his mother,

Salvador would actually start talking to his father again. Throughout his life, they never really had a good relationship, and Salvador had resentment towards his dad for not being around. He was even known to tell people that his father didn't love him, so it's clear that this was a big internal issue he struggled with.

Now, even though his dad had been coming around more, it just wasn't enough to heal the brokenness within him. And like we mentioned, at this point in our story, Salvador was now living with his grandmother and it was not a great situation. In fact, Salvador didn't have a room to himself, so he was having to sleep on the ground in the living room. And according to his cousin, he started talking about how he was tired of living.

They ended up having a heart-to-heart, and it was clear that Salvador was suicidal. His cousin even talked him out of it. But unbeknownst to everyone, Salvador Ramos had been plotting something far more destructive than killing himself. He wanted to commit a school shooting at the elementary school a few blocks down, and he was just months away from carrying it out.

Starting in February of 2022, Salvador started making purchases for the mass shooting. According to the ATF, he bought 60 30-round magazines, a holographic weapon sight, and a Hellfire Gen 2 snap-on trigger system.

Now, he was still only 17 years old, so he wasn't old enough to purchase a firearm just yet. But he did do a ton of research on AR-15s, including what type of ammunition was needed, whether or not you could reuse an emptied magazine, and also a specific type of "juggernaut armor," which is a fictional type of armor that's used in video games. Then, on March 23rd, a suspicious person wearing all black was caught on security camera at Robb Elementary School.

This person was never fully identified, but they were carrying a backpack, and it seemed as if they were canvassing the school. And after walking around the school for a while, in the video, the person just leaves. Again, authorities couldn't say with 100% certainty that it was Salvador, but it did seem to match his description. And given what he would later go on to do, it's pretty safe to assume that it was most likely him.

While Salvador was planning the mass shooting at Robb Elementary, he continued to speak with people online. And keep in mind, his old high school classmates were still in school at the time. In fact, they were seniors in high school, just months away from graduating. Meanwhile, Salvador had dropped out and didn't have much going for him.

But his old classmates were also concerned about his behavior. In March of 2022, a boy he went to school with messaged him saying, "People at school talk shit about you and call you school shooter." Which is always something that I find wild about mass shootings. It seems as though every time one occurs, everyone that knows the shooter always says that they saw it coming.

that they are the type of person that would do something like that. Sometimes in school shootings, people can even guess exactly who did it without even seeing the shooter themselves.

and Salvador was no different. The people that knew him knew that he was capable of mass destruction. In fact, he was straight up telling people that he was going to commit a school shooting, but still nothing was done about it. On April 2nd, 2022, Salvador had the following conversation with someone on Instagram. - Are you gonna remember me in 50 something days?

"Probably not," shrugging emoji. - All right, we'll see in May with a thumbs up emoji. - In another online conversation, Salvador told a friend that he was going to be famous and that what he planned to do would quote, "Be all over the news." But again, no authorities were alerted.

Then in late April, there was another online conversation that alluded to the fact that Salvador had already picked out a date for the mass shooting. Here is how that conversation went down and I will play the part of the friend. I'ma probably go out to you all day in the summer. We should link. Damn, why are you coming here? If it's before May 23rd, I'm down. To visit you, if I get a car by then.

probably go in July or August. - Damn, that's too late. I'm about to get two ARs. Wanna see? - On May 14th, 2022, he sent a direct message to someone that said, quote, "10 more days." The person would later admit that they figured Salvador was going to, quote, "shoot up a school or something," or even, quote, "commit mass murder," but still, no authorities were notified.

Then on May 17th, a friend messaged him saying that people were going around quote, "telling everyone you shooting up the school," end quote. So as you can see, people were talking about it.

And Salvador loved the attention. On May 16th, 2022, Salvador would turn 18 years old, meaning he was finally of age to purchase a firearm and all of the ammunition he wanted. Now, although he wasn't working at the time, he had saved up all of his money he earned from working at Whataburger and Wendy's, and he used it at an online Georgia retailer called Daniel Defense.

And it's there where he ordered 1,740 rounds of 5.56mm 75 grain boat tail hollow points to his doorstep At a cost of $1,761.50 He also ordered a Daniel Defense DDM-4V7, an AR-15 style rifle For shipment to a gun store in Uvalde At a cost of $2,054.28 Including tax and a transfer fee

And just as a little reminder to anyone listening, especially our young listeners, if you ever see anyone online alluding to anything like this, even if you think they're joking, tell someone. There are countless stories out there of mass shooters saying things like this online,

And so many people see it and they don't say anything. And I'm sure these people are filled with regret afterwards that they didn't tell the police. So just as a rule of thumb, even if you don't think someone is serious, report it. And from there, if the police decide that they're not going to do anything about it, that's on them. But at least you did your part.

And the world is too dangerous to ignore these types of red flags. So please, if you ever see someone online saying anything even remotely close to this, call your local police department so that they can keep an eye on these sorts of people. In the town of Uvalde is a gun store called Oasis Outback.

which is located about 10 minutes away from Salvador's grandma's house. And on May 17th, the day after his birthday, Salvador stops by and purchases a Smith & Wesson M&P 15, which is a rifle he bought for $1,081.42. Then the day after that, he went back to the gun store and bought 375 rounds of M193s.

and a 5.56 millimeter 55 grain round with a full metal jacket. Now, I'm not sure how Salvador got to the gun stores on these occasions, considering he didn't have a car or a driver's license. I'm assuming he walked or got a ride. But on May 20th,

He got word that the rifle he purchased online had been delivered. So he asked his uncle for a ride. He apparently didn't want to be walking around holding a rifle because it would raise some red flags. So his uncle drove him there, but he didn't tell his uncle he was picking up a gun. You see, directly next to the gun store is a popular barbecue restaurant.

And that morning, Salvador had been going on and on about how he was in the mood for some brisket. So later that day, his uncle drove him over to pick up some food to go while he waited back in the car. However, not long after when Salvador returned, he wasn't carrying a plate of brisket. Instead, he was holding a long dark box with a rifle inside.

Now, according to the committee, "The uncle said he did not see what was in the attacker's package, and he was too unfamiliar with firearms to know what might have been inside. It is known that the package contained the second, more expensive rifle used in the shooting."

And while Salvador was in the gun store that day, he also had the staff install the holographic sight on the rifle. Now, he likely made multiple trips to the store so that he wouldn't raise suspicion buying it all at once. And it seemed to work.

The owner of the gun store would later say that he was a quote, "Average customer with no red flags or suspicious conditions." End quote. For Salvador's background check, everything was clear. He didn't have a criminal record and there was no history of mental illness. So the store owner had no reason not to sell him the gun. Now the owner did apparently ask Salvador how he was able to afford all of this.

And he responded that he had been saving up his work money. However, later on, customers that were inside of the store said that there was something off about Salvador's presence. Not only was he kind of nervous and fidgety, but he was also dressed in your stereotypical school shooter attire. They would later say, quote, and looked like one of those school shooters, end quote.

Another customer said he gave off bad vibes. There was also CCTV footage from inside of the store and video shows him grabbing the gun from the employee and aiming it off in the distance. Of course, this is pretty normal when people buy a gun, but it is eerie that when he did this, he was practicing his aim for when he would shoot up Rob Elementary.

Now, according to the Gun Control Act of 1968, the ATF must be notified of multiple gun purchases, specifically when there are two or more within five consecutive business days. And they do this to make sure people aren't gun trafficking. But the local Uvalde Police Department would only be notified of a handgun purchase. Therefore, Salvador's purchases would be alerted to the federal ATF and not the local sheriff.

So the Uvalde Police Department had no idea about the new 18-year-old in town buying several rifles. - But after successfully purchasing his weapons, Salvador attempted to store them at his grandmother's house. However, he would quickly run into trouble because she didn't want them there. So Salvador had to come up with a plan.

He ended up storing one of the rifles at his uncle's house and the other he hid somewhere outside of his grandmother's home. But now that he had the weapons he would use in the mass shooting, all he had to do was wait for May 24th, 2022. In the meantime, he would continue to speak with people online about his recent purchases. Here is one conversation.

Just spent $16.52 on ammo and $21.50 on some AR. Shake my head. Skull emoji. Laughing face emoji. Giving me school shooter vibes.

Now, 10 days before the Uvalde school shooting, on May 14th, 2022, another horrific mass shooting took place in Buffalo, New York, at the Topps Friendly Markets, where 10 people were murdered by a racist man targeting black people. And days after it, on May 19th, Salvador spent some time Googling about the mass shooting.

It's also on that day where he played Roblox with his cousin's young son. Believe it or not, that child actually went to school at Robb Elementary, and Salvador used that opportunity to ask his young cousin about their school schedule, including specific details about lunch periods and recess. It seemed as though Salvador wanted to learn all he could about Robb Elementary.

so that when the day came, he would be able to kill as many innocent people as he possibly could. And he used his young cousin, a student there, to get that crucial information. A monster in the truest form. In the days leading up to the shooting, it was apparent that Salvador's relationship with his grandmother had become strained.

According to a neighbor named Rudy Martinez, Salvador's 66-year-old grandmother had found an AR-15-style rifle inside a duffel bag in the home, and she demanded that it be removed from the house immediately. Apparently, Salvador's grandfather, Rolando Reyes, had a criminal record so he was prohibited from having any firearms inside the house.

So it wasn't just that she didn't want the rifles there, they legally couldn't have them there. But Salvador was angry with her. Instead of being grateful that she had given him a free place to live, he decided to start a screaming match with her. He would end up storming out of the house and didn't return for another three days. And when he finally came back, it was May 23rd, 2022. The day before the mass shooting.

It was also on that day when Salvador messaged a 15-year-old girl from Frankfurt, Germany, named Cece. The two had met on the social media platform Yubo on May 9th, and over the next couple of weeks they had chatted back and forth. According to CNN, Salvador would FaceTime her, and she said, "He looked happy and comfortable talking to me.

Cece said that he asked her a lot of questions about what it's like living in Germany. And she noted throughout their conversations that Salvador never had any friends with him and that he mostly spent his free time alone on the internet. But he also mentioned some things that were concerning. Cece said that he told her he "threw dead cats at people's houses."

It seemed as though Salvador was comfortable with Cece. She was one of the few people that he didn't scare off. And on May 23rd, the day before the shooting, he sent her a message. - I got a little secret I wanna tell you. - Cece tried asking what the secret was, but here was his response. - Impossible for today because something is being delivered Monday 23 by 7:00 PM. - The message didn't really make a lot of sense.

But later that day, Salvador received an order of 1,740 hollow point bullets.

He now had everything he needed for the mass shooting at Robb Elementary. Sadly, in the months before the massacre, Salvador made it very clear that he was gearing up for something big, something that would, quote, make him famous. He also posted pictures of his rifles all over the internet. And when people would ask him what it was for, he would respond, quote, don't worry about it.

But for others, he alluded to something much darker. He had many conversations with people that should have been reported, but they weren't. And that night, everyone in Uvalde went to bed, having no idea that their town was about to change forever.

In the early morning hours of May 24th, 2022, Salvador sent a message to an Instagram model in California whom he had never met in real life. The message said, I'll text you in an hour, but you have to respond. I got a little secret I want to tell you. A week earlier, he had tagged her in a picture of his guns and asked her to share them, but she was obviously creeped out and replied, quote,

I barely know you and you tag me in a picture with some guns. It's just scary." Her message made it clear that she was not interested, but he didn't seem to get the hint. And he was dying to tell people about his sick, sadistic plans for that day. So at around 10:00 AM, he FaceTimes his friend Cece, the teenager from Germany. On their hour-long FaceTime call, he showed her his outfit for the day.

which was all black clothing. He also mentioned he had a secret, but he couldn't tell her until his grandfather left their house for the day. When the conversation ended, Salvador texted her with live updates on the situation. - I'm gonna tell you right now, hold on. Waiting for this bitch. I'm gonna do something to her right now. OMG, she's on the phone with AT&T about my phone. It's annoying, what? - Now that morning, Salvador and his grandma had been arguing.

During his time living with her, he had been extremely disrespectful and she was tired of it. She even threatened to remove him from her cell phone plan and was on the phone with AT&T figuring out how to do it. But after texting Cece saying quote, I'm gonna do something to her right now, Salvador would make do on that promise.

After his grandma got off the phone with AT&T, he would retrieve his gun, point it directly at her face, and pull the trigger. This very action was the start of the most horrific day the town of Uvalde had ever seen, and it had only just begun.

At 11:21 a.m. Salvador texted Cece again saying, "I just shot my grandma on her head. I'm gonna go shoot up an elementary school right now." 28 seconds after receiving the text, Cece replied, "Cool." Although she would later delete this response from her phone. She would later tell investigators that she didn't believe Salvador was being serious.

And it wasn't until she saw the shooting on the news when she finally realized he was telling the truth. In a later interview, she admitted, quote, maybe I could have changed the outcome. I just could never guess that he'd actually do this, end quote. But the reality was Salvador Ramos was telling the truth. He had shot his grandmother in the face.

He then retrieved his guns and ammunition, got into his grandmother's truck, and started making his way to Robb Elementary to commit one of the worst mass shootings our country has ever seen.

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Hey everybody, it's Colin here. Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of Murder in America. Now, I know a lot of people aren't going to be listening to these episodes because

They're obviously really, really tough to get through and this is just such a tragedy in every single way. I mean, I can't think of something that's happened recently that was more profoundly impactful than the Uvalde shooting, but we're trying to take as much care as we can when dealing with this story. And there's just so much information about it and so many stories we have to tell that are involved in the next coming weeks.

Obviously, this crime impacted Courtney and I living here in Texas. And Courtney's mom is actually an elementary school teacher here in Texas as well. So we both remember when this first happened, immediately thinking about her mom and our families. And we definitely hugged her a little bit tighter the next time that we saw her. But I want to thank a few of our new patrons this week. Jennifer DeCacco, Danny Vecchio, Melissa Rines, Caden Michael, Rosemell Gow, Leslie Baca Lopez, Savannah,

Chris Watson, Madison Raines, Stephanie Aguilar, Dean Burns, Laura Griffith, Jasmine Hall, Kaylee Ogg, Jake Larson, Jacob, Chris Ponce, Cass Moreau, Sarah M. O'Brien, Nicole Munday, Lisa Anderson, Taylor, Emily Cook, Monica, and Evan Gong.

Guys, that is so many patrons. If you enjoy the show, if you like Murder in America, you like what we're doing here, you can support our work on Patreon. Just head to patreon.com and search Murder in America. For $5 a month, you get access to all of our episodes on the main feed early and ad-free. For $10 a month, you get that free.

Plus two full length bonus episodes of murder in America. And for $20 a month, you get a bonus episode of the show every single week of the month, along with the main feed episodes early and ad free. It's fun. We love talking and interacting with y'all on there. Also follow us on Instagram at murder in America. We're trying to hit a hundred thousand followers this year.

And if you could, please take a moment and go leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. We really appreciate it. And we love hearing from y'all. But yeah, we're going to resume this story next week. Thank you everybody for tuning in this week. And yeah, I'll catch you on the next one.

Hello, I'm Shelby Scott, the host of Scare You to Sleep, a podcast where I tell you spooky bedtime stories full of creepy sound effects and music that is soothing yet unsettling to help immerse you into a world of horror. This is a show for those of us who have realized horror is a

Horror can be a strange but relaxing escape from reality. Speaking of escapes, sometimes I lead you through guided nightmares, like a guided meditation, but instead of flowery meadows, I take you on a journey through your own personal nightmare.

So come get lost in the terror with me. Listen to Scare You to Sleep wherever you listen to podcasts or find us online at bloody.fm. Sweet screams. Welcome to the All 80s Movies Podcast. I'm Bill. And I'm Jason. And this is the podcast where we talk about the blockbusters, the flops, and everything in between from one of the freshest decades for movies, the 1980s. So whether you're a brain, a jock,

a valley girl, or a Jedi, we've got some 80s classics for you. Do these movies stand the test of time? Are we discovering something new? Is there an 80s movie we are finally watching for the first time? Join us each week as we dive into the cinematic nostalgia that inspired and influenced a generation. From the hits to the cult classics, we'll discuss our earliest memories, favorite scenes, fun facts, and our not-so-favorite movie moments, too. You can find the All 80s Movies Podcast wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Please follow, and happy listening. Hey there, are you in need of a new weekly fix of horror gaming discussions? Then look no further than Safe Room, Bloody FM's horror video gaming podcast. I'm your host Jay Krieger, and I am the other one, Neil Boe. And every week, Neil, myself, and the occasional guest get together to chat about classic and contemporary horror games, and the elements that make them a standout amongst the hordes of horror games being released seemingly every day now.

In addition to celebrating anniversaries and new releases, we also interview influential horror developers such as Amnesia the Bunker's creative lead, Frederick Wilson, and even the maestro of lo-fi horror, Erdorf, the developer behind the Faith trilogy. And finally, on Thursdays, we release episodes of Horror Bytes, our bite-sized indie horror showcase in which Neil and I share a game that we discovered on Itch.io from an up-and-coming developer,

So if this sounds like the podcast for you, please consider checking out Safe Room on your preferred podcast platform and be sure to give us a follow on Twitter at Safe Room Pod for show updates.