Records show Uvalde shooter has spoken about school shooting before – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Four years before he entered Robb Elementary School, Salvador Ramos admitted to police in 2018 that he planned to shoot people at his school, according to newly released documents.

The case file is one of hundreds of files released by the city of Uvalde on Saturday that include audio recordings, text messages and body camera footage.

The release came after a long legal battle between the city, NBC News and other organizations.

According to Uvalde Police incident reports, two detectives spoke with students at Morales Junior High School who feared their classmate Salvador Ramos was planning a shooting spree at the school.

The students told police that Ramos, then an eighth-grader, “had been talking about it for about four months” and “was fascinated by the Columbine shooting and had talked about wanting to do the same thing with his friend in his senior year, [redacted name]the documents say.

Officials said they also spoke to Ramos, who said he “talked about the school shooting, but
never planned anything.”

According to the report, Ramos said he was tired of being bullied and that he was often hit on the back of the head for no reason, and that other children would make sexual comments to him that he did not like.

Ramos was reportedly hospitalized for psychological evaluation and was given medication to combat his depression.

Four years later, on May 24, 2022, Ramos opened fire at Robb Elementary School, killing 19 students and two teachers before police killed him.

Other files released Saturday include bodycam footage from Uvalde police officers that paint a picture of the confusion and chaos during the mass shooting.

“We may need help. There was a shooting in a school, brother,” Sergeant Eduardo Canales said of his body camera footage at about 12:26 p.m., nearly an hour after Ramos entered the school at 11:33 a.m., according to officers.

At this point, Canales had already been hit in the ear by building fragments when the shooter fired through the door of a classroom.

But bodycam footage from him and others shows that the officers are still standing there and do not enter the classroom, even as more shots are fired.

“We're going to see more hesitation, more of them willing to put their lives ahead of our children,” said Brett Cross, the father of victim Uzi Garcia, shortly after the new files were released.

The footage supports existing facts: About 400 police officers waited more than 70 minutes before entering the shooter's classroom.

What is new about the footage is the actual intrusion of the officers into the classroom and the moments afterwards.

“Where is the suspect?” shouts one officer. “He’s dead!” shouts another.

The video, which was blurred by the city before release, shows panicked and angry officers.

“[Expletive] “Get the guy!” said an officer.

“After the shooter was dead, there was a lot of running. Then there was no hesitation. Then there was this act of urgency,” Cross said.

The released records also include text messages between officials from the days following the massacre.

Most messages express mutual support and encourage rest.

In one interview, Sergeant Donald Page said he would refuse to meet with President Biden.

“Thank you sir for the opportunity, but I'm going to take the advice I was given today. I'm going to camp in the woods, eat great brisket and just relax,” Page wrote.

Cross said the recordings confirmed what he had been feeling for more than two years, but it was still important to see them.

“I think the world needs to continue to see what these officials felt, how children died because of them. Teachers died because of them. Children are forever changed because of their inaction,” he said.

The recordings also include an audio recording of the 911 call in which a man can be heard claiming to be the shooter's uncle and asking to speak to Ramos.

“Maybe he could listen to me, because he listens to me; he listens to everything I tell him,” said the man, who identified himself as Armando Ramos. “Maybe he could resign or do something to turn himself in,” Ramos said, his voice breaking.

The caller told the dispatcher that the shooter, identified as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, had been at his home the night before. He said his nephew stayed with him in his bedroom all night and told him he was upset because his grandmother was “annoying” him.

“Oh my God, please, please don't do anything stupid,” says the man on the phone. “I think he's shooting children.”

The call came in around 1 p.m. on May 24, 2022, about 10 minutes after the shooting stopped. Authorities shot Salvador Ramos at 12:50 p.m. He had entered the school at 11:33 a.m., officials said.