Uvalde school records show teenage gunman's spiral before 2022 shooting

The teenage gunman successful the 2022 Robb Elementary School massacre entered schoolhouse successful Uvalde, Texas, arsenic a agleam learner earlier years of escalating world and behavioral troubles that preceded him opening occurrence connected a fourth-grade classroom, according to records released Monday.

The schoolhouse files uncover successful greater item 18-year-old Salvador Ramos' downward spiral that authorities person good documented since the onslaught that killed 19 children and 2 teachers. One appraisal shows Ramos described arsenic a "motivated thinker and learner" successful kindergarten, but by mediate school, helium was suspended oregon written up aggregate times for harassment, bullying and failing to conscionable the minimum statewide investigating standards.

In October 2021 - 7 months earlier the shooting - Ramos withdrew from precocious schoolhouse due to the fact that of "poor world performance, deficiency of attendance" and records showed helium had failing grades successful astir each classes.

Crosses are surrounded by flowers and different mementos astatine a memorial, June 9, 2022, for the victims of a shooting astatine Robb Elementary School successful Uvalde, Texas.

AP Photo/Eric Gay, File

The records are among thousands of pages released by the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District pursuing a yearslong ineligible conflict to withhold documents connected to 1 of the deadliest schoolroom attacks successful U.S. history.

Many of the documents connection scant caller revelations surrounding the onslaught and the gunman, whose troubled past has been laid retired successful erstwhile authorities and national investigations. Nor bash the records - which bash not see immoderate video from the time of the shooting - shed airy connected the hesitant and wide criticized constabulary response.

The documents see the unit record of erstwhile Uvalde schools constabulary main Pete Arredondo, 1 of 2 officers facing transgression charges implicit the dilatory instrumentality enforcement response, and emails to and from schoolhouse administrators successful the days and weeks aft the attack.

At 11:40 a.m. connected the time of the shooting, Arredondo received a substance from a schoolhouse territory caput noting that different worker reported proceeding gunfire extracurricular the school.

"They went up and locked themselves down," the substance to Arredondo read.

Arredondo and Adrian Gonzales, different erstwhile Uvalde schoolhouse territory officer, are the lone responding officers who look transgression charges for their actions that day. They some person pleaded not blameworthy to aggregate counts of kid endangerment and abandonment and are scheduled for proceedings aboriginal this year.

Media organizations, including The Associated Press, sued the territory and region successful 2022 for the merchandise of their records related to the wide shooting that killed 19 students and 2 teachers. A Texas appeals tribunal successful July upheld a little court's ruling that the records indispensable beryllium released.

The records are not the public's archetypal glimpse wrong 1 of the nation's deadliest wide shootings and the dilatory instrumentality enforcement effect that has been wide condemned. Last year, metropolis officials successful Uvalde released constabulary assemblage cam videos and recordings of 911 calls.

Shooter's records

Salvador Ramos' world records showed a pupil who arsenic a kindergartener was described arsenic "a singular small boy" who was a "very hard worker," but helium went connected to beryllium suspended aggregate times successful inferior precocious and withdrew from precocious schoolhouse due to the fact that of "poor world performance."

The records showed a pupil spiraling further into world and behavioral problems, chopped classes and confrontations with teachers done mediate school. By ninth grade, helium was classified arsenic "at risk."

The records align with erstwhile findings released by investigators, including a 2022 Texas House study that laid retired however the gunman "turned down a acheronian path" aft dropping retired of schoolhouse and became progressively isolated successful the twelvemonth anterior to the shooting.

Uvalde schoolhouse constabulary chief

Arredondo has been the people of overmuch of the blasted for the instrumentality enforcement effect that saw astir 400 local, authorities and national officers hold much than 70 minutes earlier confronting the gunman successful a schoolroom filled with dormant and wounded children and teachers arsenic parents extracurricular begged them to spell in.

The Arredondo emails aft the shooting amusement a main inactive being asked questions astir information astatine territory events, concerns astir idiosyncratic who liked Ramos' societal media posts and a enactment from a territory head 12 days aft the onslaught that asked: "How are you today?"

The Uvalde territory placed Arredondo connected paid permission connected June 22 successful a missive that told him helium was not to participate immoderate territory building, spell connected immoderate field oregon be immoderate schoolhouse activity. The missive besides directed Arredondo to cooperate with immoderate probe and not to sermon the probe with territory employees.

Post-shooting messaging and anguish

Text messages betwixt a radical of Uvalde schoolhouse staffers amusement successful the days aft the shooting, officials concisely noted criticisms of the effect but avoided responding via substance message. One speech noted a instrumentality enforcement timeline that included a 77-minute delay. Another referenced a quality nonfiction wherever a Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson was pressed connected the delayed response.

"We mightiness beryllium witnessing a immense conflict wrong the DPS," wrote Kenneth Mueller, the district's manager of pupil services. Hal Harrell, the superintendent, responds with a substance to telephone him to "plan this out."

On June 12, a fourth-grade teacher who was wrong the schoolhouse during the shooting told Harrell successful an email that surviving unit members were being ignored by the district.

"I got to perceive astir the aboriginal of the schoolhouse I emotion done a property conference," Lynn Deming wrote. She described taking students wrong from recess erstwhile they heard gunshots and past bullets "came done my windows."

Deming said she tried to laic successful beforehand of her students truthful that she could artifact them from the gunfire.

"I had shrapnel successful my backmost from erstwhile helium had changeable successful my window, I had humor each implicit the backmost of me, but I tried to enactment calm for my students," she wrote. "I needed my students to perceive that they were loved successful lawsuit it was the past happening they ever heard."