In article <XnsAC9E87D5C8F78xdmod2@95.216.243.224>
<governor.swill@gmail.com> wrote:

Texas officials holding a special Senate hearing on the Uvalde
elementary school mass shooting recognized how despite the 18-
year-old gunman�s prior "abhorrent behavior" and animal abuse
being common knowledge in the small town of just 17,000 people
it was never reported to law enforcement.

During his testimony, Col. Steve McCraw, director of the Texas
Department of Public Safety, also acknowledged how social media
� and the lure of instant worldwide notoriety � may have
motivated 18-year-old Salvador Ramos to commit the act of mass
violence at Robb Elementary School on May 24.

In the aftermath of the shooting that left 19 children and two
teachers dead, McCraw told the Texas Senate "Special Committee
to Protect All Texans" that he has interviewed between 500 to
700 people so far as part of continuing investigations. He said
one teacher told him Ramos "was the student who scared her the
most" and that the suspect had begun "dressing like a mass
shooter" months before.

TEXAS OFFICIAL: UVALDE CLASSROOM DOOR UNLOCKED DURING SHOOTING
AS OFFICERS WAITED FOR KEYS: �ABJECT FAILURE�

"Out of all these interviews, how many times did they tell you
he was the one they were worried about?" Texas state Sen. Paul
Bettencourt, a Republican, asked McCraw.

"Several times. We had one teacher who said she was always
worried about him," McCraw said. "He was the one student who
scared her most. We discussed, as I mentioned earlier, last year
he started dressing like a school shooter, started acting like a
school shooter."

McCraw noted how the revelations from at least half a dozen
individuals of Ramos� concerning behavior happened after the
shooting and were never reported to law enforcement beforehand.

He also said that through interviews, many residents observed
seeing Ramos carrying a bag of dead cats. Despite what
Bettencourt described as such "animal abuse" and "abhorrent
behavior," there was no known record of it from either the
school district or law enforcement before the shooting.

"That�s a major failure," Bettencourt said.

McCraw said Ramos, who has no prior criminal record, was
unemployed at the time of the shooting but had previously worked
on and off in the fast-food industry.

Ramos was shot and killed by a Border Patrol tactical team at
the scene.

In a separate line of questioning, a lawmaker pointed to the
dangers of social media.

"You mentioned a couple of times notoriety � let me ask it this
way regarding social media. It plays into human nature, men
specifically, about wanting to leave their mark, wanting to be
significant, wanting that purpose, wanting to be something. And
that can be good or bad," state Sen. Charles Perry, a
Republican, said to McCraw.

"Do you think the social media aspect of the platform � and it�s
just been relevant up in the last 30 years, right?" he
continued. "I�m 60 � we had these individuals who weren�t
treated right or felt like they were mistreated or had issues,
but they didn�t have a platform."

Perry continued, "Do you think that the idea that this guy knew
the minute he pulled the trigger that he just got notoriety on a
worldwide basis that will live unfortunately into perpetuity?"

"Absolutely," McCraw interjected.

"You think that plays into the psyche?" Perry asked.

"Some of the statements he made would suggest exactly that,"
McCraw concluded.

Throughout the hearing Tuesday, McCraw demonstrated how the door
of one of the classrooms was unlocked, but Uvalde police
officers waited in the hallway and never tried to open it. He
also placed blame on Pete Arredondo, chief of the Uvalde
Consolidated Independent School District Police Department, who
he said spared the lives of armed, trained officers over those
of children.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-official-uvalde-shooter-social-
media-fame-abhorrent-behavior-unchecked