- A report from Texas House of Representatives contained new missed warnings about the Uvalde shooter.
- Several people nicknamed the man "school shooter" ahead of his horrific attack, it said.
- There were many red flags, but the gunman received no interventions at all, it said.
The gunman who attacked Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, had the nickname "school shooter", according to an official report.
But, despite the widespread impression among the man's friends and contacts online that he was a risk, nobody alerted authorities or acted to intervene.
The finding came in a a new interim report released on Sunday by a committee in the Texas House of Representatives committee devoted to investigating the shooting on May 24, which left 21 people dead. The shooter was also killed at the scene by police.
It gave a detailed account of the 18-year-old attacker's personal history in the weeks and months leading up to the shooting. The reported highlighted multiple red flags, but noted that nobody intervened.
In the documents and interviews obtained by the committee, the term "school shooter" came up repeatedly:
- An ex-girlfriend, who split up with him in 2021, said friends used to tease him "constantly" and called him "school shooter." It said he told told her he wouldn't live past 18.
- On the app Yubo, the man had an undisguised fascination with school shootings, as well making multiple threats. This earned him the nickname "Yubo's school shooter" in local chat groups.
- In a March 2022 Instagram group chat, a student told him: "people at school talk [expletive] about you and call you school shooter."
- In late April, the attacker told a friend that he had just bought more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, to which the friend replied: "Givin me school shooter vibes."
- After the shooting, a patron of the store where he bought his guns told the FBI that he "appeared odd and looked like one of those school shooters." (The store owner gave a different account, saying he was an "average customer with no 'red flags.'")
All the signs, but no official interventions
Ultimately, only "private individuals" saw most of the warning signs, the report said, rather than anyone who had a duty to respond. He received no interventions from healthcare providers, law enforcement or his school.
It also added that it was unclear whether the social media sites he used took any action when people reported his violent threats.
The report described a "shy and quiet" individual whose increasing failure to show to up to class resulted in him being withdrawn from Uvalde High School in October 2021.
He also was bullied at different moments both during and outside of school, the report said. He was teased for a speech impediment, per the report.
School records said that someone may have asked for speech therapy but that in the end he "received no special education services," the report said.
But, it said, he was so rarely at school in the months prior that there was little chance to see or report concerns.
The report also describes several instances of him making threats — to a co-worker, at his part-time job at Whataburger; and on the Yubo messaging app. He also harassed his ex-girlfriend after they broke up, the report said.
"None of his online behavior was ever reported to law enforcement," the report said.
The gunman passed the background check to buy ammunition once he was 18, the report said. At the time of the attack, he had no criminal history and had never been arrested.
While the report says it is the most complete understanding of the events of that day, it warned that new information may yet emerge that contradicts its findings.