Details Emerge About Teen Shooter in Texas

In the wake of Tuesday's mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, details are emerging about the gunman, identified as 18-year-old Salvador Rolando Ramos. While Newser is focusing its coverage on the victims and other aspects of the aftermath, this file encompasses what's currently known about Ramos. Some of the common themes: He had few friends, he'd been bullied in school over a stutter, he had a volatile relationship with his mother, and he was fascinated with guns. Coverage:

• Profile: Perhaps the most complete profile at the moment is in the Washington Post. Santos Valdez Jr., 18, says they were friends until Ramos' behavior deteriorated. He recounts how Ramos cut up his own face with knives, saying he did so for fun. Another acquaintance, Stephen Garcia, says: "He would get bullied hard, like bullied by a lot of people. ... Over social media, over gaming, over everything." Garcia adds that Ramos took particular grief after posting an image of himself on social media with black eyeliner. The story reports that Ramos had a stutter and a lisp and was mocked in school. He had largely dropped out and wasn't on track to graduate high school. It adds that he sometimes shot random people with a BB gun while with another friend.
• Co-workers: The New York Times interviews a night manager at a local Wendy's who says Ramos worked there about a year before quitting a month ago. He "went out of the way to keep by himself," says Adrian Mendez. "You know how my guys talk to each other and are friendly? He wasn't like that. No one really knew him." Another co-worker, however, says Ramos liked to joke around, per the Times.
• Home life, guns: Both of the above stories report that Ramos regularly got into heated altercations with his mother, some of which drew a police presence. Ramos would often stay with his grandmother, who authorities say he shot before his assault on the school.

• A text: A former classmate tells CNN that Ramos texted him photos of a gun and ammo days ahead of the attack. "He would message me here and there, and four days ago he sent me a picture of the AR he was using ... and a backpack full of 5.56 rounds, probably like seven mags," says the teen, who wished to remain anonymous. "I was like, 'bro, why do you have this?' and he was like, 'Don't worry about it.' ... He proceeded to text me, 'I look very different now. You wouldn't recognize me." Other stories also recount Ramos' posts of or about guns.
• Neighbor: Eduardo Trinidad tells KPRC a familiar thing: that Ramos kept to himself. "My nephew worked with him at Burger King and he was kind of like a loner, you know." (It wasn't immediately clear if Ramos also worked at Burger King or if the neighbor confused the fast-food restaurants.)
• Social media: The Daily Beast digs into reports that Ramos was posting on Instagram and TikTok in the days and even hours before the attack. A message on TikTok read, "Kids be scared IRL." Ramos also appears to have sent direct messages to a female teen hours before the attack with images of guns. The girl says she barely knew him and seemed confused by the messages. However, authorities haven't confirmed whether the accounts belonged to Ramos.

(More Texas mass shooting stories.)