Shooter used to cut his face with knives

[milestogo]

Santos Valdez Jr., 18, told the Washington Post that the two had been friends since elementary school until Ramos' behavior changed.

Valdez told the newspaper Ramos would sometimes drive around with another friend and shoot at random people with his BB gun and also egg people’s cars.

Ramos once met him at a park where they often played basketball with cuts all over his face, initially blaming the injuries on a cat, Valdez said, according to the Washington Post.

“Then he told me the truth, that he’d cut up his face with knives over and over and over," Valdez told the newspaper. “I was like, ‘You’re crazy, bro, why would you do that?’”

Valdez said Ramos replied that he did it for fun, the Post reported.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-gunman-left-home-fight-mom-wi-fi-mothers-boyfriend-says-rcna30495

That's major, visible self-harm that a parent or other guardian should have noticed.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. Gun control is only one small part of what we could do to stop gun violence.

There are so, so many opportunities for off-ramping people on a path toward the destruction of self or others, years before the crisis ever happens. Better mental health care options is also a small part. More reliable housing and employment. Stronger and broader safety nets and direct aid. A richer education around emotional intelligence and regulation. A culture that doesn't fetishize individualism and an economic system that isn't a zero-sum game. It didn't have to be this way for Ramos, and gun control is only a small part of it.

[angrygranny]

5. A culture that doesn't fetishize weapons.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. They should have noticed, and most likely did. But maybe they were embarrassed by his actions. n/t

[womanofthehills]

24. After a big fight with his mom,where 8 police responded, he moved in with grandparents

Texas gunman left home after fight with mom about Wi-Fi, mother's boyfriend says
“He was kind of a weird one. I never got along with him. I never socialized with him. He doesn’t talk to nobody,” Juan Alvarez said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-gunman-left-home-fight-mom-wi-fi-mothers-boyfriend-says-rcna30495

[lapfog_1]

3. probably shot at little animals too

a common background of both serial killers and mass shooters.

[angrygranny]

4. Have you ever tried getting help for loved ones with serious mental illness?

Just try getting any treatment for loved ones suffering with psychiatric disorders in the U.S.

Federal HIPAA laws forbid families and parents from knowing about any history or treatment for their kids 18 and older; and there's basically no treatment for the thousands with serious mental illness who need it, but won't volunteer for treatment. Even those who volunteer are put on a long waiting list because there aren't enough facilities available. Then they still have the choice of taking medications or not.

Like gun control, it's called a civil rights issue. Our laws state anyone should be free to buy military-grade weapons designed to kill as many people as possible and as much ammunition as they can afford.

Likewise, seriously mentally ill loved ones should be free to live street life of fear, despair, and sometimes violence. If they're violent, we put them in prison, but they still must volunteer for treatment, if it's even available.

Our systems are upside down and we see mental illness as a moral failing, not a brain illness.

We see the deaths of our most vulnerable as the cost of personal freedom not as tragedies that we can try to stop.

[inthewind21]

7. I wonder if it's in the water

Because the US seems to be the ONLY country on the planet full of people with "serious mental illness" that run out and commit mass shootings.

[mopinko]

13. i raised 2 axis 1 kids. it's nearly impossible.

one of them i couldnt get info when she was only 16.
cutting his face is deeply disturbing. mine cut, but she hid it. it did get her a spot in a juvie psyche ward, which was hard to do.
are there no mandatory reporting laws in texas?
it's hard to get help for someone who doesnt want it, but jezuz. if you cant compel treatment for a minor in such obvious trouble, what the hell comes next?

and yeah, when they do decide to get help, finding it is hard and paying for it can be impossible.

[Hekate]

34. Mandatory reporting in Texas is only for women contemplating abortion & for trans kids' parents

That’s how they roll in Texas.

[mopinko]

35. apparently.

[sinkingfeeling]

6. Who cares? I don't care about his tragic mistreatment and horrible life. There is nothing that can

mitigate his murders.

[milestogo]

8. You miss the point.

Self-harm is a cry for help. Self-harming one's face is a highly visible scream for help.

Everybody missed it. If he had gotten some help, maybe he could have been stopped.

[inthewind21]

10. What point was missed?

Do you have some inside knowledge the rest of the public doesn't? Some kid says he was told this? And you bought it hook line and sinker even though so far the police have found no police records and no mental health records for this kid. But by all means, believe everything you read less than 12 hours after the fact. And continue to grasp for a justification.

[womanofthehills]

26. Eight cops responded to fight he had with mom

There are not always records- but neighbors, his Facebook pages and kids who knew him all seem to paint him as not mentally well. Mom’s boyfriend said he would not talk.

[atreides1]

15. I don't believe it was missed

I believe it was ignored!

[inthewind21]

9. This is the norm

It's ALWAYS blamed on "mental illness" and the excuses fly.

[ProfessorGAC]

20. On Top Of That...

...the mental illness tag applied to a mass shooter seems to belabor the obvious.
Of course these people have psych issues.
I've been very angry in my life. But, my id has a lid. Not only did the idea of shooting up a school or shopping center never seem a good idea, but such an action never entered my head.
Finally, those that use this "Captain Obvious" excuse are the same crowd that want to defund everything but bombs & cops, and resist background checks for gun buying.
It's just empty rhetoric.

[womanofthehills]

29. Because there is so much mental illness out there

Having done social work in the past and had a knife pulled on me - they are out there.

[AntiFascist]

40. Trump is obviously mentally ill, and he may likely run for president again...

what does that say about our country?

[Irish_Dem]

11. Other countries have the same rates of mental illness as the US.

And low rates of gun violence.

So the issue is not mental illness.

The issues are availability of military grade weapons and lack of mental health treatment in the US.

[milestogo]

12. We don't know what the issue was in this individual case.

[Irish_Dem]

14. He was mentally ill by all accounts.

But the difference here in the US is that we make it easy for people to act out and murder children.

[milestogo]

18. I am not aware that he was evaluated by a mental health professional.

Although I think that cutting one's face definitely suggests that he should have been.

[Irish_Dem]

19. I am a retired psychologist with 40 yrs clinical experience.

No I didn't evaluate this patient personally. But I am retired so I can speak out when I like.

After 40 yrs in practice you get to the bottom line fast.

Yes cutting his face in that manner is a big red flag.

[Zeitghost]

22. I'm not a professional

But I would imagine it is impossible for someone without a serious mental illness ands/or behavioral disorder to commit an act like this.

[Irish_Dem]

23. Yes of course. Cutting his face is very minor compared to his cold blooded murder of children.

Children he did not know, who posed no threat to him, who could not fight back.

He had the wherewithal to plan the mass murder, to buy the weapon, bullets and gear. So he was not totally disorganized in his thought process. But obviously mentally ill.

We would need more information to determine the exact diagnosis, but safe to say he was very disturbed.

[Zeitghost]

37. Yes,

Sorry if I came off as challenging the completeness of your post. Just using your post as a jumping off point for my general comment on mental illness and these types of tragic mass casualty events.

I understand that the vast majority of mentally ill people are not a threat to others. But as I pointed out, I do believe the vast majority if not all who do commit acts like this have something going on. And how could it be any other way, nobody in their right mind could do such a thing.

[Irish_Dem]

38. You are fine, I like a good discussion.

Yes you are correct. Most mentally ill people are not dangerous at all.

And yes I agree completely, anyone who commits this type of crime is displaying significant abnormal behavior. Severe maladaptive antisocial behavior. This kind of person with easy access to assault rifles is not a good combination.

[milestogo]

28. Thank you.

Most people who self-harm are very self conscious about their scars. I've heard of young women who wear long sleeves all the time to cover up the marks. Cutting your face seems to be a couple of levels beyond cutting your forearms.

[Irish_Dem]

32. Yes exactly, my thought process as well.

Kids can cut themselves for a variety of reasons, and in a variety of ways.

But typically it is the arms and legs. Sometime fingers. And it is hidden.

Sometimes people pull out their eyebrows or hair.

But taking a knife and cutting up your face is another thing altogether.

Yes it is a couple of notches up for sure. A very public display of self mutilation. More bizarre to disfigure the face, the the very public display of who we are. Certainly sounds more psychotic to me than neurotic.

[womanofthehills]

30. His moms boyfriend said he would not talk

And that he was weird.

[Javaman]

16. he reminds me of a guy in new in HS many many years ago...

this guy named Tony. He would eat glass for the "fun of it".

he eventually did some heavy shit. now he spends all his time in prison.

[Roland99]

17. But he had no history of mental illness or issues according to qultists

[IcyPeas]

21. his mother is a drug user, she may have been to wasted to notice anything.

[Demovictory9]

25. I'm not seeing facial scarring

[milestogo]

27. Who knows.

Facial skin heals pretty well. And that's a lousy picture.

[womanofthehills]

31. That is such an out of focus photo and most kids use filters

Plus his hair is covering parts of his face.

[mnmoderatedem]

33. Greg Abbott. The suspect "had no known mental issues"

key word "known".

Greg, he clearly had mental issues. Quit trying to put a happy anti-gun control face on the situation.

[Iggo]

36. And Texas sold him a gun.

[Treefrog]

39. Why does anyone believe this random kid?

Probably looking for fame too. Seems to be a big motivator for this age group nowadays.