Texas shooter threatened girls online before massacre
Salvador Ramos, the perpetrator of the Texas shooting, spoke to strangers online and engaged in conversations replete with threats and aggression, often directed at young women and girls, US media said.
The New York Daily News reported that the troubling digital conversations took place through the Yobo app, an app that has a live broadcast feature over the Internet as well as large chat rooms, called panels.
Ramos, 18, allegedly posted pictures of dead cats and joked about sexual assault and violence in the months before he carried out the massacre in Robb Elementary School classrooms, the Washington Post reported.
Ramos also shared photos of a gun he claimed he would use in a school shooting.
In a video chat room, recorded by other users of the "Youbo" application, Ramos said: "Everyone in this world deserves to be raped."
The 16-year-old from Austin, Texas, spoke about Ramos' online behavior to the Washington Post, adding that he had received a death threat from the suspect in the January shooting.
"I witnessed him harassing girls and threatening them with sexual assault, such as rape and kidnapping. It wasn't one time, it was recurring," said the teenager, who asked not to be identified.
He stated that he and his friends had repeatedly reported Ramos' online behavior regarding bullying and other wrongdoing.
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