There were warning signs on social media before the Texas mass shooting
School shooter warning signs - Moms Demand Action calls for more awareness and reporting
A call for 21 minutes of social media silence at noon Tuesday comes as investigators say the Uvalde shooter had posted images of himself and his firearms on social media. The group Moms Demand Action says people and social media companies need to be aware of such signs and report them.
OAKLAND, Calif. - One week after the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, some people are calling for 21 minutes of silence on social media Tuesday at noon, to honor the 21 victims killed.
On what would have been students' start of summer vacation, families instead are gathering for funerals this week at funeral homes. The first visitations on Memorial Day were held two different funeral homes for Amerie Jo Garza,10, and Maite Rodriguez,10.
A total of 19 students and two teachers were killed in last Tuesday's shooting.
"As a parent, my heart goes out to all the other parents in Texas right now," said Alex Navarro, a California volunteer with Moms Demand Action, a group formed after a teen gunned down 26 people in the Sandy Hook school shooting.
"It brought me back to almost 10 years ago when the Sandy Hook shooting happened," said Navarro, "Thoughts and prayers are nice, but we need action."
Moms demand action is calling for more awareness, pointing to research that shows people often see advance warning signs but don't report them.
As investigators uncover more about the shooter 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, they say there were warning signs.
Officials say Ramos legally purchased two guns just after his 18th birthday. The first purchase was an AR-type rifle on May 17th and a second rifle purchase on May 20th.
Then, investigators say he posted photos on social media, showing images on Instagram of two AR-style rifles and one photo where he appears to be holding a gun magazine.
Officials say on TikTok Ramos posted a warning: "Kids be scared."
"It's very apparent that a lot of these mass shooters do post on social media and there are always signs that we see that are very consistent with them," said Navarro.
In a 2019 U.S. Secret Service report on school violence, analysts found most attackers communicated their intent to attack.
The report identified some reasons those warning signs didn't stop the attack.
"In many cases, someone observed a threatening communication or behavior but did not act, either out of fear, not believing the attacker, misjudging the immediacy or location, or believing they had dissuaded the attacker," stated the report.
"People know this. It's posted on social media, so it's on us to report these things as well," said Navarro, "And it's on the social media companies to take it seriously. Our fellow Americans are dying."
Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook says it is working with officials to investigate Ramos’ social media accounts.
Meantime, volunteers with Moms Demand Action in California say the shooting comes just as they were preparing events in the Bay Area for National Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 3rd.
As part of the Wear Orange weekend, people are asked to wear orange for gun violence prevention. A rally and walk across the Golden Gate Bridge is scheduled for Saturday.
Jana Katsuyama is a reporter for KTVU. Email Jana at jana.katsuyama@fox.com and follow her on Twitter @JanaKTVU or Facebook @NewsJana or ktvu.com.