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Uvalde School Shooter’s Father Says His Son Was ‘A Good Person’ & Not A ‘Monster’

Photo: Instagram / Courtesy of the families
Salvador Ramos and the Uvalde shooting victims

The father of Salvador Ramos, the 18-year-old gunman who murdered 21 people at Robb Elementary, in Uvalde, Texas is speaking out about his son.

Salvador Ramos Sr., the shooter’s 42-year-old father, did an exclusive interview with the Daily Beast where he talked about his surprise at learning the news as well as the grief of losing a son.

Salvador Ramos's father expressed his sorrow about the shooting at Robb Elementary school.

“I just want the people to know I’m sorry man, [for] what my son did,” Ramos said.

“I never expected my son to do something like that,” he added. “He should’ve just killed me, you know, instead of doing something like that to someone.”

RELATED: Uvalde Police Officers Allegedly Saved Their Own Kids From Robb Elementary Before Stopping Shooter

Before heading to the elementary school where he killed 19 children and two teachers he had gotten into a dispute with his grandmother, whom he had been living with ever since he was kicked out of his mother’s home, and shot her in the face.

His grandmother is alive and recovering but struggles to speak.

The Uvalde school shooting was the deadliest school shooting in nearly a decade since Adam Lanza killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary in December 2014.

Ramos was at work during the day of the shooting but didn’t find out that anything had happened until his own mother called him.

He frantically tried to contact the local police department and jail in order to ask if his son had been detained, until the realization kicked in.

“They killed my baby man,” he said. “I’m never gonna see my son again, just like they’re not gonna see their kids. And that hurts me.”

“The Daily Beast spoke with Ramos on the porch of his girlfriend’s home east of Uvalde, where he has been living for several years,” they reported. “At times, the tough-spoken Texan broke into tears.”

Although his son’s slaughter was horrific, barricading himself in the room with children before telling them “It’s time to die,” his father has a different view of his son.

He was “a good person” who “stuck to himself.” He had no idea why his son had grown increasingly violent or targeted the elementary school.

RELATED: Uvalde Survivor Says Classmate Was Shot After Police Ordered Her To 'Yell' While Hiding From Shooter

When thinking about what might’ve changed in his son to make him want to carry out a mass shooting, one thing stuck out in his memory — a pair of boxing gloves he’d purchased and started testing out at a local park.

“I said, ‘Mijo, one day somebody’s going to kick your ass,’” Ramos recalled. “I started seeing different changes in him like that.”

In the months leading up to his son’s shooting, Ramos admitted that he hadn’t seen his son much.

His mother had been suffering from cancer and couldn’t risk any exposure to COVID, and his employment also led him outside of the Uvalde area.

About a month ago, his son grew irritated with the COVID precautions and refused to speak with Ramos, marking the last time he had heard from his son.

“My mom tells me he probably would have shot me too, because he would always say I didn’t love him,” he said.

He also places blame on the shooter’s mother, Adriana Reyes, for not buying him enough clothes and school supplies — things which, Ramos says, caused his son to get bullied, alongside his speech impediment.

There are mixed reports about his social life and the people that he spoke to. Some people reported that he got into fights regularly, harassed female coworkers, and had a rapidly declining social life caused by an aggressive streak.

His own father had a lengthy criminal record, which included at least one conviction for assault and causing bodily injury to a family member.

Ramos was also estranged from the gunman’s 21-year-old sister, whom he said was also upset with him for not spending enough time with his family.

“My daughter, I guess, changed her life, she went to the Navy,” he said. “I wish my son would have gone and changed his life."

He seemed remorseful for the loss of his son but wanted to make sure the public knew the whole truth about his son.

“I want my son’s story out there,” he said. “I don’t want them calling him a monster... they don’t know nothing, man. They don’t know anything he was going through.”

RELATED: ‘I Hope You Didn’t Feel Any Pain’ — Families Of Uvalde Shooting Victims Share Heartbreaking Tributes Online

Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Follow him on Twitter here.