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The Uvalde school shooter exhibited strange behavior inside the gun store where he purchased the firearm that he eventually used in the May 2022 attack at Robb Elementary School.
The video footage, obtained by the San Antonio Express-News, has not yet been released, but the news outlet said he "stood out" from other customers at the Oasis Outback gun store in Uvalde. The gunman, 18, was seen pacing back and forth, fumbling with his wallet and fidgeting with a box with a scope.
The gunman's first visit to Oasis Outback was May 17, 2022. He purchased a Smith & Wesson assault-style rifle for over $1,000 with a Mastercard after passing a background check at the store. The next day, he went back to the store to buy three boxes of 5.56mm ammunition. The total was $276 and he paid with a combo of cash and the Mastercard from the day before. He was asked "few, if any" questions.
He went back to the store for a third time on May 20 to purchase a Daniel Defense assault-style rifle. This is the weapon he wound up using in the deadly attack just four days later; he brought both weapons to the school, but ditched the Smith & Wesson after crashing his vehicle in a ditch near Robb Elementary School. The gunman ordered the assault-style rifle online. The store manager asked the gunman how he could afford "such an expensive firearm," to which he replied he had been saving up for it. The gun retails for over $1,800.
The video obtained by the news outlet captures the gunman's suspicious behavior while he was waiting for the Daniel Defense gun transfer and background check to go through. He was dressed in black from head to toe. This transaction lasted not even 30 minutes.
The Oasis Outback manager told federal agents that the gunman "seemed like an average customer" and didn't raise any "red flags" during the May 20 visit, the San Antonio Express-News reports, citing investigation reports they obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Licensed gun dealers are required by federal law to contact the ATF when someone buys two or more guns within five consecutive business days, the news outlet reports. It remains unclear whether Oasis Outback reported the gunman's purchases, since he purchased two firearms in a three day period.