On May 24, 18-year-old Salvador Rolando Ramos entered Robb Elementary School in Ulvade, Texas, killing 19 students and two teachers, and wounding 17 others. The students that were killed ranged in age from nine years old to 11. In contrast to the recent mass shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, which was racially-motivated, no motive for the school shooting in Texas has been discovered at the time of this writing.

Investigators are continuing to look into Ramos' background while trying to piece together an exact timeline of the events that led up to the May 24 elementary school shooting. Meanwhile, criticism is being aimed at local police for their apparent unwillingness to enter the school after Ramos barricaded himself in a classroom with his victims. In a recent press conference, Texas Department of Public Safety chief Steven McGraw acknowledged that some wrong decisions were made by law enforcement in the way they responded to the shooting, and he also explained that authorities are still trying to figure out the "why" behind the massacre.

"We haven't gotten into the why, okay?" McGraw said during the press conference. "We know the individual was also into cyber gaming, in that regard, and group gaming." Many have taken this statement to mean that violent video games are being blamed for inspiring the shooter, but McGraw's comments could also be interpreted as meaning that there are more people to talk to about Ramos that he knew through video games.

Regardless of what McGraw meant with his comments, there are already those in the media and other individuals online who have pointed the finger at violent video games yet again. Of course, this disregards the fact that violent video games are available globally, yet the only country that has a continuous problem with mass shootings is the United States.

Studies have been conducted on video game violence over the years, with no evidence that directly links playing violent video games with committing real-life violent crimes. Video games are protected by the first amendment, but they are often used as a scapegoat whenever something like this occurs. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have placed blame on violent video games in the wake of incidents like this. Joe Biden had a meeting with video game executives after the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, while former President Trump blamed video games for mass shootings and called for regulation on them.

Source: ABC Action News