Why were there no signs ahead of Marysville school shooting?

The darkening demeanor of a troubled Marysville-Pilchuck High School student should have been a warning of things to come.

Before Jaylen Fryberg killed four classmates and turned the gun on himself in the school’s cafeteria on Oct. 24 last year, he seemed to be in a downward spiral, KIRO Radio’s Ron Upshaw believes.

Jaylen’s persona, tone and demeanor became withdrawn and darker, Ron noted after reviewing investigative documents released on Tuesday. It should have been obvious to people that the 15-year-old needed help when he sent numerous text messages before opening fire.

Related: Marysville school shooter texted ‘I’m sorry’ to family before killings

“[Jaylen] wasn’t hiding this,” Ron said. “He was making statements to various people.”

Jaylen sent a photo of a pistol between his legs to an unidentified person, also asking him to call him “before he did ‘this thing.'” Additionally, he talked with a friend for two minutes and sent a text to his father, before sending a group text message to his family, which outlined his funeral wishes four minutes before he killed four friends and himself.

There’s a tendency for adults to say “‘Oh, they’re just being over-dramatic” kids, Ron said. In hindsight, Jaylen was crying out.

But can a finger be pointed at people close to Jaylen? Could anyone know he was so upset that he wanted to kill?

Tracking youth online is a difficult thing, KIRO Radio’s Tom Tangney pointed out. There’s probably thousands of students who have social media accounts that have become darker over the past few months, right under their parents’ noses.

Though he doesn’t have children of his own, Ron is a Big Brother. He follows his “little brother” on all social media platforms and talks to him about questionable posts.

Are we at the point in American culture where people just shrug if a teenager sends a picture of himself with a handgun? Ron asked.

It might be unfair to focus on the text messages Fryberg sent before the shooting, Tom said. A message can be sent, but it doesn’t mean the recipients receive it. They also might not be perceived as dire as they should be.

“You cannot predict something this outrageous,” Tom said.

But predictions may have been unnecessary, if one substitute teachers’ story is true. The teacher says she warned people in the school’s front office that a shooting might occur two days before it happened.

Rosemarie Cooper told investigators that a student warned her of a shooting that would take place in the school’s cafeteria involving someone by the name of Fryberg.

However, Cooper was interviewed twice. During the second interview, she didn’t back up her statements from the first and told the detective the warning “probably didn’t happen.”

Cooper told The Seattle Times that she did report the threat to the office, but felt “forced” to retract her original testimony.

“In what world does a substitute teacher make this up?” Ron asked.

“This one,” Tom responded.

Though he doesn’t know Cooper, Tom said based on the information he’s read and heard, he doesn’t trust what she’s saying. Investigators are saying there is no evidence she ever reported such a threat; she’s back tracking, he said.

It’s possible that Cooper told someone in the office about the threat, but they didn’t believe her, Ron suggested. Then again, most schools and staff wouldn’t just blow off something as serious as that.