The mourning for the terrible massacre in a school has shaken the town of Uvalde.
Photo: CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP/Getty Images
A fourth-grade student who survived Tuesday’s mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, says the gunman told the children, “It’s time to die.”according to CBS News.
The survivor, who spoke to CBS affiliate KENS-TV, said he was in a room that shared a door with the classroom where the shooter first barricaded himself during the shooting. It was at this point, Lt. Christopher Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety told CBS News, that the shooter “began shooting at the children and teachers who were inside.”
“He came in and he bent down a little bit and he said, ‘It’s time to die.'”the boy told KENS-TV reporter Henry Ramos. The boy’s parents did not want to be identified or seen on camera, but the boy wanted to share what happened.
The boy said that when he and the other students in the next classroom heard gunshots, the boy told his friends to hide. He and four others hid under a table that was covered with a tablecloth.
“I was hiding a lot,” the boy said. “And he was telling my friend not to talk because he was going to listen to us.”
Shortly after, the police arrived at the scene. An officer told the children to “scream if you need help,” the boy recalled.
“One of the people in my class said ‘help’. The guy heard and came in and shot him,” she said. “The police broke into that classroom. The guy shot the cop. And the police started shooting.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said three officers were injured during the shooting, but all are in fair condition.
When the shooting stopped, the fourth grader said he left his hiding place with his friend. He said he knew it was safe to do so because he saw the officer’s vest and shield. And although it was the officers who stopped the massacre, the boy said that it was the teachers, Irma García and Eva Mireles, who saved his life and that of other children.
“They were good teachers,” the boy said. “They were in front of my classmates to help. To save them.”
That sentiment was shared by fourth-grade teacher Irma Garcia’s nephew, John Martinez. “She sacrificed herself protecting the children in her classroom,” Martinez tweeted. “Irma Garcia is her name and she died a heroine.”
Eva Mireles, 44, was also a fourth grade teacher and had been an educator for 17 years. In a Twitter post, her daughter Adalynn wrote that her mother “selflessly jumped in front of her students to save their lives.”
“My beautiful mom, thank you for the funniest memories. Thank you for the best moments of my life. Thank you for being my best friend,” Adalynn said. “…You are so well known to so many now and I am so happy that people know your name, that beautiful face of yours and know what a hero is like.”
It may interest you:
– Massacre in Texas: Know the identity of the victims of the shooting at Robb de Uvalde Elementary School
– Shooting in Uvalde: Surviving teacher recounts the moments of horror during the shooting, while the children were being riddled with bullets
– Shooting in Uvalde: Authorities acknowledge that the author of the massacre did not encounter resistance at the school
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