14 days after the terrible massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, the world continues to know the moments of panic and horror experienced by those inside the institution when Salvador Ramos entered shooting and killed 19 children and two teachers.
Arnulfo Reyes, a third and fourth grade teacher, survived the massacre after being shot twice by the attacker. 11 of his students were killed in the shooting.
(Also read: Hard story of a girl who survived the Texas massacre by covering herself with blood)
Now, from the hospital room where he is still, he narrated what happened in his classroom when Ramos shot and launched strong criticism of measures against weapons in schools in the United States.
What happened on the morning of May 24
Arnulfo Reyes told the ‘Good Morning America’ program, on the ‘ABC News’ channel, that it was a calm and happy day. His students had finished their exams and were just a few days away from finishing the school year. They even got ready to watch animated movies as part of the activities to close the school season.
But what was a typical day at Robb Elementary School was turned upside down at 11:30 a.m. on that Tuesday.
The teacher told ‘ABC News’ that out of nowhere they heard a blow and, without knowing what it was, activated the protocol with the minors and asked them to take refuge under their posts, as they had practiced so many times. At that moment, the minors panicked.
(You may be interested in: Shooting in Texas: police admit delays in intervention at Robb school)
“The kids were yelling, ‘What’s going on, Mr. Reyes?’ They were getting under the table and I was trying to get them to do it as fast as possible.”, he told the quoted media.
After a while, Reyes was able to see the shooter and from there began the more than 70 minutes of a tragedy.
The shooter entered room 111, where Reyes and his students were. Just before they entered the classroom, the teacher had asked his students to act as if they were asleep.
If you didn’t get them right the first time, you got them right the second time
But the teacher was the first to receive the attacker’s shots. Ramos first shot the teacher in the arm, knocking him to the ground, and then shot the children in his classroom.
“I prayed that I didn’t hear any of my students speak. And I haven’t heard for a while. But then, later, he fired again. So if she didn’t get them right the first time, he got them right the second time.”, said the teacher.
(Further: ‘He should have killed me’: Texas attacker’s father apologizes)
This is Arnulfo Reyes, a teacher who survived the Uvalde shooting, speaking out for the first time from his hospital bed
This whole interview is heartbreaking 💔pic.twitter.com/CBYUV3Xspr
— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) June 7, 2022
Although Reyes pretended to be dead on the ground, Ramos shot him again to make sure he was dead. The bullet went through his back and through his lung.
“After that, there were just bullets everywhere,” he said. After that, the border patrol that discharged the attacker entered his living room and asked him to come out, but his injuries did not allow him to get up.
The security flaws at Robb Elementary School
Reyes, who tearfully recounted that he had lost 11 little ones whom he considered his children, He assured that there were multiple security failures in the school during that Tuesday.
Although the teacher said that the institution had had several drills before possible shootings, the protocols did not work. For example, he said that they had an alert system that had to send a text message notifying what was happening, but that alert message never arrived.
Reyes also claimed that the door to his classroom was having trouble locking, which would have made it easier for the shooter to enter.
Regarding the actions of the authorities, Reyes told ‘Good Morning America’: “They are cowards. They sat there and did nothing for our community. It took them a long time to get in… I’ll never forgive them”.
(Keep reading: The mother of the Texas shooter speaks: ‘He was not a monster, but he was aggressive’)
It took them a long time to get in… I’ll never forgive them
The teacher stated that no matter how much they prepare the children for a situation like the one that occurred in Uvalde, it will not be enough to stop someone who enters with a weapon.
The teacher, who has undergone five surgeries after the shooting, asked that the rules for access to weapons be reviewed to avoid a tragedy like the one he and the members of the community of that school experienced.
“The age limit has to change. And I think they need to do more background checks. Things just have to change. They must change”, he concluded in dialogue with the ‘ABC News’ program.Reyes also sent a message to the families of the murdered children: “To all the parents, I’m sorry. I tried to do the best I could.”
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