Texas School Shooting: A 9-year-old Describes Escaping through a Window

(CNN) –  Texas School Shooting – A student said the wounded teacher texted 911 for help as a gunman entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and started firing.

The gunman, who couldn’t enter Daniel’s classroom, fired several shots into it after being unable to get in, says 9-year-old Daniel and mother, Briana Ruiz. Despite his teacher locking the door, the bullets struck both him and another student.

Just in the first five months of this year, Robb Elementary has been the scene of at least 30 school shootings. Those shootings were the deadliest since Sandy Hook in 2012.

Daniel said he was able to see the gunman from the door’s window as he first crawled under a table next to the wall.

“I could still see his face,” he said. “I could see him staring at people.”

The two people injured in Daniel’s class survived after he escaped through a broken window, cutting his hand on some glass.

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His cousin, Ellie Garcia, was in a different class. It was the deadliest school shooting in a decade that took the lives of 19 children and two teachers, and less than a week later, major questions remain about the effectiveness of the law enforcement response and whether more children could have been saved.

Texas Department of Public Safety has released a timeline of what happened during Tuesday’s shooting, showing the gunman was in a classroom with students for more than an hour before he was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents. Even as children locked inside the room with the gunman called 911, the commander on scene decided to wait over an hour for reinforcements.

A US Department of Justice inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the shooting was launched at the request of Uvalde’s mayor.

In a statement, the DOJ said it aims to identify lessons learned and best practices regarding responding to active shooter incidents through an independent review.

The father of a victim in the shooting, Alfred Garcia, told CNN he was “disbelieving” how long elapsed between the shooting and its conclusion and expressed frustration with the authorities’ response.

“Anyone who can read knows that it took too long to get in there and, you know, if someone had acted immediately, there may have been more children here today, including my daughter,” he said.

Funeral services will be held Monday at local funeral homes for two victims. Those attending Amerie Jo Garza’s visitation and rosary will do so at Hillcrest Memorial Funeral Home, while those attending Maite Yuleana Rodriguez’s service will do so at Rushing Estes Knowles.

In Uvalde, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden attended mass and laid flowers at a memorial for the victims as part of their memorial services. They also met privately with first responders as well as family members of the victims.

In the interview, Gutierrez asked, “What kind of world do we live in that legislation was created to raze these schools?”.

Moreover, Biden also promised Gutierrez, “I’m not going anywhere … I’m gonna bring you resources … we’ve only got one psychiatrist in Uvalde.” Gutierrez said there is only one psychiatrist in Uvalde.

Response of law enforcement called into question

For those who say that more should have been done during the shooting, first responder actions — or lack thereof — have been a focal point.

CNN obtained a copy of the state’s commission on law enforcement 2020 training manual in which officers are instructed on how to intervene quickly in an active shooter situation. An officer should move in and confront their attacker first, according to the manual.

According to the timeline provided by DPS, they did not enter the classroom for another 30 minutes. According to the source, because Border Patrol functions as a support agency, they will defer to agency commands.

DPS reports that a girl in one of the classrooms where students were shot called 911 at 12:16 p.m. to inform the operator eight or nine students were still alive.

“The subject was believed to be stationary and barricaded at the time,” McCraw said, adding that “no risk was present to other children” when asked Friday why police didn’t move in sooner.

On retrospect, McCraw said, “It’s obvious there were kids in the room, clearly they’re in danger.”. He added, “There could be injured children, whether or not they were shot, and it’s essential to provide lifesaving aid immediately.”.

An outpouring of support is being provided to those affected by the shooting.

“I can’t possibly open my kitchen with a broken heart and have fun,” Hernandez wrote on Facebook hours after the shooting.

Hernandez cooked for his community on Thursday, his 33rd birthday, whether it was wings, mac-and-cheese or fried fish tacos.

Martha Carreon, children’s librarian, sang, read to, and giggled with dozens of children just one day after the shooting, taking the children away to a safe place far from the school where they had been witnesses to horror.

Mendell Morgan, director of El Progreso Memorial Library, told CNN that the building is meant to be a refuge that is a peaceful, calm, and cool haven.

In addition to psychologists who are available for children and adults every weekday to speak with, there will also be massage therapists, volunteers for arts and craft activities, musicians who will play soothing music, and magicians who will perform magic tricks.

“This is a strong community where we have true care and concern for one another,” Morgan said. “Many, if not most here, hold fast to their faith believing in God, that good is stronger than evil and light is stronger than dark.”