An Irish teacher working in Texas has emotionally reacted to the horrific mass school shooting that happened in the State yesterday,
At least 19 students and two adults were killed in Robb Elementary School in Uvalde after an 18-year-old opened fire.
The teenager was subsequently killed, apparently shot dead by police.
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John works in the inner city of San Antonio, which is located around 130km west from where Tuesday's tragedy occurred.
He has been in the city since 1987 and worked as a teacher and a principal. Since reaching retirement age, he is now working as a substitute assistant principal in the district.
John tearfully spoke to RTE Liveline about how he found out about yesterday's horrific news.
"I didn't know about it yesterday because I was in school. My brothers and sisters were all texting and calling me and I couldn't answer because it was blocked by the district firewall," he said.
"I thought something had happened to someone at home in Ireland or England.
"Then watched the news all last night not knowing the kids. Then you saying the kids names this morning, you know these are my kids. Those are the names I've been working with for 30 odd years.
"They're fantastic people. I love San Antonio, I love the community.
"They touch my heart so much."
John described the different measures that are common practice in Texas schools to prepare for security threats.
"The entrances have double entrance now. You have to have a code, you have to buzz in and show identification," he said.
"Lockdown drills are where the principal would get on the intercom system and say 'lockdown, lockdown, lockdown'.
"All the teachers would close their doors, lock the doors and secure the kids in an area away from the door.
"They cover the windows. They go into the back of the classroom and keep quiet."
John explained that during lockdown drills, community police would enter the school to test the security situation.
He said: "They'd run through the campus and knock on doors and test the security of the teachers, if the teachers answered the door or if they were locked.
"It takes about 45 minutes. The kids would be locked down in darkness and silence for 45 minutes to an hour depending on the size of the campus.
"We do this every year. The teachers do training every year.
"Afterwards, the police officer would give us a report on how well we did."
John said that it is "so sad" that horrific events such as what happened in Uvalde have become "commonplace" in the US.
He said: "There's so much that has gone on that people have become accustomed to.
"It is so sad that we don't remain shocked."
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