A Uvalde school shooting survivor has recalled hearing his classmate get shot by the 18-year-old gunman after she yelled to police for help.
Speaking with kens5 on Thursday, the Robb Elementary School student said he was inside the double-classroom when Salvador Ramos entered the building.
Two rooms – both filled with students – were connected by a middle door that Ramos was able to open in the hour he spent inside the school on Tuesday, the boy alleged.
“We have a door in the middle,” he said. “He opened it. He came in and he crouched a little bit and he said: ‘It’s time to die’.”
“When I heard the shooting through the door, I told my friend to hide under something so he won’t find us,” the boy added. “I was hiding hard. And I was telling my friend to not talk because he is going to hear us.”
While he and his friends hid underneath a tablecloth-covered table, the boy recalled hearing police enter the room and ask if anybody needed help.
“When the cops came, the cop said: ‘Yell if you need help!’ And one of the persons in my class said ‘help’,” said the boy. “The guy overheard and he came in and shot her”.
The boy said he eventually came out from hiding when he spotted law enforcement with shields and “knew it was police” – but only when the shooting stopped.
“I just opened the curtain. And I just put my hand out,” he said. “I got out with my friend. I knew it was police. I saw the armour and the shield.”
It was unclear at what point during the attack the girl was allegedly shot and when the boy was able to leave the classroom.
Law enforcement authorities said on Thursday that – in contradiction to preliminary reports – the gunman was able to walk into the school on Tuesday unchallenged.
Two police officers engaged with the shooter within four minutes but took cover when he fired back, authorities said, and the shooter remained inside the classroom for an hour.
Ramos was later killed by a tactical unit from US Customs and Border Protection, who stormed the school and ended the attack.
The boy paid tribute to his teachers Irma Garcia and Eva Mireles for saving their lives and said: “They were nice teachers. They went in front of my classmates to help. To save them.”
On Thursday, the husband of Ms Garcia died of a heart attack as he prepared for her funeral.
