Murder In America - Ep. 143: TEXAS - The Uvalde School Shooting Pt. 2: The Massacre (5/24/22)

Episode Date: February 9, 2024

WARNING: Listener discretion is advised. In today's episode, we examine exactly what happened on May 24th, 2022 at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, the failures that happened that day, the terror that rocked a random elementary school and the tragedy that plagued the city of Uvalde. This is an episode that many will consider to be disturbing, so listener discretion is heavily advised. - Stay Connected: Join the Murder in America fam in our free Facebook Community for a behind-the-scenes look, more insights and current events in the true crime world: https://www.facebook.com/groups/4365229996855701 If you want even more Murder in America bonus content, including ad-free episodes, come join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/murderinamerica Instagram: http://instagram.com/murderinamerica/ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/people/Murder-in-America-Podcast/100086268848682/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MurderInAmerica TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theparanormalfiles and https://www.tiktok.com/@courtneybrowen Feeling spooky? Follow Colin as he travels state to state (and even country to country!) investigating claims of extreme paranormal activity and visiting famous haunted locations on The Paranormal Files Official Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheParanormalFilesOfficialChannel - (c) BLOOD IN THE SINK PRODUCTIONS 2024 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's episode is sponsored by Hocum, the new film that critics are calling Damian McCarthy's most unnerving horror yet. From the director of Audity, Hocom stars Adam Scott, in a deeply monstrous horror that bloody disgusting called Pure Nightmare Fuel that holds you firmly in its grip. Don't miss Hocom, the groundbreaking new horror from Damian McCarthy, now playing in theaters. This episode is sponsored by Better Help. is a journey. I know this. I think we all know this. Some days feel good and other days feel absolutely overwhelming. Whatever's keeping you up at night, it's easy sometimes to feel like you have to figure it all out on your own. But the truth is, nobody has all the answers. And no journey should be taken alone. However, having someone with you to listen, to understand,

and to support you can make all the difference. I know that I'm a huge therapy advocate. I've advocated for therapy for years. And if you want to give therapy a try, BetterHelp is a great place to start. Better help therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully licensed in the U.S. BetterHelp also does the initial matching work for you so you can focus on your therapy goals. A short questionnaire helps identify your needs and preferences, and their 12-plus years of experience and industry-leading match fulfillment rate means they typically get it right the first time. And something that I love is if you aren't happy with your therapist match, you can switch to a different therapist at any time from their tailored recommendations. I've personally used

BetterHelp in the past, and I think that if you're on the edge, if you're thinking maybe it's time to start therapy, I say just go ahead and do it. There's literally no downside because you don't have to be on this journey alone. Find support and have someone with you in therapy. Sign up and get 10% off at BetterHelp.com slash MIA. That's betterhELP.com slash MIA. I really love to get dressed up every once in a while when I'm going out with my girlfriends or on a date night with Colin. But lately I've been trying to be more intentional with my everyday wear. And I found that the best options that work for me are good quality, effortless pieces that will last me forever and they still look cute, which is why Quince has always been my go-to. The thing I love about Quince is that all

of their fabrics feel elevated. Their clothing always fits me perfectly, and I can just throw on anything from theirs and it looks so put together, but it's so effortless. Now that the spring season, is upon us, Quince makes it so easy to refresh your wardrobe with spring pieces that feel as good as they look. I love that they always use premium materials like 100% European linen, organic cotton, and ultra-soft denim. And everything at Quince is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. They also work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middlemen, so you're paying for quality and craftsmanship, not the brand markup. I recently have been on the hunt for a good denim skirt, and so I went to Quince and I ordered

their stretch denim mini skirt, and I am absolutely obsessed with it. It is so cute, I've already worn it several times I have made a ton of different outfits with it, and I could not believe the price of it. I actually had to go back and double check it, because it is such good quality, I could not believe how affordable it was. But that's been my experience with everything I've gotten from Quince. They are so affordable and their items are amazing and I know you will love them too. So refresh your everyday with luxury that you'll actually use. Head to quence.com slash America for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com slash America for free shipping and 365-day returns. Quince.com slash America.

is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects. Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children. This podcast is not for everyone.

You have been warned. Yuvaldi, Texas is a small and special town, rich with history. Before the massacre at Rob Elementary, It was mostly known for playing a huge role in the Mexican-American civil rights movement, and the generations of families that have lived there over the years have been proud to call it home. But in a place like Yuvaldi, no one ever expected for tragedy to strike so close to home. And with the rise of mass shootings here in America, there was a collective thought that things like that would never happen here, not in a close-knit community like Yuvaldi.

But unbeknownst to everyone in this small Texas town, an 18-year-old within their community had been gearing up for something horrific. And on May 24, 2022, that plan was set in motion, starting with the attack against his grandmother. After shooting her in the face, the shooter would then steal her car and make his way over to Rob Elementary. And that's where we left off in part one. That morning, while hundreds of students sat in their classrooms, no one had any idea that evil was lurking nearby with an AR-15.

He would reign terror on the teachers and students inside room 111 and 112. And he would remain in those classrooms amongst his murder victims for 77 minutes, while nearly 400 police officers waited outside. During that time, the gunmen would play in the victim's blood. He would also watch TV and play music, while some of the survivors were bleeding out from their gunshot wounds. At the end of that day, 19 students and two teachers would lose their lives in one of the worst school shootings our nation has ever seen. So this is the Yuvalde School Shooting Part 2. I'm Courtney Browen. And I'm Colin Browne.

and you're listening to Murder in America. Morning of May 24, 2022, and the citizens of Yuvaldi wake up, get dressed and drive into work, just like they did every day. At the Hillcrest Memorial Funeral Home, Cody Bricenio and Gilbert Limoniers walked through the doors

and get to work preparing for the funerals they had that week. It was a pretty normal day, nothing out of the ordinary. But at around 11.27 a.m., their quiet office is interrupted by the sound of a loud crash. No one knows exactly what's happening, but when they look out of the window,

there's a large cloud of dust billowing up in the distance, and it soon becomes clear that a car had crashed into the drainage ditch across the street. So they immediately dial 911, and from there, they make their way outside to help the driver. Video footage from the funeral home

shows Cody and Gilbert run out of the building towards the crash truck. And as they approach, a young man wearing all black climbs out of the passenger side window, so they yell out. Sir, are you okay? But then suddenly, the men's concern for the driver turns into pure fear, because at that moment, the young man reaches into the truck and pulls out an AR-15. Cody and Gilbert have less than a second to react. The driver of the truck looks them dead in the eyes and with no emotion, aims his rifle directly at them. From here, the men start to run as gunshots blast in their direction.

Cody was running so frantically, he even trips and falls right there in the street. The shooter fires at least eight shots in their direction, but every single one of them misses. Luckily, they would make it back to the funeral home unscathed. But as they watched from a distance, they see the young man walk towards Rob Elementary, and in this day and age, they know exactly what's about to happen.

This man is about to shoot up in elementary school. So Gilbert immediately calls 911. He would later say, I'm screaming at them. please send cops out here real quick, and I'm watching him and he walks up the little trail, the drainage ditch area, and I see him throw a duffel bag over the fence, and then I see him jump the fence, and I'm telling them, he's walking towards the school, he's on campus grounds now. I'm telling them this and screaming for them to hurry, please.

He's up with the fence. He's running towards the school. He's wearing black. Yes, sir, we have multiple units heading out that wing. But before going into the school, the shooter aims the gun at the funeral home one last time. almost warning them not to intervene. And with that, he continues towards Rob Elementary. That day at Rob Elementary was supposed to be a fun day for the students.

It was the second to last day before summer break, so the end of the year celebrations were well underway. Earlier that week, the students went on a field trip to the zoo. And on this day, the school had a themed dress coat called Footloose and Fancy, where the students and teachers were supposed to wear colorful and unique clothing. That morning, the school also held an awards ceremony to honor the students hard work that year. The video we are about to play for you were the awards handed down to the fourth graders in Miss Irma Garcia and Miss Ava Morales' class. They were the teachers of Room 112.

Sadly, within just a few hours, both teachers would lose their lives, as well as most of the students whose names they're about to call out. Most I excel skills mastered in reading Alicia Ramirez. Citizenship, close to Chloe Torres and Jordan Olivares. We have a few students receiving 80 honorable honors this morning. Maya Zamora, Alivia Ramirez, Amory Garza, and Mende Rodriguez. Let's show off our nice awards right there. Ace Miss Guzman back here in the back. One, two, three.

In the video, Irma and Ava students proudly walk up to the podium and accept their awards. Like most little kids, they're smiling from ear to ear. Some even waved to their loved ones who were sitting in the crowd. It's a special moment for the kids and the parents who are watching their children smile as they accept their awards. Many of the parents even took off work so they could celebrate their child's accomplishments. However, as they snapped their pictures and waved to their babies on stage, none of them had any idea that this would be the very last time they would ever see their children alive. After the award ceremony ended, some parents took their children home, but many of them would stay behind. You see, there were still several more hours left of that school day, and a lot of the kids wanted to make sure they got as much time with their friends before the school year ended.

Plus, the rest of the day was supposed to be fun. Most of the teachers were just going to turn on a movie. So from there, the children said goodbye to their parents and piled back into their classrooms for the very last time. Over the next hour, the teachers and students of Rob Elementary are sitting in their classrooms. Most are watching movies. But shortly before 11.30 a.m.,

the school speech specialist, Amy Marine, watched as a.m., watched as a truck crashed into the drainage ditch across the street. And like the employees at the funeral home, she quickly dials 911. Anybody County 911? Yes, there was just an accident right there behind Robb School. Behind Robb. They ran a... Yes, they ran into the ditch. What common are they?

It's a pickup truck. It's a pickup truck. In a later interview, Amy admitted that the only thing she could think of at that moment was that the driver had a medical emergency while behind the wheel. So she quickly runs out of the school to see what's going on. Amy also watches the funeral home employees run to help the driver, and then seconds later, she sees them running away. From here, dispatch alerts the authorities about the crash and the fact that the driver has a gun. 715 O'Carivo road have a one vehicle action white pickup truck crash usage have a caller advising male subject have a guy three advice shots fired shots fired now amy marine is still on the phone with 911 as she quickly walks back into the school

and she tells the dispatch that the man has fired several shots and is making his way towards the campus miss amy how many shots were fired several i think he came on campus okay ma'am he's on campus Unfortunately, as Amy makes her way back inside Rob Elementary, this door behind her doesn't lock. And moments later, the gunman would enter the school through this unlocked door. But it's important to note that Amy wasn't responsible for this unlocked door. The door should have immediately locked once it closed, but it didn't. So that's the school's fault. It's also important to note that the shooter would have likely made his way inside even if the door had been locked.

According to official reports, the exterior doors on the east and south sides of the the building were also unlocked, such that even if the west door had been locked, the attacker still would have had the ability to enter the building, but his progress likely would have been slowed. But back outside, the young man hopped the five-foot fence surrounding the elementary school, and now he was officially on campus. But he's taking his time. He's not running. He doesn't appear to be anxious. He's just calmly walking around with his AR-15. Once he reaches the parking lot of the school, he even hangs out in between two vehicles for a moment. Now, off in the distance is the school's pavilion, where students are outside for PE class.

And while the shooter's standing in front of Rob Elementary, he aims his gun at the pavilion and fires off three to four shots. Luckily, they don't hit anyone. But the PE coach, Yvette Silva, who's outside with the third grade class, does notice the gunshots and it's here, where she notifies the school's office about an active shooter, saying, Coach Silva to office, somebody jumped over the fence and he's shooting. Coach Silva thought that her announcement to the school would initiate a lockdown. However, it was not reported right away, and the gunman would continue making his way towards Rob Elementary.

Surveillance cameras from around the school caught the sound of gunfire, and many of the teachers and students inside were confused as to what was going on. One of these teachers is Nicole Ogburn. She is sitting in her fourth grade classroom. when she hears the sound of what she thinks is metal hitting the wall, but she can tell that the sound is coming from outside, so she looks out of the window, and it's here, where she sees a man with an AR-15.

Nicole quickly tells her students to get under their desks, which is active shooter protocol. And as soon as they do, the window to her classroom shatters. The gunman starts walking down the sidewalk, shooting at all the windows he passes. And inside the classrooms, the children are terrified as glass shatters all around them. Teacher Nicole Ogburn crawls over to her students, and she does her best to comfort them. But she's also fully aware that she's experiencing every teacher's worst nightmare,

and all she can do is tell her students to be quiet. Over the next few moments, the only sounds from inside are students whispering. Some are comforting their classmates. Others are praying for God's protection. Now, several minutes earlier, officers at the Uvaldi Police Department were sitting in their offices when several people ran through, yelling that there was a gunman near Rob Elementary, and many of the first responders had family associated with the school. In fact, Yvaldi Police Sergeant Eduardo Canales, had just been at the school an hour earlier for his son's award ceremony.

So he and Lieutenant Mariano Pargis quickly made their way over to the school, where they met another officer named Lieutenant Javier Martinez. Martinez would later admit that he didn't really know what was going on, saying, I had no idea what I was walking into. We actually thought we were going to an accident scene. I thought it was an accident and they're shooting at each other. Road rage. So at first, there was a lot of confusion on what exactly was happening.

Some of the officers thought it was a road rage incident and that the shooter ran towards the school to get away from law enforcement. They claimed they didn't realize it was an active shooter scenario. But either way, there's a gunman near an elementary school. So Lieutenant Martinez pops open his trunk, puts on his bulletproof vest, and grabs his rifle. Moments later, Sergeant Daniel Coronado also arrived. And it's around this time when they hear the sound of gunfire near campus.

They also saw the group of children by the pavilion running away. So initially, they thought the gunman was over there. One officer even saw a man dressed in all black running in the direction of the children. So from here, the officer lifts his rifle towards the man, and he asked Sergeant Coronado if he had permission to shoot. But according to the committee, Sergeant Coronado hesitated. He didn't want any shots fired while the children are present,

stating, quote, he considered the risk of shooting a child, and he quickly recalled his training that the officers are responsible for every round that goes down range. End quote. And luckily, they chose not to shoot at the man dressed in all black because that man was not the shooter. In fact, his name was Abraham Gonzalez,

and he was a PE coach at Rob Elementary. According to official documents, Abraham had been walking to his car after lunch when he heard the announcement of an active shooter on the school's radio. So he immediately ran over to the children to bring them inside for the lockdown. Now after this confusion,

the employees at the funeral home signal to the police officers that the gunman is right outside of Rob Elementary. So from here, the responding officers make their way over to the school, where they meet Yuvalde C-I-S-D police chief, Pete Eradondo. The chief had been at Yuvalde High School when he heard the report of shots fired over his radio. Now, keep in mind, Pete Eradondo was the chief of police for the school district. And according to active shooter protocol, he was supposed to be the man in charge that day.

so he immediately makes his way over to Rob Elementary with his radios, which is what is used to communicate with the first responders. But shortly after he exits his vehicle, Pete Eradondo starts fumbling with his radios, and he quickly gets frustrated with them. According to the committee, the radios, quote, bothered him, so we dropped them by the school's fence, end quote. Now this is strange because he is the man in charge, and his radio is crucial for communication.

But he would later say that he dropped his radios because he knew Sergeant Coronado would have his radios with him. Doesn't make a ton of sense, but that was his reasoning. But as of this moment, we have several police officers on scene, including the chief of police, and they arrived on campus just minutes into the shooting. However, their presence wouldn't stop the gunman. Now, before the shooting started, the principal of Rob Elementary, Mandy Gutierrez, was sitting in her office, having just wrapped up the end of the year ceremony when she heard over the radio that an active shooter was heading towards campus.

So she immediately tried to send an alert over the online emergency alert system known as Raptor. Rob Elementary had been using the software since October 2021, and it allowed all staff members to initiate a lockdown. But because the school had a bad Wi-Fi signal, the alert wouldn't get sent out right away. So instead, she used the school's intercom system to initiate the lockdown, and from there, the teachers scrambled to get their kids to safety and start their lockdown procedures. After this, Principal Mandy Gutierrez called Chief Eridondo on his cell phone, and on that call, he told her, shut it down, Mandy, shut it down. Next, Mandy Gutierrez radioed the school's head custodian Jaime Perez to make sure all of the doors to the building were locked.

Unfortunately, Jaime was already one step ahead of her. He had heard Coach Sylvia's original report of an active shooter and immediately went around securing the doors. But as he did this, he could hear the gunshots coming closer, so he steps into the cafeteria where he's for the remainder of the shooting. But in everyone's minds, the doors were secured. Now, during these next few moments, teachers were scrambling trying to get their students to safety. In Room 104, Miss Lynn Deming had been getting her class ready for recess

when she heard gunfire. Many of her students were out in the hallway, so she quickly rushed them back into the classroom, shut the door, turned her lights off, and ushered her students to get under their desks. And from there, they all sat in silence, fully aware that danger was just outside of their school. In room 109, Ms. Elsa Avia had lined up her students at the door for 11.30 a.m. recess.

But as she poked her head out of the classroom, she heard a female yell out, get in your rooms. So she slammed her classroom door as hard as she could to make sure the lock latched. And from here, she also followed active shooter protocol. which was turning off the lights and getting her students away from the window. In Room 108, 10-year-old Gemma Lopez and her classmates had been watching the jungle crews when there was a loud popping sound in the distance. Gemma realized the severity of the situation when she looked outside of her window and saw police officers.

In an interview for the New York Times, she admitted that the other students believed it was a prank, but she quickly hushed them as their teacher turned off the lights. She said, quote, everyone was scared on everything. I told them to be quiet. I heard a lot more of the gunshots, and then I was crying a little bit. And my best friend Sophie was also crying right next to me, end quote. Inside the cafeteria, 29-year-old Jasmine Carrillo, a food services employee, had started serving the second-grader's lunch when the janitor rushed in screaming.

Jasmine, run, run, hide, hurry, hurry. When she asked what was going on, he responded, They're shooting, they're shooting, there's gunshots. Due to the lockdown, the lights immediately dimmed, and Jasmine ran to the cafeteria's back door and locked it. The students were then instructed to lie down on the ground and remain quiet. Although most of the children couldn't stay quiet and were hysterically crying, not knowing what was going on.

Jasmine's thoughts immediately went to her 10-year-old son, MC, who was a fourth grader in room 103, And in that moment, her mother's instincts kicked in, and she even tried to run out of the cafeteria to locate him. But she was quickly stopped by a group of teachers who told her, You have to wait, you have to relax, you can get us all killed. Over the next few moments, more students were ushered into the cafeteria for the lockdown. Now, because the emergency alert didn't come in time, everyone in Rob Elementary only had about a minute, one single minute, to prepare. And soon enough, the entire school went from complete chaos,

to complete silence. It's now 1132 a.m. Just four minutes after the gunman crashed his car across the street. On the outside of Rob Elementary, surveillance footage shows the gunman approached the school's west entrance, the entrance that was unlocked. And at 1133 a.m., footage from inside of the school shows the gunman easily open the door

and walk inside with his gun in hand. The shooter then walks forward several feet and to his right he comes across a long hallway, the fourth grade hallway. Video shows him pause for a second and then he decides to turn right directly towards the fourth grade classrooms. As he walks down the hall, he drops the gun to his side as he casually fixes his hair. Now in the surveillance footage, as the shooter approaches the fourth grade. classrooms, you see a little boy in the left-hand corner of the camera. He had just finished using

the restroom and was about to walk back to his fourth grade class. But as he went to turn the corner, he suddenly stops in his tracks, because right there, right in front of his class, was a young man with an AR-15. In the video, you see the boy stare at the gunman for a few seconds, and as soon as he notices the gun, he takes off running back towards the restrooms. Luckily, the little boy finished using the restroom at the perfect time. If he would have come out seconds earlier, he would have been face-to-face with the shooter and likely would have been his first victim. But that's not how this story would play out. Now, minutes earlier inside room 111, Fourth grade teacher Mr. Arnie Reyes had been playing the movie The Adams family for his 11 students.

But then suddenly, along with the rest of the school, he and his class heard the gunshots. Many of his students jumped up and asked, what was that? Mr. Reyes had heard the sound before, but never in his wildest dreams did he expect what would happen next. Now, something important to note is that inside, his classroom was a door that connected to the classroom next to his, which was room 112. And inside that classroom were 18 students and two teachers named Miss Ava Morellas and Ms. Irma Garcia. Before the shots rang out, Room 112 was watching the Lilo and Stitch movie. Many of the students had even taken their shoes off so that they would be comfortable. But now, they were all huddled

up under their desks, hiding from a gunman who is approaching their classroom. And one of the scariest parts about school shootings is that you never know which classrooms the gunmen will target. But as he walks down the hall, he suddenly stops in front of room 111 and 112. On the door of the classrooms are these small little windows. And as the gunman walks through the hall, he peeks into room 112, and fires several shots through the small window. But the door is still locked. So from here, he turns to room 111. Unfortunately, the door knob to Mr. Reyes' classroom had been broken for a while, making it to where it couldn't lock properly. He had requested to get it fixed multiple times, but for whatever reason,

it was never done. Now, the principal of the school, Mandy Gutierrez, would later claim that his door was checked the day before the shooting, but there's some speculation as to whether or not that's true, given it wasn't working on the day of the shooting. And sadly, because that door wasn't properly secured, the students inside room 111 were easy targets. After hearing the shots ring out in the hallway, Mr. Reyes quickly recalls his active shooter training, and he instructs his students to get under the desks. And in these types of scenarios, you will, want the kids to be as far away from the door as possible. You also want to make sure they're out of the gunman's line of vision,

so if he looked through the window, he wouldn't be able to see anyone. So all 11 students run to the right-hand corner of the room near the whiteboard, and they all huddle under a desk. From there, Mr. Reyes tells the kids to act like they are sleeping. He would later say, quote, I wanted them to close their eyes. I didn't want them to see anything. But once the kids are secure,

Mr. Reyes sees a dark shadow approach his classroom door. And because the door's lock was broken, the gunman opens it and steps inside room 111 with ease. At that moment, Mr. Reyes is standing there, face to face with the shooter. And all he can see is his dark eyes. His students are still huddled in the question. corner behind him. And the next thing he knows, the gunman yells out, look what we have here,

before raising his rifle in his direction and pulling the trigger. Mr. Reyes quickly drops to the ground, feeling a deep sting in his left forearm. The bullet had torn off pieces of his flesh and bone, but what would happen next was far more horrific. After shooting the teacher, the gunman then approaches the 11 children who were huddled in the corner. In over the next few moments, the sound of gunfire echoes throughout the school. Within seconds, all 11 students in room 111 are killed instantly. Mr. Reyes, who was still lying on the ground playing dead, said that he didn't even hear one single cry, scream, or whimper. That's how quickly they were wiped out. Here is the audio from those first few moments.

Keep in mind, the audio is edited, so all you can hear is the gunshots. Outside, the responding police officers are still trying to figure out where the shooter's located. And soon enough, they learn that the shots are coming from inside Rob Elementary. Here's the body cam footage of Sergeant Daniel Coronado, and you can hear the exact moment he realizes the shooter is inside. Okay, you know, Vali, they're saying that he's supposed to. possibly in the building on the... Sergeant Coronado said that after hearing the gunfire inside of the school, his heart sank.

This was the worst case scenario. Back inside the classrooms, after the shooter murdered all 11 students inside room 111, he goes into the classroom next door. Like we mentioned, inside room 111, there was a door that connected to room 112. Well, now Miss Morellas and Miss Garcia had locked the front door to their classroom, but they hadn't locked the door that connected to Mr. Reyes' classroom. And because his front door was unlocked, this allowed the gunman access to both classrooms. Inside room 112, two teachers and 18 students are hiding.

And just like in Mr. Reyes' class, most of the students are in the back left-hand corner of the room and in front of the kids guarding them from the gunmen are their two teachers other students are hidden in other spots around the room some kids are under the desks others are in the front of the room near the backpacks but all are terrified after hearing the gunshots next door over the next few seconds everyone inside of room 112 holds their breaths trying to stay as quiet as it as they possibly can. But soon enough, the door handle connecting to room 111 begins to turn. And before they know it, the gunman is standing right in front of them. He then yells out, you're all going to die. And according to survivors, the gunman then makes his way towards

the teachers and students in the corner of the room. They all back away in fear as he inches closer. He then looks Irma Garcia in the eye and says good night before unloading his rifle on everyone in that corner of the room. Here is the audio from the hallway. In less than three minutes, the gunman had fired over 100 shots into the two classrooms. When he was finished shooting, Miss Irma Garcia immediately fell to the ground dead. And so did the young children, she was holding in her arms. Both teachers tried their best to shield their students from the gunfire,

but several of them would immediately succumb to their injuries. However, not everyone in that corner died right away. In the very back of the group, there were four children who had been shot but were still alive. And their teacher, Miss Eva Morellas, was also still alive.

But after these gunshots rang out, 10 other students were still hiding around the classroom, doing everything they could to keep quiet so the gunmen wouldn't see them. Now, a man named Charlie Men would do a documentary called 77 Minutes, where he interviewed some of the surviving children of room 112. And according to their accounts, these first few minutes were absolute chaos. A student named Samuel Salinas said, quote, I was hiding under my desk.

I was half outside of the desk and half inside of the desk, and I saw a bunch of my classmates dead, and my friends too. End quote. Now Samuel had been shot in his right leg. The pain was unbearable, but he couldn't scream or cry. He had to remain as quiet as he possibly could. Another student named Jaden Canazales said, I was hiding under the table,

and there was a table curtain so the shooter couldn't see me. The table curtain was black. End quote. As Jaden was hidden behind the curtain, he heard the shooter come into the room. He would later say, quote, the shooter was behind me. He crouched down when he was at the table and started shooting everybody. And quote. And because he was hidden under that curtain, Jaden luckily didn't get shot.

But that wasn't the case for many of the people. his other classmates. 11-year-old Maya Serio had been shot in the upper left shoulder. Another student, A.J. Martinez, had been shot in his right leg. He said that after the gunman came into their class, quote, I just saw him keep shooting people. He would stop, and then he would keep going, end quote. After shooting into room 112, the gunman would then go back into room 111.

Inside, Mr. Reyes was still on the ground pretending to be dead, and behind him were the bodies of his 11 students. Like we mentioned, he didn't hear one single cry or moan, so he knew they were all likely dead. But it's at this point, at 1136 a.m., just three minutes into the shooting, when the police finally come into the school. Chief Erandondo, Officer Adrian Gonzalez, Officer Page, and Sergeant Coronado enter the building through the south entrance. Then, on the west entrance, several more officers entered.

enter the school, including Lieutenant Martin, Sergeant Canales, Lieutenant Javier Martinez, and Officer Luis Landry. Now, in the security footage from inside the school, the officers immediately run in and disperse down the hallway. Some of them are even standing directly in front of room 111 and 112. And while they're standing there, they notice it's eerily quiet inside. There's no screaming, no crying. They also notice smoke in the hallway, debris all over the floor, bullet holes through the walls and bullet casings all over the ground. And it's at this point when Sergeant Canales peers through one of the doors to see if he can get an eye on the gunman. However, when he does, the classroom is pitch black. Now, the officers are standing in the hallway for about a minute, and then right

before 1137 a.m., the gunman fires off several more shots. Inside room 111, Mr. Reyes said that he then heard a student in room 112, cry out, officers, come in, we are in here. In just for a moment, I want you to imagine the relief they felt when they heard the police on the other side of that wall. They just experienced the most traumatic thing anyone should ever have to go through, but at least it was almost over. The police were here to help. Or so they thought. Sadly, help was not on the way.

In fact, after the gunshots rang out and the little girl screamed, We are in here, the gunman walked over and killed her. Meanwhile, the police took off running down the hallway and took cover. Now, during the gunfire, Sergeant Canales and Lieutenant Martinez had been grazed by debris from the bullets blasting through the door. Here is the body cam footage from Officer Eduardo Canales. Watch that door. What's that door? Can't break? Somebody can break? I know.

You light up? You light up? You guys light up. Now, that last little, Am I bleeding? Am I bleeding? My wife's classroom. Now, that last little part you heard was Officer Ruben Ruiz, and he says, that's my wife's classroom.

As it turns out, his wife was Miss Eva Morellas inside of room 112. Now, Eva had been shot, but she was still alive. However, there was still some confusion as to whether or not she and her students were actually in the class. Now, something important to know about mass shootings is that the first few moments officers get on scene are the most crucial. That's when it's the best time to take the gunman down and rescue victims. When you wait around, there's this buildup. The gunman gets comfortable, and as time passes, he's more aware of his surroundings. So these first few moments are when the Yuvaldi police officer should have gone in and taken him down.

However, after those shots are fired through the door, they retreat back and take cover. And no one would even attempt to go back into the room for another 70 minutes. Here is footage from Officer Canales' body cam after those shots rang out. You're sitting in the classroom? You got me, right? Fuck. You okay? Yeah.

He's in the class. Fuck. If I got shots fired, we're going to be in the building, the west side. We got to get in there. We got to get in there. We got to get in there. Back inside room 111, Mr. Reyes is still playing dead on the floor, while the gunman walks all around him.

The shooter would end up spending most of the 77 minutes in room 111. So as you can imagine, it was a horrifying experience. At one point, Mr. Reyes heard him close the blinds to his classroom and then stand up on the desk behind him. He may have even seen the teacher move a little bit because after this, the gunman pours a cup of water on Reyes' back. He likely wanted to see if the water would cause him to move around, but it didn't. Reyes continued to be as still as he possibly could. From there, the shooter hops down from the table, scoops up some of Reyes' blood, and then smears it all over the teacher's face. But Mr. Reyes keeps doing everything in his power to play dead.

However, the gunman isn't finished just yet. Next, he grabs Reyes' cell phone, which had been ringing nonstop since the shooting started, and he places it on Reyes' back. It's assumed that the gunman thought the vibrations of the cell phone would elicit a reaction of sorts, but it didn't. Mr. Reyes would later say, quote, he was going to make sure I was dead too. I mean, he had nothing to lose.

End quote. Then, as he was lying there, Mr. Reyes heard a loud pop, followed by a pain in his lower back. The shooter had shot him again, and he couldn't even react, despite the immense pain. And at that moment, he thought to himself, quote, I'm not going to make it. I'm going to bleed out. End quote. Now, in the next room over, the survivors of room 112 continue to wait around for police.

11-year-old Chloe Torres said that she watched 10 people die right in front of her eyes. One being her best friend, Amory. Another survivor, Maya Sorrio, said that as she laid there amongst her classmates, she saw teeth scattered all over the ground. She also saw someone's ear lying right next to her. These little children were quite literally in what looked like a war zone. and all they wanted was to get out of that room. Chloe said that she kept looking at the window of her classroom.

She knew that that would be a way for them to escape, but she didn't even entertain the idea because she knew the gunman was watching. So instead, she continued to play dead amongst her classmates. Now, back outside in the hallway, many of the officers said that they didn't even realize students were in the classroom. Here's Sergeant Eduardo Canales. I honestly didn't think anybody was in there besides the gunman,

because I, you know, and not that, you know, I just honestly thought that there were in the cafeteria because it was, it seemed like all the lights were off, and it seemed like it was really quiet. I didn't hear any screaming, any yelling. I literally didn't hear anything at all, you know, you know, and, you know, you would think those, you know, kids would be yelling and screaming.

Here's another officer, Ronald Rodriguez. We couldn't hear the kids. we couldn't hear him shooting anybody or anything like that. So I guess that's why they were waiting to make entry because we didn't know what was going on in there. It was too quiet. Here's Officer Ventura Chapa. Did you think there was kids in that room?

I knew there was a possibility because of school, but I didn't know for sure that there was kids in the North Carolina. Again, it was really quiet. And, you know, I know, I mean, I went to elementary school. You know, you have your little, like, Your science class where you walk out or eat or different times of the day and hopefully, you know, other activities. I know it was also like the end of the year. So I was like maybe they're doing something else, you know, not in their classrooms.

But that was that was kind of a wishful thing. Next is Sergeant Donald Page. Man, that hallway was so quiet after the shots were done. You could literally hear yourself breathing. You didn't hear any kids. You didn't hear any teachers, nothing. And I do remember he even asked to compete. Hey, is this building clear?

Is it just maybe one or two classrooms? And he's like, I do not know because I say you didn't hear anybody. Now, the reason there was no screaming or yelling is because, one, most of the people in the rooms were dead. And two, the gunman was going back and forth between the rooms. So obviously, the survivors aren't going to be screaming, revealing their position. One of the girls in room 112 had done just that, and the gunman came in and shot her. And an active shooter training, which the students had practiced in the past, they teach you to be as quiet as you possibly can. So they follow the rules, rules that the police department clearly weren't aware of, and it's at this point when Sergeant Eduardo Canales announces that the subject is contained and barricaded in the classroom.

Okay guys, he's on inside this building. We have him contained. He believe he's barricaded in one of the offices. Messed up, they're still shooting. Now, with this announcement, Sergeant Eduardo Canales used the words contained and barricaded, and that wording is very important. To other officers, that means that the subject is in the room by themselves. And if that were to be the case, then there's no urgency. to immediately storm in and take down the shooter. Now they can be more tactical and strategic

so that they're protected. But little did they know that was not the case at all. There were dozens of people in those rooms, most of whom were already dead and some who were dying. Seven minutes end the shooting. A teacher from room 102 calls 911. Her classroom is located across the hall from room 112, so she heard everything.

And according to her 911 call, she says, quote, there's an active shooter at Rob Elementary. I don't have a window, but I can hear gunshots outside of my classroom. There's been a lot, a whole lot. And I got a message from somebody that somebody is shot in another classroom. End quote. So from here, police chief Pete Eradondo is notified about this 911 call. So he knows that someone has been shot in one of the calls.

classrooms. Hey, right now. I've been inside the building with this man. He has an area 15. Is the teacher with him?

In the classroom. The dispatcher replies, quote, she's in another classroom. She's in 102. Another person is possibly shot across from her.

End quote. Chief Eradondo responds. We have him in the room. He's in an AR 15. He's shot. lot. He's in a room, he hasn't come out yet, or surrounded, but I don't have a radio with me. So he said all the units know, he's going to be in one of the rooms, what room number, Pete?

Yes, he's got to be in room 19, 1112. He's either in room 11 or 112. Now, after hearing from dispatch that someone had been shot in room 11 or 112, Chief Pete Arandondo, for whatever reason, doesn't relay this information to anyone. And because of that, the Other officers continue to treat the shooter as a barricaded subject. And again, there's no urgency to breach the classrooms. It's also around this time when the officers are trying to figure out if the classrooms were in session. Body camp footage shows an officer say, See if the class is in there right now, or if there's somewhere else.

Moments later, he gets a response. So now, they got confirmation that the class is indeed in session, meaning the students, and teachers were inside. Following this, body cam footage captures several officers discussing the situation at hand. One officer asks, are there any kids in there? Another response. Class is in session. Moments later, an officer asks, he's in a class right now, to which someone else responds.

Yeah, with kids. So even though there's a huge lack of communication, many of these officers know that kids are inside the classroom with a gunman. Back inside of the classrooms, the shooter is still in room 111 with the 11 murder victims and Mr. Reyes, who is still playing dead on the floor. And it's at this point where the shooter turns on the TV in the classroom and starts watching the news. It seems as if he wanted a front row seat to the media coverage of the shooting. And he's doing all of this while the officers wait outside in the hallway. At some point, the shooter even starts playing music on his phone.

It's never been revealed what songs he was listening to, but survivors would later say that it was loud and sad music. Another person described it as, quote, I want people to die music. Now, while the shooter was in room 11, the surviving students in room 112 are hearing the shooter in the next room, and they are terrified. But even in these frightening moments, they're still looking out for one another.

Chloe Torres and Maya Sorrio were in room 112, surrounded by their dead friends. Maya, who had been shot in the shoulder, even had one of her deceased friends lying on top of her at one point. But while the girls are lying there, Chloe whispers over to Maya and tells her to scoop up some of her classmates' blood and smear it. all over her. That way if the gunman comes back in, he will think they are dead. So that's what they do. The girls gather up their friend's blood and cover themselves with it, something no 11-year-old girls should ever have to do. And from there, they closed their eyes and play dead. Luckily, their plan works. The gunman would come back into their classrooms, and he didn't notice the girls were alive. But the entire time, they just kept wondering when the police were coming. After all,

they heard them outside in the hallway. So why weren't they coming to save them? Well, the Uvaldi police claimed that they were waiting on equipment. And until they got that equipment, all they could do was wait. Now, it's around this time as the officers are waiting around in the hallway, video footage from inside the school shows Officer Ruben Ruiz check his phone, and then shortly after, he steps out of frame. At that very moment, he was getting a call from his wife, Eva Morelles. On the call, Eva can barely even speak, partly because the gunman was in the next room, but mostly because she was dying. Some of the students inside room 112 said that they didn't even realize Ava was making a phone call, but they did hear her

mumbling, and in those mumbles, she was telling her husband that she was dying. From there, Officer Ruiz steps back into frame and whispers to the other officers, quote, my wife shot. Now, Officer Ruiz would get a lot of criticism. As you probably know by now, law enforcement officers wouldn't enter the classrooms until over an hour later. And many people just couldn't fathom why he wouldn't go into the room where he knew his wife was dying. Now, in his defense, he only had a small Glock on him, which would have been no match against the gunman's rifle. But there were other officers in the hallway with rifles. Many people questioned why he didn't borrow a rifle and go save his wife and her students.

Well, body camp footage did show him pushing through the officers, saying, she said she's shot Johnny but they quickly hold him back here's officer Justin Mendoza explaining what happened he wanted to get in there and we're trying to hold him back you know he's like Eva's in there she's shot she's shot like we need to get in there these kids and we know we need to get in there but we don't have the right equipment now the first responders claimed that the reason they were taking so long is because they were waiting for more shields so that they could safely breach the

classrooms they also were waiting for officers from the Department of Public Safety, and Bortak, which is an agency that had better equipment to deal with an active shooter situation. You know, I didn't even bother to throw on my rifle plates at all. Like I said, we didn't have any shields, no flash things, no nothing that we could have used to catered distraction to not only, like not sound selfish, but make sure we go home at the end of the day, but at least more of these kids can go home at the end of the day. you know understand this is a job we signed up for yeah we put our life on the line but none of us have never been in this type of situation and we ever thought any of the situation

ever happened here right about me many of the officers admitted that they were scared to face a man with a rifle and without proper shields they figured they would die themselves realized we weren't equipped to to make entry into that room without several casualties i going back now that kind of haunts me that If it was a pistol or something, it would have been maybe a different thought process. At that point, we just, we had no choice but just to wait and try to get something that had better coverage where we could actually stand up to him. At that point, we just secured the scene and just kept him contained into what we thought at that point was that one classroom. Lieutenant Javier Martinez would later say, had anybody gone through that door, he would have to be.

have killed whoever it was. I mean, we can only carry so many ballistic vests on you. That 223 round would have gone right through you in the door. I mean, he was ready. He was ready for us. At one point, this interaction is heard between two officers. Want to jump the fucking gate or what? What's the safest way to do this? I'm not trying to get clapped out. Me neither. I know I called Mike and I know he is a special response team so I think they got notified. So they will be on their way too. But I know that this is something that needs to be done like now, ASAP. And I also don't like standing right by the windows where we can get shot, bro.

Another interaction captured on body cam footage showed an officer brainstorming about how he could get inside of the classroom. He says, quote, we need to go in there. I wonder if I can get in there and maybe open that door. End quote. But then another officer says, quote, he's in there. He's going to shoot at you again. He's going to hit you that time.

You have nowhere to go. End quote. Then another officer is heard saying, quote, This is so sad dude. He shot kids, bro. End quote. And look, I get it. No one wants to get shot.

And at the end of the day, everyone wants to go back home to their families. But while the officers sat around waiting for shields, the students inside room 112 were desperately waiting for the police to come in and save them. They also didn't have shields. And some of the injured children were bleeding out and dying. So it's at this point when Chloe Torres decides to pull out her phone and dial 911. Now we are going to play this 911 call for you, but it is a little hard to hear.

If you couldn't hear that, the dispatcher says, I'm calling with the police department. Are you okay? No, there's a school shooting. Okay, yes, ma'am. I have multiple units there. Are you with officers or are you barricaded somewhere? I'm in classroom. What's the classroom number? 112. What's your name, ma'am? Chloe Torres, please hurry. There's a lot of dead bodies. Stay on the line, okay? You said you were in room 112? Yes, ma'am, please send help.

You need to tell them that they need to be quiet. I am, I am. I'm telling everyone to be quiet. And now nobody is listening to me. I know how to handle these situations. My dad taught me when I was a little girl. Send help. Some of my teachers are still alive, but they're shot.

Chloe's father, Rubin, told director Charlie Min that his daughter is brave and courageous. He said, we are very grateful that we've had talks about the shootings that have been going on around our nation. We do a lot of dry runs or what-ifs. What would you do if you were in this situation? Luckily, because he had prepared his daughter for an active shooter scenario, Chloe would end up surviving the shooting. But the fact that she even had to call 911 when the shooter was walking in and out of her classroom was horrible

because that put her life in danger. Now, Chloe's 18-minute 911 call would end up being a huge part of this story. Up until this point, many of the responding officers claimed that they didn't know students were in the classrooms. They did think it was a possibility. But with this phone call where she says, we're in room 112, there's a lot of dead bodies, they now know that there are victims in these rooms. And from there, they should have immediately made their way inside. But that wouldn't happen.

Active shooter protocol was ignored here, and the kids would have to wait another 38 minutes for help to arrive. During that wait, Chloe would call 911 again. She says, quote, how far are you all away? They're inside of the building. You need to stay quiet, okay? Chloe then tells the students around her, quote, they're inside the building, we just need to stay quiet.

End quote. Now other children in room 112 would call 911 as well. In fact, Chloe's best friend, Amory Joe Garza, tried to call 911 earlier in the shooting, but sadly, the shooter came in and killed her. and Chloe Torres watched as her best friend died right in front of her. Later on, Maya, the girl who rubbed blood all over herself, also called 911 several times. But the second call was the only one that came through.

However, during that call, the dispatcher couldn't hear what she was saying, so she was hung up on. There were seven different 911 calls that came from room 112. and still, the police would not come in to save them. Now, again, the main argument for why the police didn't breach the classrooms was because they thought the shooter had barricaded himself and was in the classroom all alone. But clearly, with these 911 calls, that wasn't the case. In reality, they were just too scared to go in.

And just to show you how unorganized this entire operation was, Many of the officers thought that that hallway had been cleared and that most of the classrooms were empty. One officer named Ramundo Lara was sitting at the end of the hall with his gun pointed towards room 112. And to take a more safe position, he decided to open the classroom door behind him and lay down in the doorway. But as he did, he heard something behind him.

Body cam footage shows him peek into the classroom. where he saw dozens of students hiding. And he is shocked. I mean, in his mind, this hallway had already been evacuated. So he quickly tells the other officers, hey, we have kids in here. They then go into the classroom and yell out, is anyone hurt?

And the kids scream out no, but they are all hysterically crying. The officers tell them to stay calm. And from there, the kids start jumping out of the classroom window to safety. Here is Sergeant Daniel Coronado. We broke out the window. He starts handing out the kids. There's kids in there.

And we start handing them out and I'm like, that means there's kids everywhere. So it wasn't until this very moment when the officers realized that there were children in nearly all of the fourth grade classrooms along that hallway. So from here, they start evacuating all the classes that they could. And as they did, they couldn't help but see the terror on the children's faces. Here's Sergeant Daniel Coronado explaining what this was like. So we start pulling them out, pulling them out, pulling them out, and we're breaking the blinds, breaking the blinds and pulling them out. And I could just see how scared they were.

I could see the fear in their face. I knew they... You did. I don't even have about this at all. It's all right, man. Take your tongue, bro. We're going to pause there's 20. She's good, but...

Now, in these types of situations, they're supposed to be a command post. And this helps guide the first responders, and it just helps organize everything. But by this point, there hadn't even been a designated command post. And even worse, they hadn't even officially put an officer in charge.

These two things are literally the first things you do in an emergency situation. And because they failed to set these up, there was a lot of miscommunication. Here is Officer Michael Wally describing the chaos. I kept going back to who is OIC. Who is, who's in charge? She's my language, but who's in charge?

I'm a patrol officer. I can't, you know, I'm not in there. I'm not in the hallway. I'm not talking to our gunmen. not talking to the guy who's talking to our gunman. No communication is coming back out to me. So there's got to be someone else.

There's got to be someone else that's in charge. Someone tell me what to do. And you know this, you've probably been wearing a badge a lot longer than I have. But chain of command is everything. And it was not there. And based on active shooter protocol, the district's police chief Pete Irondondo was supposed to be the one in charge. But he didn't even have a radio on him that. day. So clearly, he wasn't doing a great job on organizing everything, and many of the officers

on scene are still completely unaware of what's going on. Some don't even realize there are victims inside. Here's one conversation that body cam footage picked up between an officer and a border patrol agent. The border patrol agent says, I thought he said victims. Room 12? No, we hadn't heard that. Anybody hurt? No, not here. No, sir. Now, overhearing this, another officer says, steps in and says, yes, there are. We have an active shooter. The last contact we had, an officer's wife called him and said she was dying. We got a call that there were a lot of victims in room 12. So, as you can see, this is about as unorganized as it could possibly get. And as each minute passed, many of the first responders are getting paranoid, knowing that

they're taking far too long to breach the classrooms. One's heard saying, fuck, we're taking too on. Other officers ask, what are we doing? Some say it's been about an hour. What are we waiting on? Does anybody know? By this point, there are nearly 400 officers at the school, and word has quickly spread throughout Yuvaldi that a shooter was on campus. Rob Elementary had even posted on their social media saying, quote, Rob Elementary is under lockdown status. Rob Elementary parents. Please know at this time Rob Elementary is under a lockdown status due to gunshots in the area. The students and staff are safe in the building. The building is secure in a lockdown status. Your cooperation is needed at this time by not visiting the campus. As soon as the lockdown status is

lifted, you will be notified. Thank you for your cooperation. Signed Anne-Marie Espinoza. Executive Director of Communications and Marketing, Yuvaldi CISD. End quote. Now, even though this post asked the parents not to come to the school, no parent is actually going to listen. When you hear that there's an active shooter at your kid's school, your first thought is, I need to go get my child. And soon enough, hundreds of concerned parents are pulling up to Rob Elementary to see what's going on.

Earlier that day, a man named Alfred Garza was on his lunch break. When his daughter's mother called and said there was an active shooter at Rob Elementary, Alfred's daughter was Amory Garza, and she was a fourth grader in room 112. Now, at the time, no one knew which rooms in the school had been targeted. But like many other parents, Alfred immediately made his way over to Rob Elementary. There was so much traffic around the school. He actually had to park three blocks down and walk over where a sea of concerned parents were waiting outside.

The officers had blocked off the entrances and they weren't letting anyone in. They also informed the parents to stay calm and let them do their jobs. Alfred said the last thing he wanted to do was interfere, especially if they're inside trying to take down a gunman. He had full trust that the officers were taking care of things and keeping their children safe. But little did he know that's not at all what they were doing.

In fact, his daughter Amory had been shot in the abdomen inside room 112. And because of the 77-minute wait, she would pass away from her injuries. Alfred would later say if he were to have known what was going on inside the school, he would have gone home, grabbed his rifle, and did what the police failed to do, which is one of the many tragic parts of this story. While 400 police officers waited around, refusing to breach the classrooms because they were scared, there were probably 400 parents waiting outside that would have gone into those classrooms without a second thought.

And as each minute passed, it was clear that the parents were, parents were growing frustrated with the lack of action. You know that there are kids, right? They're little kids. They don't know how to defend themselves. One of the parents waiting outside Rob Elementary was Virginia Vela. Her son Jordan was also in room 112. Upon hearing about the shooting at the school, she two immediately made her way over.

Now, when she arrived, one of the officers pointed to the building where the shooter was located, and she said her heart dropped. It was the same building where her son's classroom was. Over the next few minutes, she watched as other children in the building evacuated, but as her eyes scanned their faces, none of them were her son. Frantically, she texted her son's teacher, Irma Garcia, to see if everyone was okay, but she never got a response. That's because Irma Garcia was already dead.

But luckily, Jordan was one of the few kids in room 112 that would walk away uninjured. But at this point, the parents are waiting outside and are understandable. frustrated. Many of them had been there for nearly an hour and the gunman was still inside at the school with students. Even further, they are watching as hundreds of police officers are just standing around doing nothing. So parents start taking matters into their own hands. One woman was named Angelie Gomez and she had two kids at Rob Elementary. Anjali had just been at the school earlier that morning for her children's award ceremony. And then afterwards, she immediately went back to work.

But just 10 minutes after she started working, she got the call about an active shooter at Rob Elementary. So Anjali rushes back going 100 miles per hour down the roads. Once she arrives at the school, she hops out of her car and starts sprinting towards her children's classrooms. But as she gets closer to the building, a U.S. Marshal stops her. She tries telling him that two of her babies are inside and she needs to get them, but the U.S. Marshal won't let her.

Now, Angelie, along with dozens of other parents, are furious. Here are all of these officers just standing around doing nothing, while their children are inside with the gunmen. So Angelie starts talking with the parents around, her saying, quote, we should all just go in and save our children. If we all push forward, they can't stop all of us. I'm going to get my child. But the U.S. Marshal overhears her, and in response, he places her in handcuffs. Now after a few minutes, Angoli starts telling them, I'll cooperate, just please uncuff me. And they do. But as soon as she is uncuffed, she

takes off running towards the school, hops the fence, and makes her way towards her son's classroom. Moments later, video from that day shows Angelie running from the school, holding her son's hand. Then as soon as she got him to safety, she ran back towards the school to grab her other child. And again, a group of officers try to stop her. So she tells them, give me a vest. I'll go in there myself. Now eventually, Anjali would go through and get her other child to safety as well. And while she was in the school, she said she heard gunshots throughout the hallway. But I think this story just goes to show that the students and their parents showed so much bravery that day. And many of them were willing to put their lives on the line to save those children.

Meanwhile, the hundreds of officers on scene were still keeping their distance, waiting around for backup. Angelie Gomez would later tell CBS News about the officers, quote, If anything, they were being more aggressive towards us parents that were willing to go in there. And like I told one of the officers, quote, I don't need you to protect me. If anything, I need you to go in there with me to go protect my kids. They were more focused on keeping us back than getting into that school. End quote.

Now, we are going to play you a short little clip of the chaos going on outside with the parents and families. You're not going to be able to make out anything they are saying. But I do think it does a great job showing just how chaotic the entire day was. And something that we do want to mention is that clearly officers have to follow protocol. You can't just allow parents to run around a crime scene and put more innocent lives in danger. And I'm sure many of these officers were not happy with the way things were being run. But it is crazy that out of the nearly 400 officers on scene that day, not one of them questioned authority and said, Give me a rifle, I'm going to go in there and take this guy down.

There were parents waiting outside that were willing to do it. So why weren't any of the officers willing? By now, the shooting had been going on for over-eastern. an hour and they were still waiting for backup to arrive. In a very tragic part of this story is that some of the victims inside room 111 were alive for the majority of the shooting. Like we mentioned earlier, Chloe Torres watched her classmates die right in front of her eyes. She also watched both of her teachers get shot. Now, Ms. Irma Garcia died immediately, but Ms. Eva Morellas didn't.

she was alive for most of the shooting. Chloe said that in the first few minutes of the shooting, she watched her teacher scream and cry on the classroom floor. When as time passed, she became weaker, and Miss Morellas began mumbling to her students that she didn't want to die, but she knew deep down that she was dying. And before bleeding out,

Miss Morella spoke about wanting to speak to her daughter. It was her dying wish. The students felt hopeless watching their teacher in this condition. They said she even grabbed a plastic bag, and with the little energy she had left, she wrapped it around her arm, where she had been shot. And then, just before the police breached the classroom, she began vomiting, and not long after that, Ms. Morellas would pass away from her injuries, which is heartbreaking. If the police would have gone in right away, she likely would have lived.

But that's not how this story played out. Now, according to the Yuvaldi police, the reason they didn't breach the classrooms right away was because, one, they thought the gunman was barricaded by himself. But we've already established that they knew there were children in the classroom with the gunmen. Chloe Torres' 911 call proved that. And the second reason on why they didn't breach the classrooms was that they were waiting around on backup. And that backup was the Border Patrol Tactical Unit, otherwise known as Bortak. Now, Bortak ended up getting to the school at 12.09 p.m.

About 40 minutes into the shooting. But believe it or not, after they arrived, police chief Pete Oradondo told them to wait. You see, two classes down from room 111 was room 109, which still had a full classroom of students inside. And the door to their classroom was locked. Now, police chief Eradondo wanted to wait for a master key so he could get their classroom evacuated before they went in to stop the gunmen,

which is wild. He knew full and well that there were several children inside the room with the gunmen. But his main priority was finding a key to the room two doors over. Aredondo is even heard saying on body cam footage, quote, get one of those school officials out here to give you a master key to the rooms. As soon as I clear this room, I'm going to verify what's been vacated before we do any kind of breaching. Time is on our side right now.

End quote. Time is on our side. as children are bleeding out in the classroom with the gunmen. After this, he says, quote, I know we probably have kids in there, but we've got to save the lives of the other ones. End quote. So he's saying out loud that he wants to save the kids in room 109

before he saves the children in room 112. And he said this knowing that people had been shot and that there were multiple casualties. Chloe said in her call, there's a lot of dead bodies. But apparently the kids in room 109 were just more of a priority than the children who were literally dying from baseball-sized gunshot wounds. Now, it seems as if Pete Eradondo can sense the urgency of some of his fellow officers. After nearly an hour of not breaching the classrooms,

they want to get in there and save the children. But in response to this urgency, Pete Eradondo says, quote, we are going to get rid of the kids first before we do any kind of breaching. So tell the guys to calm the fuck down for a minute. End quote. Here's Pete Eradondo's reasoning for why he waited to breach the classroom, even after backup arrived. My first thought is that we need to vacate.

We haven't been contained. And I don't know this is where Bolandos are trained tells us to do, but we haven't contained. There's probably going to be some decease in there, but we don't need any more from out here. For nearly 20 minutes, the Border Patrol Tactical Unit is waiting around in the hallway. They're ready to breach the classroom and take down the gunmen,

but they're still waiting on Room 109 to be evacuated. The officers stand in front of Room 109 for several minutes, using a number of different keys to try and unlock the door. Meanwhile, people in Room 111 and 112 are bleeding out and dying. But finally, after what seemed to be able to, like an eternity, Room 109 was eventually evacuated, and only then was the Border Patrol Tactical Unit giving clearance to take down the gunman. It was now 12.50 p.m., 77 minutes into the shooting. And the Border Patrol Tactical Unit carefully made their way down the hallway,

towards Room 111. With their shields up and rifles ready, they quickly unlocked the door and breached the classroom. In the back left corner of the room, the gunman was standing in front of a closet door near the window. He fired several shots and one bullet even grazed in officer's head. But over the next few seconds, the sound of gunfire echoed throughout the school. By the time it was over, the gunman was on the ground dead. Here's the audio of the gunshots that took down the gunman. After taking down the gunmen, the first responders immediately went to work caring for the injured. In room 111, the teacher, Mr. Arnie Reyes, was the only survivor. At some point during the shooting he had passed out from blood loss and the next thing he remembered is being surrounded by first responders.

As he opened his eyes, one of them told him, quote, get up if you can. But he quickly realized he couldn't move at all. So from there, they grabbed him by his pants, pulled him into the hallway, and then brought him to the hospital. In room 112, the 13 survived. surviving children were still hidden all throughout the classroom. Some were even lying on the floor amongst their dead friends, and many had been shot by the gunmen. When the first responders entered those classrooms, they realized right then that the reality of what happened was far greater than what they imagined. There were bodies everywhere, blood, everywhere, and children were

quite literally piled on top of one another. In room 112, the fearful children hesitantly came out of their hiding spots with looks of primal fear on their faces. Over the next few minutes, the children were evacuated out of the building, but unfortunately, due to the chaos outside of Rob Elementary, it was extremely difficult getting people to the hospital, so some had to be treated right there in the parking lot. One of these people was Ms. Eva Morellas. Sadly, when the EMS got to her, she was still alive. But right as she was loaded up into an ambulance, she would take her final breath and pass away. The same thing would happen to three students who were in room 112. Jackie Cazares, Jose Flores, and Xavier Lopez. All had heartburn.

beats as they were pulled out of their classroom, but all three would end up passing away. Sadly, if the police would have gotten to these injured victims sooner, they likely would have survived. And the outside of Rob Elementary was a complete frenzy. There were children still running from the school covered in blood, and many were hysterically crying over what they just went through. Virginia Vela's son, Jordan, had been in room 112, and she had been there the entire her time, anxiously waiting to see his face. Soon enough, she saw him, and a wave of relief

washed over her. Now, Jordan's legs were covered in blood, but he was running from the school, which meant he was alive. But something that broke her heart was the look of primal fear on her son's face. He was in survival mode, something no child should ever have to go through. Another injured victim running from room 112 was AJ Martinez. Believe it or not, A.J. had been shot in the leg, but he too was running from the school. And just to show you how unorganized everything was that day, A.J. wasn't even put in an ambulance. At the time, school buses were taking children from the school and driving them to the local civic center to be reunited with their parents. And despite AJ having a gunshot wound to his leg, they put him on a school bus.

His parents were actually at Rob Elementary that day. And as soon as they saw him run out of the school, they tried to run over to him. But the police held them back. When his parents asked why he wasn't going in an ambulance, they were told that the ambulances were reserved for the deceased children. so he couldn't go in one. It was also reported that there were several injured kids on that school bus, and because of that, there was blood everywhere.

Here is a video of Chloe Torres on that bus. In it, she is absolutely covered in her friend's blood, and here is what she tells the officer. Now, the funeral home across the street would end up being a place of refuge for many of the injured. One of the employees there named Claudia Perez said that about a hundred children were inside of their building as the evacuation took place. She would later say, We had one little girl come, and she was covered in blood, and I thought it was hers. I asked her if she could come with me to the restroom, and then she did, and I started asking her,

do I have permission to start cleaning you down? I wanted to see if she was injured. She says, it's not my blood. It's my friend's blood. But she has too much of it. So I start cleaning her up little by little. She has a sweater in her hand. And I tell her,

I'm going to ask you to be a big girl. She says, okay, but I just want my mommy. Please, I just want my mommy. I said, I promise I'll get you your mommy. But for now, I need you to put on this sweater. I'm cleaning you up the best I can before I let you. go. When I get to her little face, I noticed she had shards. She's bleeding. It was so heartbreaking. Soon enough, law enforcement came into the funeral home as well. Since they didn't have an established

command post, this would be the place where the Texas Department of Public Safety Officers strategized everything they did that day. And while they did, the staff at the funeral home handed out refreshments and did their best to distract the children from the massacre next door. According to the Uvaldi leader news, the consensus among the staff, they said, was to keep the children protected no matter what. Another funeral home employee named Monica Saiz Martinez said, I remember this one particular little boy. I don't know his name. I just remember his face.

He was a small little boy with glasses. He would just cry. They were here for maybe two hours. These scared, scared kids. It was an incredibly hopeless situation. Parents would come into the funeral home absolutely distraught, their tearful eyes darting all over the room, trying to find their children. Some would eventually find them, others would not. One of the parents who helped was Alfred Garza. He didn't know it at the time, but his daughter,

Amory, had died in room 112. But despite his fears, he did everything he could to help other children that day. Monica would later say, he was in here and he helped take the boys to the restroom because it was chaotic. Alfred was here and he was so calm. Now after the surviving children are evacuated, officers inside the school turn their attention to the deceased victims in rooms 111 and 112. As you know, in room 111, every single child in that classroom lost their life. Around the room, desks were pushed around, pencils, paper, shoes, and bullets. casings scattered the floor, showing the absolute chaos that took place inside. Then in the right hand corner of the room were the bodies. All 11 children inside room 111 were found huddled together

in the corner under a desk. There was blood and tissue everywhere. Their bodies had been so mutilated in the attack. Some of them didn't even look human. And then, right above their little bodies on the whiteboard. With something so disturbing, the officers couldn't even believe what they were looking at. During the shooting, the gunman had dipped his fingers into the victim's blood and used it to write L.O.L. on the whiteboard. Laughing out loud. That's the message he wanted to portray.

As a group of investigators began identifying. identifying what was left of their bodies. Another group went to work room 112. And there, they found a similar scene. In that room, 10 people would lose their lives, 8 students and 2 teachers. The victims of room 112 were also found in the back corner of the classroom.

The teachers, Irma Garcia and Eva Morellas, were located in front of their students. It was clear that they had been trying to guard them from the gunmen. Irma Garcia was found dead, holding some of her students and her arms. In her very last moment, she was doing everything she could to make them feel protected. The scene in these two classrooms was unlike anything the investigators had ever seen. The victim's bodies were riddled with baseball-sized holes. Some of their bodies were so mutilated

They would later have to be identified through DNA Or by what they were wearing that day Dr. Roy Guerrero, who is the pediatrician that testified for the House committee Would later say, quote, Two children whose bodies had been so pulverized by the bullets fired at them, Decapitated, whose flesh had been so ripped apart that the only clue as to their identities was the blood-spattered cartoon clothes

still clinging to them, clinging for life, but finding none. End quote. The crime scene was so brutal that some of the officers on scene ended up getting sick. Here is body cam footage of some of the officers running outside, crying and vomiting after what they just saw. Across town, at the Wallyt de Leon Civic Center, parents anxiously waited for their children,

and this is something I always think about with mass shootings. The anxiety of knowing that a shooter was in your child's school is scary enough. But then the school buses of children began to show up, and you're desperately scanning the crowd, hoping to see your child's face. But bus after bus, your child is still not there. But you're still holding on to hope. I'm sure they're just on their way over. Maybe they're injured and lagging behind.

However, as each hour passes, the parents who are still waiting around begin to feel a knot in their stomachs. They also begin to recognize the other parents standing around. and it soon becomes clear that the only parents here are parents from room 111 and 112. And that's when the real fear starts to settle in. There were a lot of tears at the Civic Center that day. Strangers were even crying and embracing each other.

Some of the families formed prayer circles, pleading with God to just bring their baby home. But soon enough, the sun began to set. and the crowds grew smaller. Later that night, officials began pulling the parents inside and taking DNA samples. Sadly, for some of the children, their bodies were so mutilated,

DNA is the only way they could be identified. And then by midnight, there were only around 40 people still at the Civic Center, all of whom had children in room 111 and 112. Officials then gathered them all together, and it was then when they were informed that their child had passed away. At the end of the day, it was determined that 17 people were injured, and 21 people had lost their lives from the shooting at Rob Elementary. 10-year-old McKenna Lee Elrod, 11-year-old Lelah Salazar, 11-year-old Miranda Mathis, 11-year-old Miranda-Florov, 10-year-old Jose Manuel Flores Jr., 10-year-old Xavier Lopez, 10-year-old Tess Marie Mata, 10-year-old Roelio Torres,

9-year-old Eliana Eli Amaya Garcia, 10-year-old Eliana A. Torres, 10-year-old Annabelle Guadalupe Rodriguez, 9-year-old Jackie Cazares, 10-year-old Jace Carmelio-Garcia, 10-old Jace Carmeliovano Yovanos, 10-year-old Maite Juliana Rodriguez, 10-year-old Jailin Nicole Siguerro, 10-old, 10-old An. Amory Joe Garza, 10-year-old Alexandria Lexi Annia Rubio, 10-year-old Alethea Ramirez, 44-year-old Eva Morelis, and 48-year-old Irma Garcia. Make sure to join us next week as we tell you all about the victims who lost their lives that day, the survivors, the horrific aftermath, police scrutiny, and the nation's response

to one of the worst mass shootings our country has ever seen. everybody it's colin here thank you for listening to this week's episode of murder in america like we said before i know that the series is going to be really hard for people to listen to but it's definitely something that we need to talk about and continue to talk about here in america and we can't have these discussions unless we have a full understanding of exactly what happened that day obviously our thoughts prayer is good energy are with everybody who was affected by this tragedy but growing up my mom was always the best at handling sticky, stressful situations. I mean, we have so many crazy family memories, so many things that stick out to me, so many trips that we took and just funny moments.

I mean, I remember specifically one just crazy time when we had jet skis and we took them out. We had rented them for the day and we took them out on this lake and somehow something got in the engine of the jet ski. Mine stalled. My dad stalled. And my mom and sister had to come rescue us because we've floated to shore on the other side of the lake. We've got some hilarious pictures from that day. But it's just one of those memories that I don't want to let die. And aura frames can help keep those moments alive. So basically an aura frame is like a virtual frame that can display photos and videos from

anywhere. You can upload to the frame. You can share in new photos. You can constantly change the library. And it's really a perfect gift for a family member because you can personalize it at any time. And the aura frame is the perfect Mother's Day. gift to capture the chaos that you might have put your own mom through and the memories that came with it.

With free unlimited storage, you can add as many photos and videos to your aura frame as you want. And something that I love is that you can actually preload the aura frame with photos before it ships. And you can keep adding to it from anywhere at any time. Each aura frame also comes packaged in a premium gift box with no price tag, so it's great if you're giving it as a gift. And actually, ORAFraM's run off a top-rated app. In fact, the app reached number one on the App Store on Christmas Day, 2025. So, make Mother's Day special with ORAFraM frames. Named number one by Wirecutter,

you can save on the gifts mom's love by visiting AuraFrames.com. For a limited time, listeners can get $25 off their best-selling Carver Matt Frame with code M-I-A. That's A-U-R-A-Frames.com promo code M-I-A. Support the show by mentioning us at checkout, terms and conditions, apply. Good hair days do more than we give them credit for. When your hair feels healthy, you show up differently. You feel more confident, more relaxed, and you're not constantly checking the mirror. Nutraful supports hair health from within and delivers results over time. So your hair becomes something you enjoy, not something you stress about. Nutraful is the number one

dermatologist recommended hair growth supplement brand, and it's the number one hair growth supplement brand personally used by dermatologists. And Nutraful's hair growth supplements are reviewed, NSF certified for sport, and clinically tested. It's obviously not a one-size-fits-all approach, and Nutraful offers multiple formulas for men and women, tailored to different life stages, like postpartum or menopause, and lifestyle factors, such as a plant-based diet, so you get support for your hair that's actually right for you.

And adding Nutraful to your daily routine is easy. You can order online with no prescription needed, with automated deliveries and free shipping to keep you on track. Plus, with a Nutraful subscription, you can save up to 20% and get added perks like a free headspace membership to support your hair health journey. I know Courtney and I both have been using Nutraful shampoo and conditioner for years now, and we've been using their supplements for months. We figured at one point why not try their supplements because we love their shampoo and conditioner so much.

And yeah, it's one of those never looking back situations. But you can let your hair become one less thing taking up space in your head and see thicker, stronger, faster growing hair with less shedding in just three to six months with neuterful. limited time, Nutraful is offering our listeners $10 off your first month subscription and free shipping when you visit Nutraful.com and enter promo code M-I-A. That's NutraFol.com spelled N-U-T-R-A-F-O-L.com promo code M-I-A. Wireless can feel like a world of traps, but not with visible. It's one-line wireless with unlimited data and hotspot, powered by Verizon for $25 a month. Taxes and fees included.

Plus, for a limited time, new members pay just $20 a month for one year on the visible plan. Using the code fresh start. Refresh your wireless with Visible. Tap the banner to switch today. Terms apply, limited time offer subject to change. See Visible.com for plan features and network management details. We're going to dig into what happened next and what we can change in the future in next week's episode. So do not miss that podcast.

I want to thank some of our new patrons this week who helped make this podcast. podcast possible. Fernando. Fernando Ruiz. Owen Jarman. Parsa Kianpore. Bree. Chantal Barry. Anne R. Kelsey Wheeler. Hope. Alicia Seymour. Neumie Benet. Lela Gocley. Jordan Gattis. Megan Callis. Lena A. Jessica Cleek. Daniela Mazzone. And so many more. If you guys like what we do here on the podcast and you want to help support us so we can continue making these episodes far into the future, consider signing up. on Patreon. For just $5 a month, you get access to every episode of our show early and ad free. For $10 a month, you get that plus two full-length bonus episodes of Murder in America posted

every other week. And for $20 a month, you get four full-length bonus episodes of the show. These are episodes that sound like and are as long as every other episode that we post on our main feed, but these episodes will never be made public. So if you love the show and you want to get access to a library of episodes that are online, head to our Patreon now. Also, make sure to follow us on Instagram at Murder in America, where we post photos from every case that we cover and you can keep up with Courtney and I. And also, please take a couple seconds and head to Apple Podcasts, the podcast app on your phone, or wherever you listen to your podcasts, and leave us a five-star review. We love hearing from y'all, and it helps us so much with our growth and everything. But anyways, such a tragic story.

next week we're going to cover the end of this story and yeah it's not an episode to miss but Courtney and I love y'all thank you so much for listening and yeah we'll catch you on the next one how many discounts does USAA auto insurance offer too many to say here multi vehicle discount safe driver discount new vehicle discount storage discount how many discounts will you stack up tap the banner or visit usaa.com slash auto discounts restrictions apply