The Daily - Portraits of Grief From Uvalde

Episode Date: June 1, 2022

This episode contains strong language.Gemma Lopez, 10, watched a movie in class that day. Jacob Albarado, a Border Patrol officer, was getting his hair cut when he heard there was a gunman at his daughter’s school, where his wife is a teacher. Ricardo Garcia, a hospital groundskeeper, can still hear the screaming of parents in the emergency room.These are some of the stories of those who lived through the devastation of the shooting at Robb Elementary School.Guest: Rick Rojas, a national correspondent for The New York Times; Natalie Kitroeff, a correspondent for The Times; and Eduardo Medina, a reporter covering breaking news for The Times. Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: A week after the shooting, the nearly two dozen funerals have begun in a community that must contemplate an agonizing new reality.As soon as the scale of the tragedy became clear, congregants rushed to Sacred Heart Catholic Church. In the days since, they’ve kept going in search of comfort and community.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

From The New York Times, I'm Sabrina Tavernisi. This is The Daily. In the small and close-knit community of Uvalde, Texas, the killing of 21 people at an elementary school has left few lives untouched. Over the past few days, my colleagues Rick Rojas, Natalie Kittreuf, Eduardo Medina, and I set out to tell some of those stories. It's Wednesday, June 1st.

Hi. All right. Cool. Would you mind just spelling your name for me to make sure I have that right? G-E-M-M-A. And your last name? Lopez, L-O-P-E-Z. And how old are you?

Ten years old. And just to be sure, you're her grandmother? Yes, I'm her grandmother. All right. I have custody of her. Okay, okay. Great, great. So I guess first sure, you're her grandmother? Yes, I'm her grandmother. I have custody of her. Okay, okay, great, great. So I guess first off, tell me about today. What have you been doing today? Today, I didn't just wake up. I woke up at seven because she just got here at seven. And then we did a lot of stuff. We're playing around around we're playing hide and seek for a little bit we went to our um our grandpa's and then we were playing around with alexis my my little cousin okay and so what what grade are you i'm in fourth grade okay so you've been just been playing and

just trying to take it easy today yeah and then we got chicken and we ate it here and then we were just playing around. Yeah. Nice. And so you were just talking about your classroom being close to there. I mean, would you mind, I know it's difficult, but what do you remember from that day? What kind of... All I remember was just in the morning, we were just eating breakfast. Then we put on a movie.

The movie was, I think, The Jungle Cruise. Okay. Like, in the middle of it, we went to a P.E. Then we played a little bit more of the movie, and then we went to the award ceremony. And then when we came back, we finished the movie, and then we did, like, a little bit of our work, and then we were just messing around, playing around, doing whatever we do. And then, like, all of a sudden, like, unexpectedly, I heard, like, gunshots.

But I thought they were, like, firecrackers, because, like, kids on their free time like they could mess around and everything after like i heard that like i wasn't thinking of it so uh as much and then i just checked the window then i saw police officers like holding their gun and then i heard a gunshot again and And then I shot the top of the wall. Then I went in between Jyllis and Stacey and went close to my arm. I missed my arm. And then I knew something was so wrong.

So everybody went under. First I shot off the lights and so everybody went under the, like, first they turned off the lights and then everybody went under the table. They were scared and everything, but I told them to be quiet. Then I heard, like, a lot more gunshots. I was crying a little bit, and my best friend Sophia was also crying right next to me. I mean, how do you see her doing? I mean, how, I guess, how do you, I mean, you see your granddaughter go through something like this.

I mean, how do you help her cope? Well, she was telling me that she went under the table, and I said, well, that's good, mama, you know, that's good. You know, she didn't ran or scream, she just went under the table. I mean, she cried a little bit, but I mean, you know, she didn't panic that much. Yeah, yeah. And it's good that she turned off the light, you know. Oh, so you turned off the light in the class? Yes. Wow. And what made you think to do that? Because, like, we always have all these drills about, like, the lockdowns. And, like, they always say, like, to turn off the lights instantly and, like, go hide. So I instantly just remembered that, so I instantly did it. Okay, so have there been just, like, they told you to do this or did you actually practice this before?

They told you to do this or did you actually practice this before? We practiced like a lot, logged down since like pre-care kindergarten. Wow. So Your name is Jacob, yeah? Yes. A-L-B-A-R-A-D-O. That's your last name, right? Yes, correct.

And are you in the Border Patrol? Yes. And so were you on duty at the time? No, no, I was on duty. I was in my slacks and dress shoes because I had just left Rob because I was at an awards ceremony. You were at an awards ceremony for your daughter? Yes, correct.

That goes there at Rob. She was in second grade at Rob. Okay. And my wife teaches fourth grade at Rob. How did you hear that this was going on? I sit down to get my hair cut, and we didn't get started at all. He received a text from his wife that Rob had a shooter, and then I received a text from my wife saying that there was an active shooter. So we just took off, hauling butt to the school as fast as we could.

You and the barber? Yes. Did the barber have a kid in the school too? Yes. Oh my gosh. Thankfully, my barber had a shotgun. I grabbed his shotgun and took off running towards the school. You're kidding me.

Then he had that in his car or something? Like, did you run? Yeah, he had it in his truck. Do you remember what time this was around? I checked my messages yeah i checked my messages it was like 11 45 11 47 so what what were you thinking when you went in i mean what when you went in there were you just like i'm gonna save these kids i mean what was on your mind what What was going through your head? Oh, seriously. I mean, seriously, I need to get my wife out. I need to get my daughter out. But of course, I'm getting everyone else out as well. My wife got out. I was in contact with her,

but I was still looking for my daughter. So from that point on, I just said, where's my daughter? Where's Jada? I ran towards the opposite wing to go get my daughter my daughter was past the playground so I went I went after her I mean I knew where she was at my wife kept on telling me that she was in the restroom because she was my wife was in contact with my daughter's teacher I was looking for a restroom I couldn't find the restroom but apparently there's restrooms inside the classroom but were you personally looking or were the agents looking no i like i said i ran over i ran over there and i was looking for the restroom couldn't find the restroom and then i told him i said we need to

get these kids out of here i i take charge of every situation i've had 13 years of law enforcement i don't know how many how many years these other guys have, but I take control of every situation. Okay, so you were leading this team, basically. This makeshift team that I made, yes. And how did you make, like, you got to the scene and what, did you just, like, see your colleagues and say, like, we're doing this? Or how did you get the team together that fast? Yeah, I ran across and I said, what's going on? They're all the kids around the room locked down.

I said, man, I said, get these kids out of here. I said, these kids, this is our opportunity. This is our time to get the kids out. So I started clearing the rooms. And you had just a bunch of officers were out there, and so you were able to just get together a team right there. Yeah, it's a small town. Half these guys don't meet, half these guys don't.

They realized I was taking charge, and they just listened. I was on the sidewalk. I sent two officers to open up the rooms and send them my way. Then I had another two officers pointing their guns towards where the active shooter was at, and then I had another two officers pointing their guns towards where the active shooter was at, and then I had another two officers set up on the sidewalk so the kids could know where to go. I cleared out her whole wing of classes,

which is like five or six classes, and then I finally see my daughter, and then I start clearing out the other wing, and then I see my daughter's best friend, and I clear out all their, clear them all out, send them towards the the parking lot so they can get off campus so who knows if the shooter is going to be moving around who knows but at that point in time the shooter wasn't there so I was getting everybody anyone I could off of campus.

How many kids do you think you cleared out? Five, six classes on one wing, which is about 20-something kids a class. And then another wing, which is another five, six classes, another 20-something kids a class. Wow. So, easily I'd say 200 kids. Wow. Did you see your daughter come out? Were you able to give her a hug? No, no, no. Yeah. No, I saw her. I saw her. I smiled at her. It was a big relief that she was trained to do.

Hi. I don't know if I'm in the right place. I was looking for Ruben. Ruben? No, he's not there right now. He's next door. He's next door? Yeah's not there right now. He's next door. He's next door? Yeah, that's his name. He's next door.

Yeah. But he's not there right now. Okay. He wants to be alone. I don't know. Everything that happened to him, it just... It's so crazy.

It's unbelievable. I work at the hospital, so... You do? Yes, I work at the hospital. Oh, my God. I just can't get it out of my mind. I just... I can't sleep. Ever since that, I couldn't sleep. I just can't sleep out of my mind i just i can't sleep ever since that i couldn't sleep

i just can't sleep i just i hear the screaming everything i just hear everything just crazy oh my god i never thought it was gonna happen to me but it did so what's your name again natalie yeah what's your name my name is ricky r Ricky? Yes, ma'am. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. What do you do at the hospital? I'm a groundskeeper. This is at a... I have my grandson.

My two cousins were going to school there. And I have a niece that was going. But they're okay. But they're just checking up. I guess they saw what they saw. It's just crazy. But yeah, I just... I just can't sleep.

I can hear the screaming, the yelling. And what I saw, I just, I believe it. I just can't sleep. I can hear the screaming, the yelling. And when I saw them and the kids, when they were bringing them in, it was just, I could see the kids when the door was open to the emergency room. You could see the kids when they're coming in. It was just unbelievable. When you were hearing the screaming, who was screaming? The parents, when they were giving the bad news, they just see the children, they just say,

No, motherfucker, no. And in the walls, I can hear that. I can hear that. The fear, the sadness, everything, the anger, the fear, it was just my body. I grabbed goosebumps. I had goosebumps. I'm like, man, I'm lucky.

Thank you, God. But what about the other kids? I mean, how many parents did you see like that? Oh, man, the whole hospital was full. The whole hospital full, the whole hospital was full. Parents going and sitting down, just shocked and I mean, there's something that I don't know, just something that just can't get out of my mind.

And at night, sometimes I can't sleep, I'm just here, I can hear the echo in my room, screaming, the pain they were in and stuff like that. And just, I think I'm gonna go to counseling here tomorrow. I think I'm gonna go to counseling, because I just, this was never me, but ever since I saw that, I mean, I thought I would never see something like that.

You see it in the movies, you hear it out of here, but. When you, when you like can't sleep at night, are you hearing a specific thing that they're saying? Yeah, just yelling, no, no, that's the only thing I can hear. That's the only thing I can hear. No, the parents, no, no, fuck, no, boom, boom, fuck, no, boom, boom, why, no, no. It's just, man. You're going to go do some counseling, right?

Yes, yes, I got to. It's just kicking my ass. I mean, I just feel, I don't know, I feel weird. I just, I wish I could have done something, but I can't. I mean, it's just so unreal. Yeah. Do you think anything is going to change because of all this? I'm hoping so, Nnedi. I'm hoping so.

Something's got to change. Come on. It's just too much already. I'm so sorry for what you had to go through. It's okay. Thank you. I'm going to send you a note, okay? I'm going to send you a text. Yes. I'm going to also write for you. All right.

Ricardo, right? That's right. We'll be right back. So I'm Dr. Ronald Stewart. I'm a trauma surgeon at University Hospital in San Antonio. And I've been here for, I guess, more or less 40 years. Oh, wow. And I've been faculty since 1993. So you've seen a lot of trauma surgery over the years.

I have. I've treated lots of patients with firearm injuries and gunshot wounds over the years. And then we had the Southern Springs First Baptist Church mass shooting. That was the shooting in 2017, if I'm not mistaken, right? Yes. Where 26 people were killed. Yeah. On that note, Dr. Stewart, I wanted to turn to Tuesday and the shooting in Uvalde.

Yes. So bring me back to the beginning of that day. How did it begin for you? What was the morning like? So I had a 7 a.m. meeting, then I had another meeting with our chief medical officer, you know, just normal daily activities. And then sometime at around, I guess, probably around 1130 or noon, I got a notification that there was first responders responding to a shooting in an elementary school. What was the first thing that came to your mind?

The first thing? The first thing, honestly, I think would be sadness, emotion of sadness, the first emotion. And a wish to hope that it's not accurate, that the report's not right. But then really, just probably a few seconds later, it's like, okay, so our job is to prepare at that time for whatever comes our way. And what's the first thing you see once people start to arrive? received three children and one adult. And we have children who are elementary age children who, so they're small and

critically ill. Patients are intubated. And these wounds are the wounds that we saw were typical of high energy wounds from high velocity firearms. You know, typical, you know, 12 muzzle velocity of say 800 to 1200 feet per second, a handgun muzzle velocity, you have an entrance wound and you may or may not have an exit wound. And you have two holes and that's what you have. With these sorts of wounds, you have, you know, big defects in tissue. It's destroyed, it's open. That's what you're seeing. And Dr. Stewart, what will you most remember from that day?

To me, people working together to help another person, a child, when they need it the most, is the most beautiful thing. I'm a photographer, and I consciously look for beauty in the world, but the most beautiful thing that I see is people working together to help somebody when they need it the most. It's like watching a symphony that all the parts are different, but all working together towards a common goal. That I will remember. That's the beauty. That's the beauty. You know, probably the thing I will remember that's the most negative is a conversation

with the child who's describing the events, the events of the scene, the horror of the events, the events of the scene, the horror of the events, the actuality. We weren't asking what happened. They just started talking about what happened. That to me is the most, that thing I will remember. Yeah. thing I will remember. Yeah. And, you know, I feel, I feel kind of bad and guilty in that maybe I feel like I'm focused on, you know, how I feel a little bit, but because obviously the impact to

the, to the patient and families is really, is nothing compared to anything that I go through or we go through. It's nothing. It pales in comparison. Yeah. I'd love to make sure I have the spelling of your names correct, if that's okay. Okay. Kimberly Rubio, right? Yes.

Got K-I-M-B-E-R-L-Y? Yes. And then Rubio, R-U-B-I-O? Yes. Sir, would you be comfortable if I include your name in there? That's fine. Perfect. How do I spell it? Felix, F-E-L-I-X.

And then Rubio. Would you be comfortable if I include your daughter's age in the story as well? Yes, she's 10. 10, perfect. They need to know how old she was. Perfect. They need to know how old she was. I don't know where you'd want to start, but something we've been asking today is if parents were there at the school when the officers were there, and if so, what you saw and what you made of the response there from the law enforcement.

We were there for, first of all, we had two kids on campus. My son is in second grade and my daughter was in fourth grade. We went to his award ceremony at eight and we left and we went back. The first was at 1030. She got two awards, the Good Citizen Award and the Honor Roll. We took pictures with her. And then my mother-in-law said that we would get her ice cream after school. She loves ice cream.

She always wants ice cream. It sounds to me like she was a brilliant girl. Can you tell me more about that? Was she always very studious? Always. My husband has said it before she is the student every teacher wants because she does everything that's asked of her she's you never have to tell her to do her homework she does she does everything uh she's very competitive they have a like a program for math to help them, and they get points.

And she was just back and forth with this one student one year. She wanted to be first. Yes, she wanted to be first. She's shy, really quiet. We talked about this, though. When she had a point that she wanted to cross, she made it. She would speak up. Sorry, should I just is my first question but

it's just coming to mind now how do i spell your daughter's name a-n-d-r-i-a um and then lexi for her nickname l-e-x-i goddess alexandria anaya rubio yes a powerful name that is well we've thought about it i always i always think about what it sounds like when they call it a graduation. We waited a long time. We couldn't come up with a name for it. Very last minute. Very last minute they told us, hey, if you want to leave tomorrow,

we need you to fill this out now. Exaggerated. It was perfect. It's a beautiful name. Yeah. I'd love to know from you, if there are particular messages you want to make sure people understand know that it's not the time to be political but it is it is i don't want this to happen to anybody else you know when i when i got home my mom told me that the governor was here and that he wanted to come and meet with the families. And my first thought was, my Lexi doesn't even like him.

She was really little, but we talked about this stuff at home. You know, we talked about women's rights and she was a budding feminist you know like she was yeah it's my baby and I don't want anybody else to go through this this is her husband next to dad hi sir I don't want anybody else to go through this.

And this is her husband. Next is dad. Hi, sir. And like my wife said, we just want to get the point across. We'll be here all the time. Someone needs to come up with a solution. This is painful. It really is.

Our baby was taken. She's taken. They don't care about me. I don't care about the baby. I don't care about the baby. I don't even understand why your niece just kind of left us. I suppose you... Is it really worth my baby?

Is it really worth all of these babies? Hmm. On Tuesday, funerals for the children killed at Robb Elementary began in Uvalde. Many of them will be buried in specially designed caskets, decorated with their favorite sports and cartoon characters. We'll be right back. Here's what else you need to know today. Thank you. The case is moving through the lower courts, and the 5-4 vote suspends the Texas law while it is being litigated. Supporters of the law say it was an attempt to combat what they called Silicon Valley's censorship of conservative views. The law was prompted in part by the decisions of some platforms to bar former President Donald Trump after the January 6th attack on the Capitol.

The case may well eventually end up at the Supreme Court. Justice Samuel Alito wrote in a dissent that the issues raised in it were so novel and significant that the court would have to consider them at some point. at some point. Thank you. Our theme music is by Jim Brumberg and Ben Landsberg of Wonderly That's it for The Daily I'm Sabrina Tavernisi See you tomorrow