Texas shooting: "We saw a little girl in a pink T-shirt full of blood"
According to eyewitnesses, the shooter opened fire inside a fourth-grade room, causing a commotion while the young children tried for their lives, crawled under chairs and outside windows, and even hid in the nearby funeral home.
He barricaded himself in the school for 45 minutes
News agencies
25/05/2022
Wednesday, 25 May 2022, 13:09 Updated: 13:59
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In the video: The massacre at a school in Texas, 19 students and 2 adults were murdered (Photo: Reuters)
The shooting spree at Rob Elementary School in the city of Abolda, Texas began at 11:32 a.m. local time, according to police, just three days before summer vacation.
The shooter opened fire in fourth grade, one parent told the Washington Post, causing a commotion while small children tried for their lives, crawled under chairs and outside windows, and even hid in a nearby funeral home.
Before driving to school, the shooter, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos shot his grandmother, she was flown to a hospital in San Antonio but survived.
The shooter fortified himself inside the school and an exchange of gunfire took place between him and the police officers who entered the building, said Marsha Espinosa, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Homeland Security.
One of the Border Police agents was injured.
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Shooter Salvador Ramos, Texas (Photo: Official Website, Instagram)
Eyewitnesses described a horrific scenario at the school, where students in second, third and fourth grades are studying.
Videos circulated on social media showed a man wearing a black sweatshirt entering a side door of the school holding a rifle.
Derek Sotlo, 26, who runs the local family garage, said he and another employee went out for lunch when they heard six shots coming from the school.
They came to the street corner and saw some women working at the nearby funeral home screaming, "He's shooting! He's shooting!".
The women said the shooter was driving a gray Ford truck into a ditch outside the school, he said, and when he approached him because he thought Ramos needed help, he fired at him.
Sotlo said the shooter fortified himself at the school for a horrible 45 minutes while hundreds of worried parents began gathering outside the building.
Relatives cry after shooting in Texas, May 24, 2022 (Photo: Reuters)
Inside the school, Tamika Martinez's 10-year-old son heard gunshots from a nearby classroom.
He saw two children being shot, Martinez said, and ran away from school as he crawled out the window.
She ran to the school when she heard about the shooting, but did not find it for two hours, when the son's teacher sent her a message.
Her son managed to escape with minor scratches on his arm.
"It could have been my son who was shot," Martinez said.
According to Sotlo, several teachers and children trapped inside the inferno managed to get out of school afterwards, including a little girl in a blood-stained pink T-shirt, who cried.
"We saw a little girl full of blood, and the parents screamed, it was a horrible scene. They're just little kids," he said.
The shooter uploaded photos of weapons he purchased before the shooting (Photo: Official Website, Instagram)
Marcella Cabralz's nine-year-old granddaughter was eating lunch with other third-graders when she heard noise coming from outside, including shots and shattered glass.
The teachers gathered the children behind a curtain, where everyone hid and tried to keep quiet.
Cabralz's grandson hid in the bathroom.
Cabralz, a local clergyman, received a phone call from a colleague who runs the nearby funeral home who asked her for help with the children who fled to it.
Inside she found children in trauma.
Some of them shook themselves, held each other, covered their ears and screamed.
Some of them looked ahead with a blank stare.
One by one, the children told her about what they had seen: bullets flying through the windows, glass breaking around them, classmates bleeding.
According to Erica Eskamila's ten-year-old niece, the shooting took place in a nearby classroom as students returned from the break.
When she heard the shots, the niece's teacher pushed the students inside the room, told them to lie on the floor, turned off the air conditioning and lights and began to cover the windows with paper.
Escamila said the niece saw blood everywhere while being evacuated from school.
The victims
Names and pictures of the victims began to be published.
One of them is a fourth-grade teacher, 43-year-old Eva Mirles. According to her profile on the United Independent Schools District website in Ovalda, she has been a teacher for 17 years.
Her hobbies were running, mountaineering, cycling and spending time with her family.
Mirles was married to a police officer and they had four children.
The second teacher was identified as Irma Garcia, 46, who taught for 23 years - all at Rob School.
Her nephew John wrote on Facebook: "My Tia is gone. She sacrificed herself while protecting students in her class. I beg you to pray for my family. Irma Garcia is her name and she died a heroine. She was loved by many and everyone will miss her."
Pictures of the students and teachers who were killed in a shooting spree in an elementary school in Texas (Photo: screenshot, documentation on social networks according to section 27A of the Copyright Law)
A 10-year-old fourth-grade student, Javier Lopez, was killed in a shooting.
A few hours earlier, his mother attended a ceremony where he received an award.
That was the last time she saw him.
Lisa Gerza, 52, said her cousin Javier "was just a small, loving ten-year-old boy, he enjoyed life, and did not know this tragedy was about to happen today. He was full of joy of life, loved to dance with his brother and mother."
Nine-year-old Ozia Garcia was initially reported missing, before his family received the news.
"My nephew is a victim of school shootings," his uncle Mitch Renpro wrote on Facebook.
"He was murdered by a lunatic."
His grandfather Manny Renfro described him as "the sweetest little boy I have ever known. I do not say this because he was my grandson."
Ten-year-old Makna Lee Elrod's parents feared she did not survive the shooting, and a family friend confirmed the fears.
Her father, Brandon Elrod, told KTRK that he "was on his way to the funeral home" because "we could not find our daughter.
The mother of an Acne classmate wrote on Facebook: "Sweet Acne, rest in peace in heaven! My heart shattered because my daughter Chloe loved her so much !! Just a few weeks ago Acne gave Chloe a friendship bracelet and she wore it every day 1 when she gets up in the morning, she will be shocked ".
Navia Barbo was in fourth grade.
Emily Graza Ayala, her cousin, wrote: "Our novice has been found. She is flying with the angels upstairs. We love you very much a novice, princess."
Emery Joe Garza's father, eight-year-old Angel, wrote on Facebook: "My little love is now flying high with the angels on top. Please do not take any second for granted. Hug the family. Tell them you love them. I love you Emeria Joe. Take care of your baby brother for me. "
Eight-year-old Annabelle Guadalupe Rodriguez was in third grade and attended the same class with her cousin.
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