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UVALDE, Texas – As the city of Uvalde, Texas, mourns the 19 students and two teachers shot and killed in the Robb Elementary School shooting, one student who survived spoke to Fox News about the frightening Tuesday.
“I was scared… To be like, ‘what were my last words going to be?’ I was really scared,” 10-year-old Khloie Torres said.
She told Fox News the horrific shooting started after she and other students came inside from recess and her teacher, Irma Garcia, turned on a movie. “She told us we were going to go on a quick lockdown. So, my friend, he got up and turned off the TV because that’s what we had to do. And, right when she went out to find the key and lock the door from the outside, we heard gunshots.”
Torres said as her teacher tried to close the door, the gunman grabbed it and forced his way in.
Khloie Torres bows her head while recalling what happened while the gunman was inside her classroom.
(Fox News)
“She started guarding us. And, my friend Amory, she started trying to call the police with her friend’s phone. When she did that, he started saying, ‘you’ll die!’”
Khloie said her teacher was pleading with the shooter as she guarded her and her classmates. But, the pleas were not enough to stop the gunman.
“He shot my friend and my teachers. And then after that, he said ‘goodnight,’ and he started shooting everybody.”
A memorial outside the school.
(Fox News)
Khloie said he walked around the class, shooting everyone in sight. And then, he came to her.
“He shot the girl next to me, and she said, ‘I’ve been shot!’ And, I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want him to come over and shoot me. So, I stayed quiet. He came back and shot her again because she wouldn’t be quiet.”
BIDENS PAY RESPECTS IN UVALDE AFTER MASS SCHOOL SHOOTING
She said the gunman then went to the connected room next door and continued shooting. When she heard him go back into the hallway, she ran in to see who was alive.
“It’s hard because there were bodies everywhere!”
Khloie said she called 911 several times, but was told over and over that the police already were on campus. By the time they came into the room over an hour later, two teachers – Garcia and Eva Mireles – and 19 classmates were dead. Other students said both teachers had tried to protect them.
Crosses in Uvalde representing the 21 lives takes in the Robb Elementary School shooting.
(Fox News)
Khloie’s father, Ruben Torres, said he had been getting the wrong information at the time and did not know an active shooter was on campus.
“I heard it from a co-worker of mine telling me that it was a high-speed chase. And, that’s common around here, so I didn’t think anything of it,” he said. “If I had known an active shooter was on her campus, I would have left work immediately.”
He also said that as the investigations play out, he’s focused on Khloie’s healing from this traumatic day.
“It’s going to be a long road. This will never go away for her.”
Khloie attended the funeral of her teacher, Mrs. Garcia. She said she’s also planning to attend most of her classmates’ services as well.
The lawn of Robb Elementary School is now filled with flowers and memorials.
(Fox News)
The Uvalde superintendent confirmed no students or teachers will return to Robb Elementary School and the district is looking to make accommodations quickly. But, Khloie’s mother said last Tuesday was her last day learning in a classroom. She’ll be homeschooled.
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“The way everything was handled was so poor,” her mother, Jamie Torres, said. “I have to be able to trust that she will be safe.”
The Justice Department and Texas Department of Public Safety both announced they will be looking into the response to the shooting by local police.
