Texas shooter burst out of closet, shot at CBP agents in classroom

Texas mom who pulled her child out of class MINUTES before deadly mass shooting says she is so wracked with guilt she can’t eat or sleep

• ‘There is so much guilt right now. My heart goes out to all of the families who are suffering… And now we have 11 funerals to attend,’ said mom Mia
• Thursday was supposed to be the last day of school for the students at Robb Elementary School
• It was also supposed to be a sleepover, her daughter Evalynn was planning with her best friend, Layla Salavar, 10, a victim of the mass shootingr
• ‘I can’t eat, couldn’t think because of the overwhelming amount of guilt,’ said Mia, who did not want her family’s last name published
• Tuesday’s mass shooting claimed the lives of 19 other children, including four relatives, and two teachers at Robb Elementary School 

 A Texas mother who took her daughter out to lunch after Tuesday’s award ceremony moments before Salvador Ramos killed 19 children and two teachers, say she’s stricken with guilt.

‘There is so much guilt right now. My heart goes out to all of the families who are suffering… And now we have 11 funerals to attend,’ Mia, who asked that her last not be used, told the New York Post.

Thursday was supposed to be the last day of school for the students at Robb Elementary School. It was also supposed to be a sleepover, her daughter Evalynn was planning with her best friend, Layla Salavar, 10, a victim of the mass shooting.

‘I can’t eat, couldn’t think because of the overwhelming amount of guilt,’ said Mia.

Layla Salazar is Evalynn’s best friend who was killed in the shooting while Evalynn survived after her mom pulled her out of school 

Children run to safety after escaping from a window during Tuesday’s mass shooting at Robb Elementary School where a Ramos killed nineteen children and two teachers

‘I was able to take my daughter out, but what could’ve happened if we were there just five minutes later? 

One of Evalynn’s classmates described the terrifying moment the shooter burst in and how she smeared herself in her friend’s blood to fool him into believing she was shot.

Miah Cerrillo, 11, told CNN that her class was watching the Disney movie Lilo and Stitch because it was the end of the school year when her teacher got an email that there was an active shooter. 

But the teacher got the notification too late and as she went to lock the door Ramos was already there and shot through the door window.

According to Cerrillo, Ramos then walked into the fourth grade classroom and looked one of the teachers, either Eva Mireles or Irma Garcia, in the eye and told her ‘goodnight’ before shooting her. 

Cerrillo said after that Ramos began opening fire on the students, striking her with bullet fragments on her back and neck, before he walked towards the connected classroom and continued shooting. 

After that Cerrillo said that Ramos started playing ‘sad’ music that the 11-year-old could only describe as the kind of music you play when ‘you want people to die.’

Cerrillo said that she and her friend grabbed her teachers phone to call 911 and out of fear Ramos would return to her classroom and shoot her she smeared the blood of one of her dead classmates onto her and played dead. 

Salvador Ramos legally purchased two AR-15 style rifles (right) including the one he used in Tuesday’s attack after his 18th birthday last week. The gunman also bought more than 300 rounds of ammunition 

The 11-year-old’s family said they will be working to help Cerrillo emotionally and mentally, as well as her sister – who is a second-grader at the school – following the shooting.

‘At this point, we just have to pray and ask God to help us move forward through this situation. I know it’s traumatizing and having an 11-year-old go through this, I can’t imagine what she’s feeling,’ her aunt Blanca Rivera told Click 2 Houston.

New details about her horrifying experience come as one of Cerrillo’s classmates  tells CNN he was forced to hide and remain silent as they heard gunfire coming from another classroom. 

Distraught relatives of the 19 children and two teachers are pictured at a vigil on Wednesday – the day after the shooting

Cerrillo (right, with her mom) suffered from minor injuries and was briefly treated in the hospital for bullet fragments in her back. She has since been released

‘It was very terrifying because I never thought that was going to happen,’ Jayden Perez said

‘It was very terrifying because I never thought that was going to happen,’ Jayden Perez said.  

The 10-year-old survivor was able to list multiple names of his friends who were killed in the shooting.   

Then the young boy said he is so traumatized by Tuesday’s events he does not want to return to school, grimly saying he is sure another shooting will happen again. 

‘No, because after what happened. I don’t want to. I don’t want anything to do with another shooting or me in the school,’ Jayden said, adding: ‘And I know it might happen again, probably.’

Ramos’ shooting rampage began at 11am when Ramos shot his grandmother. 

At 11.15am, he sent a message to a girl in Germany telling her he was on his way to ‘shoot an elementary school.’ He crashed his truck at 11.30am and made his way to the school with one AR-15 rifle. At 11.32am, he bypassed at least one cop at the school entrance.

He got inside, barricaded himself in a classroom and managed to stay there for up to an hour – terrorizing kids – before he was finally gunned down.

Mourners on Thursday place flowers on crosses with the names of children killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas 

The Uvalde shooting was the deadliest since 20 elementary-age children and six staff were killed at the Sandy Hook school in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012.

A Texas law enforcement official said Thursday that the Uvalde shooter entered the elementary school building ‘unobstructed’ through a door that was apparently unlocked.

Victor Escalon, a regional director at the Texas Department of Public Safety, said the gunman did not initially encounter any law enforcement officers when he entered Robb Elementary School on Tuesday and opened fire.

Law enforcement authorities faced mounting questions and criticism Thursday over how much time elapsed before they stormed a Texas elementary school classroom and put a stop to the rampage.

A minute-by-minute break down of how cops waited outside class while kids called 911 after gunman walked through door that had been propped open by a teacher 

11.28am: Gunman crashes truck, gets out of car with AR-15

He is seen by witnesses in a funeral home next to the school who tell 911 they see a man with a gun walking towards the school

11.31: Gunman is now in the parking lot of the school hiding in between vehicles, shooting at the building

11.32: School resource officer who arrives in a patrol car after hearing 911 call about truck crash drives past the shooter

11.33: Gunman enters the school and begins shooting into room 111/room 112. He shoots more than 100 rounds

11.35: Three police officers enter the same propped-open door as the suspect from the Uvalde PD. They were later followed by another four, making total of seven officers on scene

Three initial officers went directly to the door and got grazing wounds from him while the door was closed. They hang back

11.37: Another 16 rounds fired inside the classroom by the gunman

11.51: Police sergeant and USB agents arrive

12.03: Officers continue to arrive in the hallway. As many as 19 officers in that hallway at that time

At the same time, a girl from inside the classroom calls 911 and whispers that she is in room 112

The shooter’s abandoned AR-15 next to his pick-up truck. He bought the gun two days after his 18th birthday 

12.10pm: The same girl calls back and advises ‘there are multiple dead’

12.13pm: The same girl calls again

12.16pm: The same girl calls 911 for the fourth time in 13 minutes asking for help

12.15pm: BORTAC (SWAT) members arrive with shields

12.16pm: The same unidentified girl calls 911 and says there are ‘8-9 students alive’ in classroom 112

12.19pm: A different child from classroom 111 calls. She hangs up when another student tells her to in order to be quiet

12.21pm: Gunman fires again

12.26pm: One of the girls who previously called 911 calls back again. She says the shooter has just ‘shot at the door’

12.43pm: The girl on that girl is still on the line. She says ‘please send the police now’

12.50pm: Police finally breach the door using keys from the janitor and kill gunman

12.51pm Officers start moving children out of the room

PICTURED: The 19 children and two teachers butchered by 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos in Texas

Amerie Jo Garza (right)

Amerie Jo Garza, 10

Amerie Jo Garza, a fourth grader at Robb Elementary, was one of 19 students confirmed to be killed Tuesday morning by Ramos, who cops say was carrying a handgun and an AR-15 during the attack that also killed two teachers in the classroom.

Her grandmother, Berlinda Irene Arreola, said the 10-year-old was killed as she tried to phone 911 while sitting next to her best friend, who ended up ‘covered in her blood.’

Arreola said Ramos told the students and staffers inside the room, ‘You’re going to die,’ before opening fire – shooting her granddaughter dead as she tried to phone for help.

‘So the gunman went in and he told the children, ‘You’re going to die,’ Berlinda told The Daily Beast.

‘And [Amerie] had her phone and she called 911. And instead of grabbing it and breaking it or taking it from her, he shot her. She was sitting right next to her best friend. Her best friend was covered in her blood.’ 

Uziyah Garcia

Uziyah Garcia, 8

Uziyah Garcia, the youngest victim at age eight, was also killed in the attack.

The child’s family announced he was killed hours after announcing he was among the many children unaccounted for following the tragedy.

The boy’s grandfather, Manny Renfro, broke the news early Wednesday after being notified by authorities.

‘[He was] the sweetest little boy that I’ve ever known,’ Renfro said. ‘I’m not just saying that because he was my grandkid.’

Renfro recalled how Uziyah last visited him in San Angelo over spring break.

‘We started throwing the football together and I was teaching him pass patterns.

‘Such a fast little boy and he could catch a ball so good,’ the grieving grandad said.

‘There were certain plays that I would call that he would remember and he would do it exactly like we practiced.’

Makenna Elrod, 10

Makenna Lee Elrod

Makenna Elrod, 10, had also been among the missing in the chaos that followed the massacre, with her father, Brandon Elrod telling reporters at the time he feared ‘she may not be alive.’

Her death was eventually confirmed by a family friend on Wednesday. ‘It’s pretty sad what this world’s coming to,’ the girl’s father told local outlet KTRK after the shooting.

A mother of one of Makenna’s friends lamented the loss in a post to Facebook. 

‘Sweet Makenna Rest in Paradise!! My heart is shattered as my daughter Chloe loved her so much!!’ the mom wrote. A relative Wednesday confirmed that the girl had been among the victims.

Xavier Lopez, 10

Xavier Lopez

Xavier Lopez, 10, was the first student victim to be identified as one of Ramos’ victims.

The child’s mother, Felicha Martinez, told the Washington Post Tuesday that just hours before the massacre, the mom had been at the school to see her son participate an honor roll ceremony. 

She took a picture showing her son showing off his certificate.

In the last exchange she had with the child, the mom heartbreakingly told the boy that she was proud of him and that she loved him, giving him a hug goodbye – not knowing it would be the last time she would see him alive.

‘He was funny, never serious and his smile… that smile I will never forget,’ she recalled after learning of his death from police. ‘It would always cheer anyone up.’

The boy’s cousin, Lisa Garza, 54, of Arlington, said Xavier enjoyed swimming and had been looking forward to the summer.

‘He was just a loving 10-year-old little boy, just enjoying life, not knowing that this tragedy was going to happen today,’ she said. 

‘He was very bubbly, loved to dance with his brothers, his mom. This has just taken a toll on all of us.’

Amelia Sandoval, Lopez’s grandmother, said: ‘It’s just so hard… you send your kids to school thinking they are going to make it back home but they’re not.’

Eliahana Torres, 10

Eliahana Cruz Torres

Eliahana Cruz Torres, 10, had also been missing for hours until she was confirmed to be among the dead.

Adolfo Cruz, her great-grandfather, said she didn’t want to attend school the day of the shooting – but was told by her family that she had to attend.

He said he remained outside the school gates throughout the night until he leanrned of her fate from local authorities.

‘I hope she is alive,’ he said at the time. 

Torres was an avid baseball player and played the sport in a local little league. 

Ellie Lugo, 10

Ellie Lugo

Ellie Lugo was named as a victim of Tuesday’s attack by her parents, with Steven Garcia and Jennifer Lugo confirming her death several hours after she was listed among the missing. 

‘It’s hard to issue out a statement on anything right now my mind is going at 1000 miles per hour… but I do wanna send our thoughts and prayers to those who also didn’t make it home tonight!!! Our Ellie was a doll and was the happiest ever,’ Steven Lugo said Wednesday.

‘Mom and Dad love you never forget that and please try and stay by our side.’  

Nevaeh Bravo, 10

Nevaeh Bravo

Nevaeh Bravo was confirmed to be among the dead late Tuesday, after her cousin posted on social media following the shooting to ask for helping the girl. 

Around 9 pm, she broke the news on Twitter.

‘Unfortunately my beautiful Nevaeh was one of the many victims from todays tragedy,’ she wrote.

Sje said the schoolchild was ‘flying high’ and asked for the family to be kept in people’s prayers  

‘Our Nevaeh has been found. She is flying with the angels above. We love you Navaeh very much princess.’

‘Thank you for the support and help,’ she wrote. ‘Rest in peace my sweet girl, you didn’t deserve this.’

Bravo’s age could not immediately be confirmed.  

Tess Marie Mata

Tess Marie Mata

Tess Marie Mata was also among those to perish in the attack, her sister, Faith Mata, revealed in a post to Facebook Wednesday.

‘I honestly have no words just sadness, confusion, and anger,’ she wrote.

‘I’m sad because we will never get to tag team on mom and dad again and tell each other how much we mean to each other, I’m confused because how can something like this happen to my sweet, caring, and beautiful sister, and I’m angry because a coward took you from us.’

Photos shared with the post showed Tess smiling in a baby photo, snuggling with a cat, doing gymnastics, flashing a peace sign, and posing in front of a large heart mural.

‘Sissy I miss you so much, I just want to hold you and tell you how pretty you are, I want to take you outside and practice softball, I want to go on one last family vacation, I want to hear your contagious laugh, and I want you to hear me tell you how much I love you,’ she wrote.

Her age could not immediately be confirmed.

Rojelio Torres, 10

Rojelio Torres

Rojelio Torres, 10, was initially reported missing by his father, but on Wednesday was confirmed dead by his family.

A person who said she was the boy’s cousin wrote on Twitter: ‘It breaks my heart to say my rojelio is now with the angels I’ll forever miss you and love you my angel.’

The child’s father , Federico Torres, told Houston reporters that he was at work when he learned about the shooting and immediately raced to the school.

‘They sent us to the hospital, to the civic center, to the hospital and here again, nothing, not even in San Antonio,’ he said. ‘They don’t tell us anything, only a photo, wait, hope that everything is well.’

Nearly half a day later, cops broke the news to the boy’s family.

‘Our entire family waited almost 12 hours since the shooting to find out Rojelio Torres, my 10-year-old nephew, was killed in this tragedy,’ Torres’ aunt, Precious Perez, told KSAT. ‘We are devastated and heartbroken. Rojer was a very intelligent, hard-working and helpful person. He will be missed and never forgotten.’ 

Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, 10

Jayce Luevanos

Jayce Luevanos, 10, died in the shooting along with his ten-year-old cousin, Jailah, the child’s mother said Wednesday.

In a Facebook post, uncle Unberto Gonzalez shared photos of both kids while offering a touching tribute.

‘My babies going to miss them like crazy!!!,’ Gonzalez wrote. ‘We luv y’all so much!!! I’m just lost right now!!! Fly high my beautiful Angels!!’

Jailah Nicole Silguero, 10

Jailah Nicole Silguero

Ten-year-old Jailah Nicole Silguero was also killed in the shooting, her mother, Veronica Luevanos, tearfully revealed to Univision Wednesday.

She also lost her 10-year-old nephew Jayce to the tragedy.

She said Jailah loved to dance and film videos on TikTok.

The child reportedly also asked her mom the morning of the shooting if she could stay home from school – a request the now mourning mom rebuffed. 

‘I took her to school, but she didn’t want to go. She told her father, ‘Can I stay home?” Luevanos said, noting that it was not a common occurrence for her daughter to make such a request. ‘I think she knew something would happen.’

Luevanos’ mom confirmed the loss on Facebook Wednesday.

‘Fly high my angels. We’re going to miss yall so much,’ wrote Veronica Luevanos – whose dad had died just a week earlier.

‘I’m so heart broken,’ she wrote with a photo of her daughter and nephew. 

‘My baby I love u so much … fly high baby girl.’

Alithia Ramirez, 10

Alithia Ramirez

 Fourth grader Alithia Ramirez was confirmed dead early Wednesday by her father, Ryan Ramirez, who shared a post to Facebook showing the 10-year-old with angel’s wings. He had used the same photo the previous day as he pleaded for help finding her after the massacre

He had heartbreakingly used the same photo the previous day as he desperately pleaded for help finding her after the massacre.

‘Trying to find my daughter Alithia. I called all the hospitals and nothing,’ he wrote at the time.

He also reporters during his frantic search, ‘I’m trying to find out where my baby’s at.’ 

Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez, 10

Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez

Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez, 10, was another killed by Ramos Tuesday – along with her cousin, who has yet to be identified.

Annabell’s father spent the afternoon after the shooting in frantic search for his daughter. 

Speaking to KHOU11 Tuesday, he lamented at how he was at a loss as to what do, having little success with the search.

‘They’re not letting us in at the hospital right now so we don’t know where to go.’

 She has since been declared to be among the dead.

Miranda Mathis, 11

Miranda Mathis

Miranda Mathis, 11,  was also confirmed as another casualty from the mass shooting early Wednesday, in a Facebook post by an older cousin who earlier that day had posted a desperate plea for help in locating the child.

‘My sweet baby cousin we loved u dearly,’ Deanna Miller wrote alongside a photo of the child with angel wings.

‘I’m so sorry this happen to u baby please keep my family in your prayers,’ she grieved.

Miller’s kids had also been at the school at the time of the shooting, but survived the attack.

One of her sons told her that they were ushered out of a window by staffers during the attack and subsequently ran to a nearby funeral home after ‘he heard the shooter say he was gonna kill all the kids.’

Alexandria ‘Lexi’ Aniyah Rubio, 10

Alexandria Aniyah Rubio

Alexandria Aniyah Rubio – who was better known to friends as ‘Lexi’ – was confirmed dead just before midnight on Tuesday.

The ten-year-old was shot dead just hours after posing for a photo with her parents at the school’s honor roll ceremony.

Kimberly Mata-Rubio, the girl’s mother, wrote of the loss: ‘My beautiful, smart, Alexandria Aniyah Rubio was recognized today for All-A honor roll. She also received the good citizen award. We told her we loved her and would pick her up after school. We had no idea this was goodbye.’ 

Maite Yuleana

Maite Yuleana

Maite Yuleana was another student to die in the attack that had attended the honor roll ceremony just hours before.

A cousin of the girl’s mother, Ana Rodriguez, announced the loss Wednesday. 

‘It is with a heavy heart I come on here on behalf of my cousin Ana who lost her sweet baby girl in yesterday’s senseless shooting.  

‘We are deeply saddened by the lose [sic] of this sweet smart little girl…. God bless and may she R.I.P Maite Rodriguez we love you.’

Another relative shared a photo of Maite with her honor roll certificate.

Her age could not immediately be confirmed.

Jose Flores Jr, 10

Jose Flores

Jose Flores, 10, was also killed in the shooting after attending the honor roll ceremony, where he was pictured triumphantly clutching a certificate celebrating the accomplishment.

Uncle Christopher Salazar confirmed to the Washington Post Wednesday that his 10-year-old nephew was among the dead, after sharing a tribute to the child on Facebook.

‘I love you and I miss you,’ Salazar wrote in the post.  

The boy’s father described Jose to CNN as an amazing boy and big brother to his two younger siblings.

‘He was always fill of energy,’ Jose Flores Sr. said. ‘Ready to play till the night.’

He said the boy loved playing baseball and video games.

Jackie Cazares

Jackie Cazares, 10

Jackie Cazares, 10, was another to be killed during the vicious attack at the elementary school.

Her father Jacinto confirmed she lost her life inside her fourth-grade classroom.

‘My baby girl has been taken away from my family and I,’ the grieving father said in an online post.

‘We’re devastated in ways I hope no one ever goes through. … It hurts us to our souls.’

Cazares said his daughter, who was with her cousin, Annabell Rodriguez, when she died, was ‘full of life and love’.

Layla Salazar, 10

The 10-year-old student was the last of the slaying victims to be identified.

Vincent Salazar told the Philadelphia Inquirer his young daughter was among those killed.

He said she was ‘a lot of fun’ and recalled how they sang along to ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ by Guns ‘n’ Roses whenever he drove her to school.   

Layla Salazar

Irma Garcia, 46 – fourth grade teacher

Irma Garcia

Irma Garcia, who co-taught with Mireles for the last five year, had been at Robb Elementary for 23 years. 

Married to Joe for 24 years, she was a mother of four – Cristian, completing Marine boot camp; Jose, attending Texas State university University; Lyliana, a sophomore in high school; and Alysandra, a 7th grader. 

‘My tia did not make it, she sacrificed herself protecting the kids in her classroom, i beg of you to keep my family including all of her family in y’all’s prayers , IRMA GARCIA IS HER NAME and she died a HERO,’ tweeted her nephew John. 

‘She was loved by many and will truly be missed.’

She was nominated as teacher of the year for the 2018-19 awards, organized by Trinity University. 

Eva Mireles, 44 – fourth grade teacher

Eva Mireles

Eva Mireles, a fourth grade teacher, was identified by her family as being one of the staff members shot dead. She had worked in education for 17 years. 

Her husband Ruben Ruiz, a veteran detective and SWAT team member currently serving as a police officer with the school district, held regular active shooter drills for the schools – most recently at the end of March. 

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