UVALDE, Texas (Border Report) — The mother of a second-grader who was inside Robb Elementary School on Tuesday when 19 students and two teachers were killed by a lone gunman, is defending the actions of law enforcement, saying they “did everything” they could.
Monique Hernandez on Thursday told Border Report she doesn’t remember driving to the school to get her 8-year-old son Joaquin Guzman after hearing of the shooting.
“It’s all a blur,” she said. Except for a few things:
She remembers being frantic.
She saw officers circling the school.
She saw Joaquin’s classroom window.
And she said she heard parents yelling at officers to enter the building.
But she said she believes law enforcement acted appropriately.
“They did everything,” Hernandez said. “Officers were here. They were here the whole time. I know that for a fact. I don’t care what people say.”
“Some people they want to talk down on them. No. These men did everything. They saw things that they shouldn’t have to see. Knowing family and friends were in that building wasn’t some tactical force that nobody knew. This was family,” Hernandez said.
She spoke to media on Thursday a block from the school where an afternoon news conference revealed that law enforcement did not kill the shooter until an hour after he entered an open back door of the elementary school in this rural South Texas border town.
Texas Department of Public Safety Regional Director Victor Escalon said it was “an hour later” from the time the gunman entered the building until tactical teams, including a U.S. Border Patrol agent shot dead the suspect.
That drew questions from media about a four-minute lapse from the time the gunman entered the school at 11:40 a.m. and the time the first officers arrived. And then 56 minutes later until the 18-year-old suspect was shot and killed.
But Hernandez said officers helped students during that time and saved many lives.
Joaquin’s class ran to a nearby field to hide.
And when she finally located him they fell into each others’ arms.
“He just wanted to go home. He said ‘Momma take me home,'” Hernandez said.
Joaquin’s friend Xavier Lopez, a fourth-grader, was killed on Tuesday, Hernandez said.
“Hold your babies. Hold your babies. If you have that gut feeling follow it So many of us had it that day,” she said.