One can’t even imagine the utter and total fear these precious children felt as they heard hundreds of rounds of ammunition fire off around them.
Seeing their beloved classmates and teachers lose their lives by a deranged lunatic is something no person – especially a child – should ever have to experience.
And as the world continues to mourn the loss of 19 children and 2 teachers – hearts continue to break as these children tell their stories about the horrors they experienced through their own eyes.
As the children witnessed a gunman shooting their classmates – reports have now surfaced that many of them called 911 for help – stating there is a “room full of victims.”
One girl called multiple times – and in the audio from the 911 call, she is heard saying there were children still alive who needed help.
So why didn’t the police go inside?
Nobody knows.
Some claim the 911 dispatcher may not have relayed the message to the officers on the ground.
ABC News reported:
“At a news conference Friday, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McGraw said children inside the classroom had called 911 a number of times begging for them to “please send police now.” It appeared that information may not have been relayed to officers on the ground, he said…
But the video obtained by ABC News, taken just outside the premises, appears to show that 911 dispatchers were relaying the information — including information that the room was “full of victims.” It is not clear who on scene, if anyone, heard the calls coming in from the dispatchers.
“Advise we do have a child on the line,” an apparent dispatcher can be heard saying in the video.”
So, which is it?
Trapped students commented there were still other students alive – yet the “wrong call” stopped police from going into the classroom to rescue them.
A group of officers stood in the hallway refusing to engage the shooter, and as a result — for 77 horrifying minutes – a deranged gunman continued to slay innocent lives.
When the lunatic gunman entered – fully armed – a timeline reports he fired off more than 100 rounds within minutes.
ABC News reported:
“He enters either classroom 111 or 112 and immediately fires more than 100 rounds at students and teachers, McCraw said. The two classrooms are connected internally. “Hundreds” of rounds are fired within his first four minutes in the classroom, McCraw said.”
With no one to rescue them – chilling videos show children breaking windows to escape the active shooter and flee to safety.
The images and videos are gut-wrenching – as no child should ever have to go through this.
One little girl who escaped the shooter was covered in blood and hysterical that her best friend Amerie Jo had been shot and killed.
Tragically, Angel Garza was the man helping the frightened girl – and learned it was his daughter who had been killed.
CBS News reported:
“She was hysterical saying that they shot her best friend, that they killed her best friend, she’s not breathing, and that she was trying to call the cops,” Garza said. When he asked the little girl what her friend’s name was, she told him it was his stepdaughter.”
Angel later learned his precious daughter lost her life for calling 911 to alert the authorities and try to save the lives of her classmates.
CBS News continued:
“She just tried to call the police. I got confirmation from two of the students in her classroom that she was just trying to call authorities. And I guess he just shot her,” he cried, clutching a photo of Amerie Jo to his chest. “How do you look at this girl and shoot her?”
At the end of the day – our children were let down.
For whatever reason (jury is still out) – law enforcement officers deviated from the protocol and training they were taught on how to handle an active shooter.
What makes things even more confusing is they had just gone through this training a few months before the attack – so the protocol was fresh in their minds.
Not to mention – as some children hid in locked bathrooms and jumped out of windows – those still trapped inside likely felt abandoned, that no one was coming to save them – wondering why the police officers who were supposed to protect them were waiting in the halls.
As the details come out on what really happened that day, the story gets worse and worse.
It’s hard to even stomach.
So much went wrong. So many bad judgment calls. So much pain and heartache.
We pray that those who survived this tragedy will be surrounded with strong support systems as they process the horrors they lived through.
And our hearts are with all the families who lost loved ones that day – we mourn and grieve with you.
Please take a moment to forward this article on to your family and friends and let them know they can sign up to receive our newsletter directly to their inbox by clicking here!