Uvalde’s teacher had made peace with the idea that she was going to die, says lawyer

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What followed next would be “the most horrible thing anyone could have endured,” his attorney Don Flanary told CNN, as a gunman would kill 19 students and two teachers in the deadliest mass shooting at a school in nearly a decade. .

Marin entered the school to report the accident and propped the door open with a rock, according to Flanary, who is helping Marin with a possible civil lawsuit against the makers of the gun used in the massacre.

As Marin returned to the door, still on the line with the 911 operators, she saw her co-worker run away and heard people across the street at a funeral home yelling, “He’s got a gun!”

Marin saw the 18-year-old gunman approaching, Flanary said, so she kicked the door shut and ran into a nearby adjoining classroom, huddling under a counter.

That’s where Marin heard gunshots, Flanary said, first outside, then inside the school.

“Frozen” with fear, Marin received a text from her daughter asking if she was safe and eventually had to silence her phone, convinced the gunman would listen, her attorney said.

“She thought he was going to go in and kill her and she made peace with that,” Flanary said.

Opinion. The tragic failures of Uvalde, seen by a veteran police chief
The attacker targeted another classroom and never encountered Marin, his attorney said. His grandson, who attends Robb Elementary, was also elsewhere and survived. However, Marin’s ordeal was soon exacerbated in the days after the shooting after authorities said the gunman entered the school through a door that was left open.

“She felt lonely, like she couldn’t even cry,” Flanary said. “She questioned herself, like ‘didn’t I do that?'” she added.

The Texas Department of Public Safety later clarified that the shooter entered through an unlocked door. However, the whole experience has taken a toll on his mental health, Flanary said. He had to see a neurologist because he “can’t stop shaking,” he said.
While Marin has no plans to sue the school, police or school district, Flanary said, a petition was filed Thursday to testify for Daniel Defense, the maker of the firearm used in the attack, according to a court filing obtained. by CNN.

The pre-suit motion does not charge the gun manufacturer with any wrongdoing, but seeks to investigate whether the petitioner has any basis to bring a claim against Daniel Defense. CNN has reached out to Daniel Defense for his response to the presentation.

A monument is seen around the Robb Elementary School sign on May 26, 2022 in Uvalde, Texas.

State senator asks for more answers

Investigators from local, state and federal agencies say they are working to determine more about the circumstances behind the shooting.

Search warrants were issued for the shooter’s cell phone, vehicle and his grandparents’ home, court records obtained by CNN show. The warrant gives investigators the authority to conduct a forensic download of the cell phone, which was located next to his body, to search for motive.

However, criticism continues over whether authorities responded quickly enough to neutralize the gunman, as well as a lack of transparency from some law enforcement officials after the shooting.
More than a week after the Uvalde massacre, officials still dodge questions from the media about what happened
According to a timeline released by Texas DPS, the children made multiple 911 calls inside the classroom where the attacker was located, all while police were stationed outside the room.
A Texas state lawmaker raised questions at a news conference Thursday about whether information about 911 calls from inside Robb Elementary was properly relayed to first responders at the scene.

State Sen. Roland Gutierrez said he spoke with the agency that regulates 911 calls, the State Emergency Communications Commission, and was told the 911 calls were handled and relayed to city police at the scene. What is unclear, however, is whether that information was passed on to the school district police chief, who was the incident commander at the scene.

“They were communicating it to a police officer from Uvalde and the state agency with which I have spoken has not told me who it is,” said Gutiérrez.

Gutierrez also said he wants to know more about what was going on at school that day.

“I want to know where the cops were in that room. I want to know how many of my cops were in there, how many state cops were in there. I want to know how many state cops were outside. I want to know how many federal agents were inside for 19 minutes, that is, for 45 minutes,” Gutierrez told reporters.

“I want to know specifically who was receiving the 911 calls,” he said.

CNN has reached out to the State Emergency Communications Commission, Uvalde Police and the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District for comment on Gutierrez’s remarks.

The state senator also said DPS Col. Steven McCraw told him he would be briefed on the identities of the 19 officers who were in the hallway outside the classroom on Friday. Gutiérrez promised to share that information with the media once received.

Judge recounts having tried to identify the victims

As the community gathers to bury the lost, the justice of the peace who was on duty as de facto coroner recalled the tragic scene.

Judge Lalo Diaz Jr. learned of the “active shooter” situation from a police alert on social media, he told CNN’s Poppy Harlow on Thursday, fearing the possibility of deaths.

But, not long after, “I hear the ambulances and I hear the officers and the sirens,” he said.

As funerals for Uvalde continue, authorities' timeline of terror at Robb Elementary continues to shift
Called to the elementary school, Diaz and a medical examiner from nearby Bexar County entered the crime scene hours after a Border Patrol tactical team killed the shooter.

“My mind was racing,” Diaz said, “knowing I was going to see something that was just incredible, that I never wanted to see.”

There, among the murdered children, Díaz recognized the teacher Irma García, whom he had known from when they attended school together. Diaz was also a friend of her husband, Joe Garcia, who died of a heart attack two days after the shooting.

“It breaks my heart,” Diaz said. “I’m seeing the devastation that these weapons have caused to the children and to these teachers, and it’s just unbelievable.”

Funeral services for the Garcias were held Wednesday, and additional funerals for the other dead will continue in the coming days.

CNN’s Rebekah Riess, Chris Boyette, Amir Vera, Holly Yan, Elizabeth Joseph, Aya Elamroussi and Haley Burton contributed to this report.



Reference-www.cnn.com

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