A fourth grade teacher who survived the tragic mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, after being shot twice says he will never forgive law enforcement for their inaction during the rampage.
Arnulfo Reyes told the eleven students in his classroom to get under their desks and pretend to sleep after they heard gunshots outside their classroom door. Moments later, Salvador Ramos, 18, appeared in the doorway and shot Reyes twice, with one bullet hitting his arm and lung and another hitting his back. Ramos then turned his AR-15 rifle on the students, eventually killing 19 children and two teachers. Reyes says none of the children in his classroom survived.
Meanwhile, police officers waited in the hallway, asking for more backup and protective equipment like body armor.
“After everything, I get more angry because ... I had nothing" to protect himself, like the body armor police were reportedly waiting on before engaging the gunman, Reyes told Amy Robach on Good Morning America on Tuesday.
“You're supposed to protect and serve. ... There is no excuse for their actions. And I will never forgive them," Reyes added.
During the rampage, at least two students called 911, asking in vain for help from law enforcement. Reyes says that other students were asking for help from the officers through the door.
“One of the students from the next-door classroom was saying, 'Officer, we're in here. We're in here,’" Reyes described. "But they had already left."
Texas DPS Director Col. Steven McCraw would later say that the order to wait to engage the shooter was “the wrong decision.”
That order has been traced back to Police Chief Pedro “Pete” Arredondo, who has been the subject of intense criticism as more details have come to light. Arredondo completed active shooter training in December.
Arredondo has been avoiding public view since the shooting. He was recently elected to city council on May 7. His swearing-in ceremony was supposed to be a public event, but instead, the city council canceled the event and held a private ceremony on May 31.
Last week, the Texas Department of Public Safety accused Arredondo of not cooperating with the investigation into the shooting, an accusation that Arredondo briefly broke his silence to refute.
According to the Texas Tribune, city officials have also been less than forthcoming with the public. The doors to City Hall have been locked during business hours. And they seem to be, despite complaints from the public, supporting Arredondo.
A special meeting held on Friday included an agenda item to remove Arredondo from his new post on the City Council, but the board decided against it.
Arredondo was scheduled to appear at his first City Council meeting on Tuesday but no-showed the event. The meeting went on without him.
In April, as a candidate, Arredondo pledged to provide transparency to the position.
“I guess to me, nothing’s complicated, everything has a solution,” he said in April, “and that solution starts with communication.”