Texas Fourth Grader Recalls 'Hiding Hard' Under Table As Gunman Shot Classmates

A Texas fourth-grader who survived Tuesday’s mass shooting at his elementary school said he hid under a table with classmates as the gunman barged into their classroom and announced: “It’s time to die.”

The child, speaking with local station KENS 5 off-camera, said the attacker shot at a door, then walked into his classroom at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. When he heard those first gunshots, he said, he directed a friend to duck under the table and hide with him.

“I was hiding hard. And I was telling my friend to not talk because he is going to hear us,” the boy, who wasn’t identified, said of the shooter.

He said four classmates eventually joined him under the table, draped with a tablecloth that may have concealed them from the killer. He said he saw the shooter crouch slightly before issuing the chilling words.

“He said, ‘Its time to die,’” the boy recalled.

A 10-year-old girl, also in the classroom, tried to call 911 on her cellphone, her grandmother told The Daily Beast.

“Instead of grabbing it and breaking it or taking it from her, he shot her,” said Berlinda Arreola, whose granddaughter Amerie Jo Garza was killed. “She was sitting right next to her best friend. Her best friend was covered in her blood.”

Authorities said the gunman barricaded himself inside the classroom, where he fatally shot 19 children and two teachers . The teachers, the boy told KENS 5, did their best to protect them.

Once police arrived, an officer entered the classroom and instructed the kids to yell out if they needed help, the boy said. A girl cried “help,” he said, and the gunman shot her.

Other officers then surged into the classroom and shot the gunman. Once the shooting stopped, the boy said he saw the officers’ body armor and shields, and came out from his hiding spot. 

“I would like to say to every kid and parent to be safe,” the boy said.