A Texas mother who took her daughter out to lunch after the award ceremony on Tuesday, just seconds before Salvador Ramos killed 19 students and two teachers, says she is haunted with guilt.
Texas Mother Who Took Her Child From Class MINUTES Before A Tragic Mass Shooting Claims She Is So Overtaken By Guilt That She Can't Eat Or Sleep
By
Aleena in
Heartbreaking
On 28th May 2022
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UVALDE, Texas – A mother who took her fourth-grade daughter from class minutes before the Texas gun tragedy that murdered 19 of her classmates, including four relatives and two teachers, was dealing with "overwhelming guilt" about her life-saving action.
Mia and her daughter Evalynn spoke to The Post from Uvalde on Thursday, which was scheduled to be the day Evalynn held her annual sleepover with her best friend Layla Salazar, who was killed in the incident.
"I can't eat, couldn't think because of the overwhelming amount of guilt," said Mia, who did not want her family's last name published.
"I was able to take my daughter out, but what could've happened if we were there just five minutes later?
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"There is so much guilt right now. My heart goes out to all of the families who are suffering. … And now we have 11 funerals to attend."
They are related to four of the young schoolchildren killed by 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos, who attacked Evalynn's classroom just minutes after she pulled her daughter out of Robb Elementary School to go out to lunch.
The exact nature of the family's relationship with the young victims was unknown.
Before the horror-struck, Alfonso Reyes' fourth-grade class had just finished awarding certificates. Several parents who attended the ceremony, including Mia, chose to take their children home for the day.
After the awards event, Mia and Evalynn left the school where Layla was highly honored to eat at the nearby Sunrise Restaurant.
"When I was at the awards, I was so happy for her because she got five awards," Evalynn recalled.
Evalynn stopped in her classroom around 11:05 to get her school things before going out to lunch, according to Mia.
"We ended up talking to the teacher, Mr. Reyes and he let us know that the door would be unlocked for her to get her backpack. He said we were more than welcome to walk back there to grab Evalynn's belongings, sign her out and leave," said.
According to authorities, Ramos arrived at the school about 25 minutes later and began shooting. Reyes was wounded in the incident but was being treated in the hospital.
Mia and Evalynn were dining at 11:30 a.m. when they noticed a lot of noise coming from the radio of a Border Patrol agent who was eating at a table nearby.
"All of a sudden we kept hearing sirens. It's pretty common in our town but these sirens seemed different," Mia said.
"We kind of brushed it off at first but a Border Patrol agent was sitting next to us and his radio kept going off. He was listening at first but he rushed out of there quickly. They told him he could pay later."
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Mia said she became alarmed at that point. A few minutes later, she received a robocall from the school stating that it was on lockdown.
"We started shaking because we were so worried about Layla, and of course the other children," Mia said. "But Evalynn, of course, was saying, 'Please! I hope my friend Layla is safe!'”
Mia said Evalynn started sobbing so loudly for her best friend Layla that they left the restaurant.
Hours later, they would find out that Layla was one of the students who was shot to death in the same classroom they were in earlier in the day.
“When I heard about the active shooting, I was devastated. I couldn’t take it. She was my only best friend that I had,” Evalynn said.
Mia fought back the tears since Layla had requested to go home with them, but Mia refused because she couldn't leave the school without her parents knowing.
Evalynn stated that she had scheduled a sleepover with Layla on Thursday to celebrate the end of the school year.
“The thing I loved about Layla was that she was always there for me,” Evalynn said.
She would call me everyday after school and we would play a game called Roblox … we would stay up all night on the weekends calling and calling [each other].”
“She would never replace me with anyone else [inaudible] and she would never talk trash about me,” the grief-stricken girl said.