Uvalde Teacher Opens Up About How Police Failed Them, Students

First responders in Uvalde, Texas are facing scrutiny and criticism in the wake of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School that left 19 students and two teachers dead on the afternoon of May 24.

The scrutiny and criticism are for what is largely being perceived as delayed reaction by police to the deadly school shooting.

Robb Elementary School teacher Arnulfo Reyes had 11 students killed in the shooting. The 4th grade teacher was shot twice, and he recently spoke out for the first time about the horrifying moment the shooter entered his classroom.

And he spoke directly to police.

“You have a bulletproof vest, I have nothing. You are supposed to protect and serve. There is no excuse for their actions, and I will never forgive them,” Reyes told ABC News.

Reyes has been dealing with a mix of complex emotions, to say the least. He’s pissed off about the police response and mourning for the victims and their families.

“I feel so bad for the parents because they lost a child, but they lost one child. I lost 11 that day, all at one time,” he said.

Now he’s vowing to be active in the national debate about gun control and demanding new legislation.

“The only thing that I know is that I won’t let these children and my co-workers die in vain. I will go to the end of the world to make sure things get changed,” he said.

According to the New York Times, when the shooting was first reported police the commander arrived at the school without a police radio and decided to wait for backup.

It took officers over an hour after the shooter went inside to kill the gunman, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos.

A number of parents and family members arrived at the school while the shooting spree was still in progress and were helpless. Now reports and footage of relatives being restrained and allegations that some parents were even handcuffed or Tasered by police have surfaced.

“They had no empathy,” Yvonne Trice, an activist from California whose son was killed in 2015, said of the police treatment of relatives in Uvalde.