In an interview withCNN, Daniel Garza said he “could still see [the] face” of the gunman through the window of his classroom door, as Daniel “hid under a table next to the wall.”
“I could see him staring at people in front of me,” the boy added.
Daniel eventually escaped through a window of the classroom, cutting his hand on the broken glass. He learned later that his cousin Ellie Garcia was one of the19 children and two teachers killed in the shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
“I was worried a lot for her because I didn’t hear any screaming from the class,” Daniel toldABC News.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.
Daniel Garza and Briana Ruiz.
According to ABC News, Avila locked the door and told her studentsto stay quiet and play dead, while CNN reported that Daniel said Avila texted 911. As his mother, Briana Ruiz, told ABC News, “I personally can’t thank my son’s teacher enough. … I think what she did saved all of their lives.”
For more on this story, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day.
“When I did get him back, he wasn’t the same anymore,” she added of Daniel. “And I know it’s gonna take time and it’s gonna be a long road of recovery.”
Last Friday, Col. Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told the news media in Uvalde that approximately 20 officerswaited in a hallwayfor more than 45 minutes before engaging the shooter inside a locked Robb Elementary School classroom.
“From the benefit of hindsight where I’m sitting now, of course, it was not the right decision,” McCraw said of the delay in entering the classroom, where panicked students called 911. “It was a wrong decision. There’s no excuse for that. We believe there should have been an entry as soon as you can. When there’s an active shooter, the rules change.”
Once the officers finally entered the room, 21 victims were dead.
source: people.com
