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Schoolgirl reveals how she survived Texas massacre

<p dir="ltr">An 11-year-old girl has recalled the moment she survived the horrific Texas school shooting which saw her classmates and teacher shot dead.</p> <p dir="ltr">Miah Cerrillo, a fourth grader at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas spoke to lawmakers in a pre-recorded interview at the House of Representatives committee on Wednesday.</p> <p dir="ltr">She explained how she smeared her dead classmate’s blood on her and played dead to avoid being shot by 18-year-old Salvador Ramos on May 24. </p> <p dir="ltr">"He... told my teacher 'good night' and then shot her in the head. And then he shot some of my classmates and the whiteboard," Miah said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Miah then grabbed her dead teacher’s mobile phone and dialled 911 - which has since seen police’s response <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/news/news/texas-police-admit-wrongdoing-following-school-shooting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">heavily criticised</a> for not doing anything while they were being attacked. </p> <p><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NOOIN48HnxE" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p dir="ltr">The fourth grader fears that another mass shooting would occur at her school and called for “more security”. </p> <p dir="ltr">Gunman Salvador was armed with a gun when he stormed Robb Elementary School on May 24 and shot dead 19 children and two teachers.</p> <p dir="ltr">Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw admitted that the tactical decisions made during the response to the events leading up to the shooting were wrong.</p> <p dir="ltr">“From the benefit of hindsight where I’m sitting now, of course it was not the right decision. It was the wrong decision. There’s no excuse for that,” he said. “A decision was made that this was a barricaded subject situation, there was time to retrieve the keys and wait for a tactical team with the equipment to go ahead and breach the door and take on the subject at that point.</p> <p dir="ltr">“That was the decision, that was the thought process at that particular point in time.”</p> <p dir="ltr">According to audio evidence from the time of the shooting, Ramos fired almost 100 shots inside classrooms 111 and 112 about 11.30am.</p> <p dir="ltr">Two minutes later, three officers entered the school from the same back door Ramos came in from.</p> <p dir="ltr">About 12.03pm, there were at least 19 officers standing in the hallways but it was only at 12.50 pm that police used a key from the janitor to open the classroom doors.</p> <p dir="ltr">It was then they shot Ramos dead.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: YouTube </em></p>

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Texas mum speaks out about police stopping her from saving sons from school shooting

<p dir="ltr">A mother from Uvalde, Texas, who said she was handcuffed by police while trying to rescue her sons from Robb Elementary School during last month’s shooting, has claimed she was warned by authorities not to speak to the media about her experience.</p> <p dir="ltr">Angeli Gómez spoke to <em><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/video/mother-who-ran-into-texas-school-during-shooting-discusses-moments-inside/?intcid=CNM-00-10abd1h#x" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CBS News</a></em> on Thursday, describing how she rushed into the elementary school and was able to save her children, despite law enforcement attempting to stop her.</p> <p dir="ltr">The mother of two had been at the school earlier that day celebrating her childrens’ graduation ceremonies and was already back at work when she received a call from her mother, who told her the shooting was happening.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Right away as soon as I parked my car, US marshals started coming towards my car saying I wasn’t allowed to be parked there and he said, ‘Well we’re going to have to arrest you because you’re being very uncooperative’,” she told the outlet.</p> <p dir="ltr">“And I said, ‘Well, you’re going to have to arrest me because I’m going in there and I tell you right now, I don’t see none of y’all in there, y’all are standing with snipers and y’all are far away. If y’all aren’t going in there, I’m going in there.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Ms Gómez recalled that she was then handcuffed to stop her rushing towards the school.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I told one of the officers, ‘I don’t need you to protect me. Get away from me. I don’t need your protection. If anything, I need you to go in there with me to go protect my kids,” she said. </p> <p dir="ltr">The US Marshals Agency has previously denied handcuffing parents, telling the <em><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/uvalde-residents-voice-frustration-over-shooting-response-11653588161" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wall Street Journal</a></em> that deputy marshals “maintained order and peace in the midst of the grief-stricken community that was gathering around the school”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Ms Gómez told <em>CBS News</em> she convinced local police to uncuff her and she immediately jumped the fence and rushed into the school building when she was freed.</p> <p dir="ltr">According to her account, she was chased by police officers towards the building and failed to see officers when she was inside, though she could hear gunshots from somewhere in the school.</p> <p dir="ltr">When she knocked on the door of one of her first son’s classroom she recalled finding teachers and students hiding inside and that the teacher asked if they had time to get out.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Yeah, you have time; I’m going to run and get my other son,” she replied.</p> <p dir="ltr">Ms Gómez said authorities tried to escort her outside as she tried to approach her other son’s classroom, but when she saw them open the door she ran back to get him.</p> <p dir="ltr">She was captured on camera running out of the school hand-in-hand with her two sons.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Nothing was being done,” she told <em>CBS News</em>. “If anything, [law enforcement] were being more aggressive on us parents that were willing to go in there.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Ms Gómez, who is reportedly on probation for previous charges, also told <em>CBS News</em> she received a call from “someone in law enforcement” telling her she may face some kind of violation for obstruction of justice if she continued to talk to the media.</p> <p dir="ltr">According to CBS News, she said she spoke out after a judge called her “brave” and said her probation would be shortened.</p> <p dir="ltr">However, <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/stefficao/uvalde-mom-saved-sons-school-shooting-police" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Buzzfeed News</a> reported that Ms Gómez’s account of the phone call and her probation couldn’t be independently verified.</p> <p dir="ltr">It comes after the mishandling of the shooting by law enforcement sparked outcry across the US, with footage showing authorities confronting parents asking why officers weren’t going into the school to save the kids and the Justice Department opening an investigation into the situation.</p> <p dir="ltr">As Ms Gómez recounted saving her children, she broke down in tears while considering how many other kids could have been saved if police had acted differently.</p> <p dir="ltr">"They could have saved many more lives," Gómez said. "They could have gone into the classroom, and maybe two or three would have been gone, but they could have saved the whole, more, the whole class. They could have done something — gone through the window, sniped him through the window. Something, but nothing was being done."</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-0407e5c0-7fff-b8bc-3ae5-3474ee6703af"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: CBS News / YouTube</em></p>

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Meghan Markle visits memorial of school shooting victims

<p>Meghan Markle has visited a memorial dedicated to the 19 children and two teachers killed at school earlier this week. </p> <p>The victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas were between the ages of seven and 10, including teachers Irma Garcia and Eva Mireles.</p> <p>The Duchess of Sussex arrived at the memorial on Thursday and lay a bouquet of white roses among several others.</p> <p>She also walked past each of the white crossed which had the names of all the victims who lost their lives on Tuesday. </p> <p>Gunman Salvador Rolando Ramos, 18, was armed with a gun when he stormed the elementary school on Tuesday and killed the young victims and their teachers.</p> <p>He was then allegedly killed by the responding officers.</p> <p>The murdered children have since been identified as 10-year-old Amerie Jo Garza, 10-year-old Alexandria Aniyah Rubio, 10-year-old Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez, fourth grader Eliahana Cruz Torres, 9-year-old Eliana “Ellie” Garcia, 10-year-old Jackie Cazares, 10-year-old  Jailah Nicole Silguero, 10-year-old cousins Jayce Luevanos and Jailah Nicole Silguero, 10-year-old Jose Flores, 10-year-old Makenna Lee Elrod, Maite Rodriguez, Nevaeh Bravo, 10-year-old Rojelio Torres, Tess Marie Mata, 8-year-old Uziyah Garcia, and 10-year-old Xavier Lopez.</p> <p>Teachers Irma Garcia, 46, and Eva Mireles, 44, selflessly put themselves in front of the children in defence but were also killed.  </p> <p><em>Images: Twitter</em></p>

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