PanamaTimes

Monday, Jun 30, 2025

US school shooting: Wounded teacher condemns police as cowards

US school shooting: Wounded teacher condemns police as cowards

A teacher wounded in a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, has criticized police as "cowards" for delaying taking action while his pupils were killed.
In a harrowing interview with ABC News he said he told his students to pretend to be asleep during the shooting.

Eleven of them died when the gunman stalked his and an adjacent classroom for over an hour as police stood in the hall.

"You had a bulletproof vest. I had nothing," he said of the police.

The shooting claimed the lives of 21 people, including 19 young children.

The attack by an 18-year-old local has led to renewed national debate about gun regulations.

Reyes, a fourth grade teacher who has taught for 17 years, said that he thought "it was going to be a good day" as he headed to school on the day of the attack in May.

The students were watching a film when shots broke out. He told them to hide under tables and pretend to be asleep, as they were taught.

But the gunman entered through an adjacent classroom and began firing.

Reyes was shot, then took the advice he had given his students and pretended to be asleep. As he lay near his desk, he could hear police who had rushed into the school only minutes behind the attacker.

But it took over an hour before police stormed the classroom and killed the attacker.

"I prayed and prayed that I wouldn't hear none of my students talk," he told the Good Morning America program, adding that he believed he was going to die.

"One of the students from the other classroom was yelling, 'Officer we're in here. We're in here,'" he continued.

"But they had already left. Then he [the killer] got up from behind my desk and he went over there and he began shooting again."

After conflicting information, police now say the killer was holed up in the classroom for 77 minutes before police breached the door. Uvalde police have faced heavy criticism for the delay.

Reyes said he felt abandoned by police, saying: "There is no excuse for their actions and I will never forgive them."

During the attack, children were frantically calling 911 to report multiple gunshot victims. Worried parents also tried to rush in, as police physically prevented them from entering.

Investigators say that messages from the children were not being relayed to officers at the scene, who were waiting for more firepower to arrive before confronting the rifle-wielding killer.

Officials say the police were "wrong" to think that the situation had changed from an active shooter to a barricaded subject, and that they had more time to prepare their response.
Newsletter

Related Articles

PanamaTimes
0:00
0:00
Close
OpenAI Secures Multimillion-Dollar AI Contracts with Pentagon, India, and Grab
Brazilian Congress Rejects Lula's Proposed Tax Increase on Financial Transactions
Landslide in Bello, Colombia, Results in Multiple Casualties
Papa Johns pizza surge near the Pentagon tipped off social media before Trump's decisive Iran strike
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
Minnesota Lawmaker Melissa Hortman and Husband Killed in Targeted Attack; Senator John Hoffman and Wife Injured
Wreck of $17 Billion San José Galleon Identified Off Colombia After 300 Years
Sole Survivor of Air India Crash Recounts Escape
Coinbase CEO Warns Bitcoin Could Supplant US Dollar Amid Mounting National Debt
UK and EU Reach Agreement on Gibraltar's Schengen Integration
Israeli Finance Minister Imposes Banking Penalties on Palestinians
U.S. Inflation Rises to 2.4% in May Amid Trade Tensions
Trump's Policies Prompt Decline in Chinese Student Enrollment in U.S.
Global Oceans Near Record Temperatures as CO₂ Levels Climb
Trump Announces U.S.-China Trade Deal Covering Rare Earths
Smuggled U.S. Fuel Funds Mexican Cartels Amid Crackdown
Protests Erupt in Los Angeles with Symbolic Flag Burning
Trump Administration Issues New Travel Ban Targeting 12 Countries
Man Group Mandates Full-Time Office Return for Quantitative Analysts
JPMorgan Warns Analysts Against Accepting Future-Dated Job Offers
Builder.ai Faces Legal Scrutiny Amid Financial Misreporting Allegations
Japan Grapples with Rice Shortage Amid Soaring Prices
Goldman Sachs Reduces Risk Exposure Amid Market Volatility
HSBC Chairman Mark Tucker to Return to AIA as Non-Executive Chair
Israel Confirms Arming Gaza Clan to Counter Hamas Influence
Judge Blocks Trump's Ban on International Students at Harvard
Trump Proposes Travel Ban on 'Uncontrolled' Countries
Panama Port Owner Balances US-China Pressures
Trump Administration Accused of Obstructing Deportation Cases
Trump’s China Strategy Remains a Geopolitical Puzzle
Eurozone Inflation Falls Below ECB Target to 1.9%
Call for a New Chapter in Globalisation Emerges
Blackstone and Rivals Diverge on Private Equity Strategy
Mayor’s Security Officer Implicated | Shocking New Details Emerge in NYC Kidnapping Case
Bangkok Ranked World's Top City for Remote Work in 2025
Denmark Increases Retirement Age to 70, Setting a European Precedent
Netanyahu Accuses Western Leaders of 'Emboldening Hamas'
Escalating Trade Tensions and Market Reactions
OnlyFans Reportedly in Talks for $8 Billion Sale
JBS Gains Shareholder Approval for U.S. Stock Listing
Booz Allen Hamilton to Cut 2,500 Jobs Amid Federal Spending Reductions
Trump Signs Executive Orders to Accelerate Nuclear Energy Development
Harvard Temporarily Blocks Trump Administration's International Student Ban
Nippon Steel Forms Partnership with U.S. Steel, Headquarters to Remain in Pittsburgh
Trump Expands Tariff Threats to Apple and Samsung Devices
Oracle and OpenAI Plan $40 Billion Nvidia Chip Purchase for AI Data Center
Trump Threatens 50% Tariff on EU Goods, Markets React
The Daily Debate: The Fall of the Dollar — Strategic Reset or Economic Self-Destruction?
Former FBI Director James Comey Questioned by Secret Service Over Social Media Post
Mexican Influencer Valeria Márquez Killed During Livestream in Suspected Femicide
×