An eleven Year old girl, Miah Cerillo, survived the massacre that took place at Robb Elementary School on May 24, by smearing the blood of a dead classmate on herself and playing dead.
At approximately 11:30 a.m., an eighteen year old with an assault ( DDM4 V7 ) style rifle, entered the school and murdered 19 children and 2 teachers. According to multiple reports, Uvalde police officers lingered outside for approximately an hour, deterring onlookers and frantic parents from attempting to enter the school.
In prerecorded remarks, the girl told members of Congress:
“We we’re just watching a movie and she ( the teacher ) got an email, and she went to lock the door, and he was in the hallway. They made eye contact And then she went back in the room, and said, “go hide,” and we went to go hide behind the teacher’s desk. And then he shot the little window and then he moved to the other classrooms and then he – there’s a door between our classrooms – and he went through there. Then he shot my teacher and told my teacher,”good night” and shot her in the head.
“And then he shot some of my classmates and the white board. When I went to the backpacks, he shot my friend who was next to me, and I thought he was going to come back to the room. So, I got some of the blood and smeared it all over me. I stayed quiet and then I got my teachers phone and called 911 and told her we need help.”
Other survivors also testified before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday.
The mother of one of the slaughtered victims, Lexi Rubio, told the committee members that she went in search of her daughter after hearing about the event.
“Bus after bus arrived, but she wasn’t on board,” she said. “We heard there were children at the local hospital, so we drove over to provide her description. She wasn’t there. My dad drove an hour and a half to San Antonio to check with University Hospital. At this point, some part of me realized she was gone.”
They later discovered that their daughter had been killed.
“We don’t want you to think of Lexi as just a number. If given the opportunity, Lexi would have made a positive change in the world. She wanted to attend St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas, on a softball scholarship. She wanted to major in math and attend law school. That opportunity was taken from her. She was taken from us.”
Other witnesses to testify were Zeneta Everhart, mother of Zaire Goodman, a survivor of the Top’s market, Buffalo shooting spree.
“Let me paint a picture for you,” she said. “My son, Zaire has a hole in the right side of his neck, and two on his back, and another on his left leg, caused by an exploding bullet from an AR-15. As I clean his wounds, I can feel pieces of that bullet in his back. Shrapnel will be left in his body for the rest of his life. Now I want you to picture that scenario for one of your children. Lawmakers who continuously allow these shootings to continue by not passing stricter gun laws should be voted out.”
House member, Republican James Comer responded by blaming the rise in gun violence on “soft on crime” and “defund the police” rhetoric by certain progressive Democrats, rather than acknowledge the fact that he and his fellow Republicans are a big part of the problem by refusing to do anything about crime, and perpetuating the toxic gun culture of the NRA.
The legislation known as Protecting Our Kids Act, which includes a number of other reform bills, passed a House vote on Wednesday, but will likely die in the Senate.
Sources: San Antonio Express News, CNN, NBC News.
The Weekly News 