Gunman's chilling four words before opening fire on classroom
A young boy who survived the Texas primary school shooting has shared chilling details about the moment teenage gunman Salvador Ramos stormed two classrooms with a rifle and shot dead 19 children and two teachers.
Before firing his AR-15-style semi-automatic weapon, the gunman issued a disturbing warning to the terrified children, telling them: 'It's time to die'.
The boy, just ten years old, said he was hiding under the table with four other students when he heard shooting in the classroom next door.
"I told my friend to hide under something so he won't find us. I was hiding hard. And I was telling my friend to not talk because he is going to hear us," the boy told KENS 5 on Wednesday
The young boy explained there was a door joining the two classrooms. The gunman opened it and walked through into the classroom he was hiding, he said.
"He came in and he crouched a little bit and he said, he said, 'it's time to die'," he recalled.
The boy said police appeared not long after. When they arrived, they called out to victims to yell for help if they needed it.
But when another young girl yelled out to police, the gunman allegedly shot her dead, before turning the gun on law enforcement.
Teachers sacrificed themselves to save students
The young student also claimed his teachers, Irma Garcia and Eva Mireles, sacrificed themselves to help the children.
He said they "went in front of my classmates to save them".
Following the tragic massacre, Ms Garcia’s nephew, John Martinez, detailed his aunt's final moments on Twitter.
"She passed away with children in her arms trying to protect them. Those weren’t just her students, they were her kids as well," he wrote.
“She was teacher of the year and was loved by so many. She’s gone but the world will never forget her name”.
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During the rampage, which reportedly lasted 90 minutes before the gunman was shot dead by police, another student tried to call for help using her mobile phone which she recently got for her tenth birthday, her dad revealed.
Amerie Jo Garza's grandmother said the young girl called 911 after hearing the gunman tell the children 'you’re going to die'.
"Instead of grabbing it and breaking it or taking it from her, he shot her," the 10-year-old’s grandmother Berlinda Irene Arreola told The Daily Beast.
Amerie's dad Angel Garza, a medic aid, only learned of his daughter's death when he arrived at the school and began helping a little girl who was covered in blood.
But it turned out to be the blood of his daughter Amerie, who was best friends with the girl he was helping.
Gunman's mum speaks out
Shortly before Ramos opened fire at the school, he shot his grandmother, Celia Gonzalez, in the face, however she survived and called the police.
He dashed off in his car to the nearby primary school, but he crashed in a ditch before jumping out with a rifle and a backpack, police said.
Ms Gonzalez remains in hospital, with her daughter – Ramos's mother Adriana Reyes – by her side.
Ms Reyes recently spoke out about the shooting and said she was surprised by her son's actions.
"My son wasn't a violent person. I'm surprised by what he did," she said from her mother's hospital bed.
In the days leading up to the brutal shooting, a female Instagram user claims Ramos had been messaging her, even sharing pictures of guns online.
Although she didn't know him, she admitted she continued replying because she "was afraid" and didn't know what he'd do.
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