FILE – Flowers and candles are placed around crosses at a memorial outside Robb Elementary School to honor the victims killed in this week’s school shooting in Uvalde, Texas Saturday, May 28, 2022. The reddest of states to revisit whether to raise the age limit to purchase such weapons. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
OAN NEWSROOM
UPDATED 10:14 AM PT – Wednesday, June 1, 2022
An off duty Customs and Border Patrol Officer helped evacuate teachers and students at Robb Elementary. Jacob Albarado recalled his experience of rushing to the Uvalde school to save his wife and daughter.
During an exclusive interview with NBC on Tuesday, Albarado said his day began with an award ceremony for his daughter, breakfast with his mom, and a car wash. Things took a turn when he sat down for a haircut at a barber shop, which wasn’t too far from his daughter’s elementary school.
“My barber actually heard shots,” he said.
Albarado’s wife, who is a fourth grade teacher, and his daughter, a second grader, were inside the Uvalde Elementary School as the tragic shooting unfolded. The off duty border patrol agent said he did what he was trained to do and jumped into action. He said when he arrived at the school he was armed with his barber’s shot gun. Police let him inside.
“I looked for a gun,” the agent stated. “My barber said he had a gun. Both of us raced over to the school and met up there.”
The agent described seeing absolute chaos, with some police already there, and parents trying to get into the school. According to the New York Times, his daughter was locked inside a bathroom while his wife hid under desks with her students. He eventually learned they were both safe and helped evacuate children as they climbed through windows for safety.
“I was just trying to get towards my wife’s room and my daughter’s room,” Albarado voiced. “As I was going in, I could just see kids coming out the windows, kids coming my way. So I was helping all the kids out.”
He later learned that one of his daughter’s friends and teammates were shot and killed. In a social media post after the tragedy, the CBP agent called for changes to be made at all schools in the US and for teachers to be trained and allowed to carry, in order to protect themselves and students.