Hours earlier and blocks away, Aida Hernandez shed bitter tears as she left mass at the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic church.
In the small house of worship off Uvalde’s main street, the largely Hispanic congregation prayed for the victims of America’s worst school shooting in a decade.
“My experience was of horror and pain. I knew the victims. I’m still in shock,” said Hernandez, in her sixties.
The town of 15,000 inhabitants, located 80km from the border with Mexico, was until 24 hours ago like every other small US town: A grid of streets dotted with shopping malls, gas stations and fast-food chains.
But on Tuesday everything changed, when an 18-year-old gunman sowed carnage at Robb Elementary School, killing 19 young children and two of their teachers.
The massacre plunged residents into both incomprehension and despair.
“When you teach and you’re in the classroom, that’s your job to protect them,” said Hernandez, who taught at Robb Elementary until she retired two years ago.
“They did more beyond what they were supposed to do.”
“TOO MANY TIMES”
Rosie Buantel was equally grief-stricken – but outraged, too.
“I’m sad and I’m angry at our government, for not doing more about gun control,” the woman in her fifties told AFP.
“We’ve gone through this one too many times. And still there’s nothing done. They’re still debating.”
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