'It's time to die': Fourth grader recalls harrowing moment Texas school shooter entered classroom

A fourth grader who survived the mass shooting at his Texas elementary school recalled the harrowing moment teenage gunman Salvador Ramos stormed into his classroom and issued a chilling warning to students.

‘He came in and he crouched a little bit and he said, he said, ‘It’s time to die,” the unnamed Robb Elementary School student told KENS 5 on Wednesday.

‘When I heard the shooting through the door, I told my friend to hide under something so he won’t find us,’ the boy said. ‘I was hiding hard. And I was telling my friend to not talk because he is going to hear us.’ 

The little boy and four others hid under a cloth-covered table while Ramos, 18, opened fire into the classroom, killing 19 students and two teachers. Seventeen others were injured.

Authorities say it is unclear why the teen targeted the school. He had no criminal history or known mental illnesses.

He had gotten in a fight with his grandmother about who would pay the phone bill before he went on his killing spree, law enforcement officials disclosed to CBS News. However, they note that information is preliminary and are not sure if the fight was the trigger for the massacre.

The fourth grader claims Ramos stormed into their classroom after shooting at another door in the school. 

‘He shot the next person’s door. We have a door in the middle. He opened it,’ the boy said, adding that Ramos then told the students they would die.

He and four others took cover under a table, which some experts argue shielded them from Ramos’ view and saved their lives.

‘When the cops came, the cop said: ‘Yell if you need help!’ And one of the persons in my class said ‘help.’ The guy overheard and he came in and shot her,’ the boy said. 

‘The cop barged into that classroom. The guy shot at the cop. And the cops started shooting.’

The boy said they remained hidden until the gunfire ceased. 

‘I just opened the curtain. And I just put my hand out,’ he said. ‘I got out with my friend. I knew it was police. I saw the armor and the shield.’

He also alleged his teachers, Irma Garcia, 46, and Eva Mireles, 44, sacrificed themselves to protect their students.

‘They were nice teachers,’ he said. ‘They went in front of my classmates to help. To save them.’

The little boy also issued a warning to other American families, saying: ‘I would like to say to every kid and parent to be safe.’

Ramos used an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle in the bloodbath Tuesday at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. He had legally bought two such rifles just days before the attack, soon after his 18th birthday, authorities said.

One of the guns was purchased at a federally licensed dealer in the Uvalde area on May 17, according to state Sen. John Whitmire, who was briefed by investigators. Ramos bought 375 rounds of ammunition the next day, then purchased the second rifle last Friday. 

On Tuesday morning, Ramos shot and wounded his grandmother at her home, then left. Neighbors called police when she staggered outside and they saw she had been shot in the face, Department of Public Safety spokesperson Travis Considine said.

Ramos then crashed his truck through a railing on the grounds at Robb Elementary School and an Uvalde school district officer exchanged fire with him and was wounded.

The teen went inside and exchanged more gunfire with two arriving Uvalde police officers, who were still outside, Considine said. Those officers were also wounded. 

Meanwhile, frustrated onlookers were urging police to enter the building as Ramos went on his killing spree.

One woman was yelling at the police outside the school, recalled Juan Carranza, 24, who lives opposite the building. 

He told ABC News she was screaming: ‘Go in there! Go in there!’

But noted, the officers did not enter the building. 

Jacinto Cazares, whose 10-year-old daughter Jacklyn was among the 21 killed, has demanded to know why Ramos was able to rampage through the school for 90 minutes until he was shot dead.

The first 911 call was received 90 minutes earlier, at 11:30am, saying a man had emerged from a crashed vehicle with a long rifle and a backpack.

‘There was at least 40 lawmen armed to the teeth but didn’t do a darn thing until it was far too late,’ Cazares he told the news outlet. ‘The situation could’ve been over quick if they had better tactical training, and we as a community witnessed it firsthand.’ 

Cazares said he wanted answers from local authorities as to why the shooter was not stopped before or during the attack.

‘I’m a gun owner and I do not blame the weapons used in this tragedy,’ he said. ‘I’m angry how easy it is to get one and young you can be to purchase one.’  

Dillon Silva, whose nephew was in a nearby classroom, said students were watching the Disney movie ‘Moana’ when they heard several loud pops and a bullet shattered a window. Moments later, their teacher saw the attacker stride past the door.

‘Oh, my God, he has a gun!’ the teacher shouted twice, according to Silva. ‘The teacher didn’t even have time to lock the door,’ he said.

A tactical team forced its way into the classroom where the attacker was holed up and was met with gunfire from Ramos but shot and killed him. 

Nineteen children and two teachers were killed in the attack.

The massacre came as the school was counting down to the last days of the school year with a series of themed days. Tuesday was to be ‘Footloose and Fancy,’ with students wearing nice outfits.

Texas, which has some of the most gun-friendly laws in the nation, has been the site of some of the deadliest shootings in the U.S. over the past five years. In 2018, a gunman killed 10 people at Santa Fe High School in the Houston area. 

A year before that, a gunman shot more than two dozen people to death during a Sunday service in the small town of Sutherland Springs.  In 2019, a gunman at a Walmart in El Paso killed 23 people in a racist attack targeting Hispanics.

The shooting came days before the National Rifle Association annual convention was set to begin in Houston. The governor and both of Texas’ U.S. senators, all of whom are Republicans, were among the scheduled speakers at a forum Friday.