Uvalde teacher traumatized after authorities wrongly said she left door open: ‘She’s heartbroken’
A teacher at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, is traumatized after authorities initially said the gunman entered the building through a door she left ajar, her attorney said.
“She can’t stop shaking,” said Don Flanary, an attorney for teacher Emilia Marin.
The educator was helping a co-worker bring in food for a party when 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos arrived at the school in Uvalde, CNN reported.
Authorities first said Ramos entered the school through a door left ajar by Marin — but the Texas Department of Public Safety has since clarified that the gunman got in via an unlocked door.
“She felt alone, like she couldn’t even grieve,” Flanary told CNN of the incorrect initial account by authorities. “She second-guessed herself, like ‘Did I not do that?’”
Marin is having trouble dealing with the insinuation that her actions contributed to the massacre, Flanary told ABC News.
“It’s traumatic for her when it’s insinuated that she’s involved, the door open,” Marin’s attorney said. “She’s heartbroken.”
Marin took immediate actions to stop Ramos’ onslaught, Flanary insisted.
“She sees him throw a bag over the fence and he has the weapon, the gun, around his chest,” Flanary recalled. “He hops the fence and starts running at her.”
Marin then kicked away the rock that was keeping the door open and slammed the door, Flanary said.
“She thought she was going to die herself,” the attorney continued. “She was waiting for him to come in. Obviously, she’s heartbroken with all the lives lost.”
Marin had dashed inside to report the crash, leaving the door propped open with a rock, Flanary said. She then returned while still on the line with cops and saw a co-worker running out to safety and others across the street at a funeral home while yelling, “He’s got a gun!”
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The gunman never encountered Marin, or her grandson, who attends the school. But the horrifying attack has left the educator tormented and she had to seek a neurologist’s care, Flanary said.
The Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed investigators determined the teacher had closed the door, but it failed to lock, ABC News reported.
Marin’s attorney told CNN the ensuing moments would have been the “most horrific thing anyone could have endured.”
Ramos started firing outside the school before making his way inside. While “frozen” in fear, Marin got a text message from her daughter asking if she was safe — but she silenced her phone, believing Ramos might hear the device, CNN reported.
“She thought he was going to come in and kill her and she made peace with that,” Flanary continued.
Ramos ultimately targeted another classroom packed with students, killing 19, along with two teachers, in the deadliest school shooting in nearly a decade.
Flanary is helping Marin in a possible civil claim against Daniel Defense, the manufacturer of the firearm used in the attack, CNN reported.
The petition doesn’t accuse the manufacturer of wrongdoing, but seeks to investigate whether Marin has legal grounds to file a claim against Daniel Defense, which did not reply to an inquiry from CNN, the network reported.
Marin does not plan on suing the school, the police or the school district, according to the report.
Her traumatic experience echoes those of other Uvalde survivors — like a third-grader who hid inside the school and prayed “so we don’t die” as an hour went by before cops killed Ramos.
Leon Hernandez, 9, told The Post Thursday he ducked beneath a desk with a female classmate as Ramos marched into the classroom and elsewhere throughout the building.
“She was praying and scared,” Leon said of his classmate. “I said we had to pray so we don’t die.”
Leon spoke to The Post Thursday outside a vigil for the victims in Uvalde. Funerals, visitations and burials for the 21 victims began on Monday and are expected to continue through mid-June.
With Post wires
