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'I was hiding hard' | Fourth grader who survived Uvalde school shooting gives heartbreaking account of gunman's classroom assault

"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.

UVALDE, Texas — A fourth grader who survived the mass shooting at Robb Elementary has shared gut-wrenching details about what he witnessed inside that classroom.

"He shot the next person’s door. We have a door in the middle. He opened it. He came in and he crouched a little bit and he said, he said, 'It's time to die,'" the boy recalled.

Authorities say the suspect barricaded himself inside a classroom and opened fire on the people inside, killing 19 children and two teachers before he was killed by law enforcement.

RELATED: What we know about the victims in the Uvalde elementary school shooting

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

RELATED: How to help the Uvalde community affected by the school shooting

The boy and four others hid under a table that had a tablecloth over it, which may have shielded them from the shooter's view and saved their lives. The boy shared heartbreaking details about what happened in that room.

“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.”

He said that once the shooting stopped, he came out from under the table.

“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 said his teachers, Irma Garcia and Eva Mireles, saved their lives.

“They were nice teachers," he said. "They went in front of my classmates to help. To save them.”

The boy said that it made him feel better hugging his family and telling them about his feelings. He spoke with a counselor and said a highlight was seeing his friend who also survived.

“I would like to say to every kid and parent to be safe,” he said.

Authorities have identified the gunman as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, a high school dropout from Uvalde who reportedly had no criminal or mental health history. However, authorities say they are investigating whether he had a juvenile record.

On Thursday afternoon, the Uvalde Police Department held a press conference and said the suspect had been inside the elementary school for about an hour before he was killed. 

In fact, DPS said "he walked in unobstructed initially," which contradicts initial reports saying the suspect was confronted by a school district police officer.

Victor Escalon, the Regional Director of Department of Public Safety, said four minutes after the gunman entered the building, "law enforcement are coming in to solve this problem."

On Friday, DPS provided even more details of the timeline of the shooting. You can see those latest updates here.

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