Teachers Describe Panic and Frantic 911 Calls at Trial Over Uvalde Massacre

Three Robb Elementary teachers told a jury about the terror they experienced during the May 24, 2022, attack that killed two staff members and 19 students. Their emotional testimony — including recorded 911 calls and accounts of shielding children — was played and read in court as prosecutors continue their case against former Uvalde school district police officer Adrian Gonzales.

Begging for Help Through a Smartwatch

Nicole Ogburn testified that she glanced out her fourth-grade classroom window and saw a man in black with a backpack and a gun aimed toward the playground. Expecting him to enter through the nearest door within seconds, she told her students to hide and used her smartwatch to call 911 because her phone was on her desk.

"Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!"

The recorded call, played for the jury, ends with rising urgency as Ogburn pleads for help. She said she crawled under furniture with her class; one child climbed onto her back and comforted her as she tried to protect the students.

Injured During Gunfire

Lynn Deming, another fourth-grade teacher, testified that shots struck through her classroom window. She said shrapnel hit her, she lost her glasses, and she crawled across the room to position herself between the windows and her students.

Deming described fearing she had placed the children in greater danger and repeatedly telling them she loved them while urging them to pray. She and her class were eventually evacuated through a window; defense attorney Jason Goss noted that one of the officers who helped evacuate classrooms was his client, Gonzales.

911 Call As Shooter Approached

The court also heard a 911 call from Amy Marin, who initially called about an apparent vehicle crash and then realized the driver was armed. The recording captured her urgent instructions to children to get to their rooms and her fear as gunfire began.

"The shots wouldn’t stop. They were just going round after round. I thought he’s going to kill me; I’m going to die."

Marin paused on the stand after the recording; defense counsel questioned her about school door-lock policies.

Evidence and Testimony Challenges

Prosecutors also presented forensic evidence, including rifle casings recovered around the school and trajectory analysis showing bullets entered classrooms from outside. The testimony focused on whether officers on scene — including Gonzales — did enough to halt or delay the attack. Gonzales has pleaded not guilty to 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment.

Struck Testimony

The defense successfully moved to strike the testimony of witness Stephanie Hale after showing she had not told investigators four days after the attack that she had seen the shooter or heard gunfire. The judge declined to grant a mistrial but instructed the jury to disregard her testimony; prosecutors objected to the omission's impact on their case.

Prosecutors plan to continue presenting their case in Corpus Christi. CNN reporters covering the trial include Shimon Prokupecz and Matthew J. Friedman, with additional reporting by Rachel Clarke.