A Texas funeral home worker — among the first to come face-to-face with deranged school shooter Salvador Ramos — says cops stopped him from rushing in to save the kids.
Cody Briseno said he and a coworker initially ran to help Ramos after the 18-year-old killer crashed his pickup truck outside Robb Elementary School on May 24 — but turned back when he saw Ramos armed with an “evil look” on his face, he told NBC News in an interview that aired Sunday.
“I see him crawling out from the passenger window. I tell him, ‘Hey man, are you OK? Are you alright?’” Briseno told the outlet. “We locked eyes and he gave me this vibe.
“He looked right back at me with this evil look and I see this rifle,” he said. “He was shooting at both of us and I could just hear ricochet.”
Ramos opened fire on the men from across the street — before walking into the school through an unlocked door, police have said.
Briseno, who was not hit, then grabbed his own gun from his wife and charged toward the school, where Ramos barricaded himself and went on a killing spree that left 19 fourth-graders and two teachers dead and 17 others wounded.
“Hey, what are you going?” the funeral home worker said one cop asked, as he bolted toward the school.
“I’m going in and trying to stop them,” Briseno said he told the cop. “I told him that [Ramos is] already inside the school.”
But the cop, he claimed, told him to stay back and shut up.
Briseno has since been involved in the services for several victims at the Hillcrest Memorial Funeral Home across the street from Robb Elementary.
He would not say which department the police officer belonged to, but cops and local officials have been under intense criticism for waiting over an hour to take out Ramos, who was locked inside two adjoining classrooms.
One mom who tried to rush inside the school to grab her kids said she was manhandled by cops and handcuffed while she pleaded with the officers to take action.
Uvalde School District Police Chief Peter Arredondo reportedly held officers back for more than an hour—before heroic Border Patrol agents rushed past them and killed Ramos.
Arrendondo did not have a police radio on him when he rushed the school. Frantic youngsters were calling 911 from inside the classroom to report the carnage, and gunshots could be heard on the calls.
Arredondo, who was elected to a seat on the Uvalde City Council, was secretly sworn into the post last week despite community outcry.
Meanwhile, funerals for the young victims will continue in the coming week.
On Sunday, 10-year-old Alithia Ramirez was laid to rest at Rushing-Estes-Knowles Chapel. She was remembered as an “extremely loving young lady who dreamed of attending art school in Paris,” according to her obituary.
“She was very reliable, always wanted to take care of everyone, and was a role model to her siblings,” the obit said.
During his visit to the grieving town last month, President Biden asked Alithia’s family for one of her drawings to hang in the White House.
“Whenever we hang it up we are going to send you a picture of where it is hanging, and you are free to see it anytime,” Biden told her parents.
With post wires
.