Uvalde Hero: Amid the Chaos at Robb Elementary, the Bus Driver Who Saved Lives
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When Sylvia Uriegas, a school bus driver in Uvalde, received a call on May 24 instructing her to report to Robb Elementary, she had no idea of the horror that awaited her. Armed with only a basic first aid kit filled mostly with Band Aids, Uriegas was called to the scene of one of the nation’s deadliest mass school shootings. Despite lacking the necessary training and preparation, she found herself in a pivotal role as the chaotic scene unfolded.
Upon arriving at the school with two other bus drivers who were transporting children to a nearby park for a field trip, Uriegas encountered a swarm of law enforcement officials and parents. The central office dispatcher who had requested her presence had mentioned an "emergency," but provided no further details.
Unable to approach the building through her usual route due to obstructions, Uriegas maneuvered her bus and discovered an alternate path. The other two school buses followed suit. It was only when another driver opened her door and asked a bystander about the situation that they learned of an active shooter inside Robb Elementary.
In the end, Uriegas’ bus served as an impromptu ambulance, transporting children with gunshot wounds to the hospital. She reflected, "We are not first responders, but in that moment, we became one."
Uriegas’ experience echoes the sentiments of many in Uvalde on that fateful day. The lack of a clear chain of command, chaos, and confusion about protocol hindered an effective response that could have potentially saved a few of the 19 children and two teachers who lost their lives at the hands of the lone gunman. Law enforcement officers took 77 minutes to storm the classroom where the shooter had barricaded himself with dying children and teachers.
Once the classroom was breached, officials were ill-equipped and lacked coordination to provide the necessary medical response. Although Uriegas managed to save lives, she became acutely aware of a significant flaw in the district’s school safety plan. "I could have been better prepared," she lamented, "but we were never trained."
Apart from speaking up at school board meetings to advocate for improved training, Uriegas kept her thoughts and emotions to herself. She understood that her experiences paled in comparison to the grief of parents who had lost their children and the survivors themselves.
However, when she encountered some family members of Jackie Cazares, the 9-year-old who tragically lost her life, they encouraged Uriegas to share her story as the bus driver. The families believed that the full extent of the mishandling and lack of preparedness needed to be made public.
As time passes and the weight of the holiday season shifts people’s attention away from the tragedy, Uriegas and the affected families refuse to let complacency take hold. They want Uvalde to remember its unpreparedness and not forget the magnitude of what occurred.
Therefore, Uriegas has resolved to share her story. When the buses arrived at Robb Elementary, those outside had no information about the situation inside. Parents were frantic during the agonizing hour they waited for law enforcement to take control.
For Uriegas, the true nightmare began once the shooting ended and children began evacuating. She recalled, "Once I laid eyes on those kids, everything changed." Tearful lines of children were directed toward other buses that would transport them to a reunification center. However, law enforcement approached Uriegas’ bus with a wounded student and informed her that more were on the way. The officer inquired about medical supplies, and Uriegas could only laugh at the memory of handing over her meager "Mickey Mouse" first aid kit, containing only Band Aids.
Outside, another officer desperately performed CPR on a child. Parents, alerted to the evacuation, embarked on a frantic search for their children. Some pounded on the windows of Uriegas’ bus, desperate to know if their kids were safe inside. Uriegas understood their instinctual concern and stated, "They wanted to see which children were there, which is completely understandable."
She is fortunate that her natural response was to remain calm, according to Bret Brooks, an instructor in international transportation safety. His company, Gray Ram Tactical, has provided emergency training to school bus drivers across the United States, including many in Texas. Brooks explains that in emergencies, our instincts take control.
Brooks emphasizes the need for specialized training for bus drivers, as their response in a school building is vastly different from their response when operating a moving vehicle on the highway. He also stresses the importance of equipping buses with necessary medical supplies, such as tourniquets, chest seals, and Quikclot gauze.
The role of bus drivers as first responders is evolving. Since 2015, Gray Ram has been collecting data that shows an increasing number of firearms used in school shootings are transported to schools via buses.
By training drivers to identify signs of potential violence or someone carrying a firearm, they can alert the school to be prepared. Unfortunately, bus drivers and the buses themselves are often overlooked as critical components of the education system by administrators, according to Brooks.
Uriegas, a bus driver, can relate to this lack of recognition. Despite playing a critical role on the tragic day, she felt unprepared and forgotten. She transported injured students to the hospital, including two boys whose names she knew, but not a little girl whose face she cannot recall, but whose screams will forever echo in her memory. She prayed as she drove the students and officers to the hospital.
After leaving the hospital, Uriegas returned the bus to the district depot. Usually, it is the drivers’ responsibility to clean their own buses, but upon seeing the blood inside, the crew insisted on taking care of it themselves. Uriegas was grateful, but not ready to call it a day. Just in case, she took another bus and returned to Robb.
She later learned that all the students she transported survived, which brings her some comfort as she tries to make sense of that fateful day. However, neither she nor the bus drivers who made multiple evacuation rounds, bringing traumatized students to the reunification center, received any counseling or support from the district. Despite a request for comment from , the district spokesperson did not respond.
Uriegas sought counseling through the Children’s Bereavement Center to help deal with the depression she has been experiencing, particularly during the holiday season. She admits that she has become more sensitive, and everything makes her tear up.
The memories of the tragedy are constantly with her, and terrifying moments resurface unexpectedly. Even at a Thanksgiving gathering with her family, the joyful sounds of children’s laughter reminded her of the screams of wounded children on the school bus.
Uriegas mentions that even a simple memory of her parents waking her and her siblings up on Christmas morning with a vinyl record of "Feliz Navidad" immediately made her think of the families and teachers at Robb. She believes this will be a sorrowful Christmas for them.