UVALDE, Texas — It's a parents' worst nightmare: An active shooter at their child's school with 19 children and two adults dead.
Hours after many parents from Robb Elementary School in Uvalde first learned about Tuesday's mass shooting, they were still waiting to learn if their children are okay.
The frantic parents went from the school to the hospital to the civic center and no one can tell them what happened to their child.
Late Thursday, they began swabbing the parents for DNA at the civic center.
Jessie Rodriguez was there Tuesday evening still searching for his 10-year-old daughter Annabelle Guadalupe Rodriguez.
"They don't know where she's at..., her name is not here," Rodriguez said. "They're not letting us in at the hospital right now so we don't know where to go."
He said the hospital turned them away and the civic center had no answers either.
They gave Annabelle's name to a Texas Ranger and showed him her picture. He promised to call if he learned anything.
Jessie later learned his daughter was one of the 19 students killed in the mass shooting, along with her cousin who was in the same classroom.
Federico Torres was at the civic center trying to find his son. He said 10-year-old Rogelio was in Mr. Reyes' class.
Robb Elementary School has an enrollment of just under 600 students, and it has students in the second, third and fourth grades. This was the school's last week of classes before summer break.
“My heart is broken today,” said Hal Harrell, superintendent of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District. “We’re a small community and we’re going to need your prayers to get through this."
He said the school will be closed and all school activities will be canceled until further notice. Harrell also said grief counselors would be available starting Wednesday morning.