Uvalde school shooting survivors Miah Cerrillo & Khloie Torres awarded for courage
GRAPEVINE (CBSNewsTexas.com) - Showing immense courage and character, two Uvalde school shooting survivors – Miah Cerrillo and Khloie Torres – received 911 Youth Hero awards in Grapevine.
Both children survived the May 24, 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School where 19 of their classmates and two teachers were murdered.
Cerrillo smeared herself in blood during the attack, grabbing her teacher's phone amid the chaos to call 911. She would later testify by video, in June 2022 before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Cerrillo told lawmakers her class was watching a movie when her teacher received an alert. The teacher quickly locked the classroom door, making eye contact with the shooter as he walked down the hallway. Cerrillo described the terror she and her classmates felt as they hid behind their teacher's desk and backpacks. The gunman eventually came into Cerrillo's classroom, and she witnessed him say "good night" to her teacher before shooting her in the head. He then took aim at the children.
Torres and her best friend, Amerie Jo Garza also picked up their teacher's cell phone to call for help. The fourth grader suffered shrapnel wounds and Garza was fatally shot in her attempt. The organization recognized Garza posthumously during the ceremony at the Gaylord Texan.
Torres called 911 operator Jeanna Santellanes twice while trapped inside Room 112 with the gunman for 77 minutes.
"Please hurry. There's a lot of dead bodies," she told Santellanes. "Some of my teachers are still alive but they're shot."
"You need to tell them that they need to be quiet," Santellanes advised.
"I am. I am. I'm telling everybody to be quiet and now nobody's listening to me. I know how to handle these situations," Torres whispered.
911 for Kids' Global Chairman and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown and his wife, Sherice, recognized Cerillo, Torres, Garza and Santellanes.