SAN ANTONIO — Isidro Corpus usually spends his weekdays taking care of his plantas (plants) or working on his house in Uvalde, Texas.
“Este es mango, mira (look it’s mango)” Corpus said pointing to his lawn.
He spent May 24 waiting in his front yard hoping that his great grandchild would be okay when he heard about the mass shooting at Robb Elementary, which is only three minutes away from his casita.
“Like I said, I was working here on my house and I could hear the shots. I thought they were from a mechanical shop, but no, they were gun shots,” Corpus said.
His great grandson goes to another Uvalde elementary school just six minutes aways from Robb, where they went on lockdown.
So Corpus was glued to his phone, hoping that the shooter wouldn’t make it to his great grandson’s school.
He received calls all afternoon from friends and family checking on him.
“Cuidate mucho (take care of yourself),” Corpus said on the phone.
Corpus is a gun owner himself and supports the right to bear arms, but he doesn’t support giving 18-year-olds access to weapons like an AR-15.
“He’s a young man and the stores should not sell them weapons and ammunition because they are not going to use it walking around saving someone's life. They are going to do what they want to do,” Corpus says.
Corpus kept himself occupied and waited until he got the call that his bisnieto (great grandson) was safe and sound. However, he couldn’t help think about the 21 lives taken at Robb Elementary.
“We are also sad this afternoon, for all of kids who passed away and the teacher...I’m very worried right now,” Corpus said.