Fourth grade teacher Mercedes Salas’ love for teaching has continued at Legacy Elementary. She’s hoping her book helps others who may be struggling.
UVALDE, Texas — Four years after surviving the shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, fourth grade teacher Mercedes Salas has navigated trauma through the power of faith.
She’s now hoping to positively impact others by telling her story through a book titled “77 Minutes: A Story About Surviving Through Faith.”
Salas testified during the January 2026 trial of Adrian Gonzales, the former Uvalde CISD police officer who ultimately was acquitted on charges of child endangerment tied to his response to the shooting.
She recalled the horror of that tragic day on May 24, 2022, when a gunman entered Robb Elementary, killing 19 children and two teachers. Nearly 400 law enforcement officers responded to the school, and after more than an hour, the teen gunman was killed.
“Before the gunshots started going off, I heard pounding like as if someone was pounding at my door. And then I thought someone was trying to get in my room, so I started praying,” Salas said while on the stand.
“It was very painful testifying,” Salas said during a interview with KENS 5.
Hearing the gunshots
The memories remain vivid.
On the morning of the shooting, Salas said her fourth grade class in room 106 was watching the movie “Zootopia” when she suddenly heard what sounded like gunfire.
“One of my students heard the gunshots just like me and he locked eyes with me and whispered ‘gunshots?’” Salas said. “And I just nodded just to him, yes.”
As the sounds grew closer, Salas immediately locked her classroom door and directed her students to the floor.
“I saw one of my kiddos standing, and I asked him, ‘Why are you standing, you need to get down on the floor,’” she said. “We both went down at the same time. That’s when I heard a gunshot in the hallway.”
Across the hall were classrooms 111 and 112.
“I heard a lot of gunshots that followed those screams,” Salas said.
But she said the silence afterward was even more haunting.
“The worst part was the silence,” she said. “If I hear noises, I know people are okay, but silence tells me something different.”
Amid the terror and feelings of uncertainty, Salas leaned on her faith and encouraged her students to pray.
“God hears you when you pray,” Salas said, recalling lessons from her mother. “And God hears you even more when there’s more people praying. And that’s why I asked my kids to pray as well.”
Salas said after 40 minutes, law enforcement reached Salas’ classroom from outside the building, breaking windows to evacuate students.
Salas helped each child climb out safely before leaving herself, even after accidentally cutting herself during the chaos.
“They’re (law enforcement) yelling at me, ‘ma’am, you gotta go,’” Salas said. “And I said, ‘No, no you need to wait. I need to make sure none of my kids stayed behind.’”
‘Through faith, through God’
Since the shooting, Salsas has walked a path of recovery with the assistance of the Children’s Bereavement Center of South Texas, which opened a permanent facility in Uvalde in 2023.
Salas said her counselor encouraged her to journal. It was through Salas’ writing and faith-filled convictions instilled by family that helped her emerge from the darkness and write a book.
“I said I went to hell and I came out,” Salas said. “It was very hard to come out but I managed through faith, through God.”
Salas’ love for teaching never disappeared after that dark day at Robb Elementary. She’s teaching fourth grade at Legacy Elementary, which opened in October 2025; a school that includes tributes to the 21 victims.
While comforted by her students and colleagues, she hopes sharing her story can help others battling their own challenges in life.
“Everybody goes through struggles in everyday life, and sometimes we feel we are drowning and no one can understand us,” Salas said. “I am praying that the book helps and in some way heals whatever it is they may be going through.”
Learn more here about Mercedes Salas and her book.