UVALDE, Texas — It’s been six weeks since the shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde.
Hundreds of people still gather at the school to remember the 21 innocent lives lost.
It’s where Angeli Gomez made a split-second decision to save her kids from a gunman.
A decision she says has led to harassment and threats by Uvalde Police.
Gomez is a farm worker and was working in the fields when the school came under attack.
”I just run off the fields and get in my car and I’m going about 100 miles per hour and I have my flashing lights,” said Gomez.
She was hysterical when she arrived and wanted to go in immediately but she says was ordered by an officer to get back.
”He says, 'you are very close' and I said 'I don’t need you to protect me. I don’t need your protection, what you need to do is go and protect my kids who are in there,'” said Gomez.
She says she could hear the children and the gunman.
”I just kept hearing the gunfire and it kept going and you could hear the kids screaming from the cafeteria. Kids screaming in the classrooms,” said Gomez.
Gomez says she and other parents were frustrated police were standing around doing nothing.
”So, I’m standing there and I started telling the parents to come on if we all go in there they can’t stop us all.”
She says they not only stopped her but handcuffed her and tackled some parents to the ground.
”I thought why are you doing this to us and y'all can’t even go in there to do it to the shooter.”
She says after a few minutes she did calm down and officers uncuffed her that’s when she ran, hopped a nearby fence and ran inside.
“I mean it was really risky what I did but at that moment you don’t think it’s just your mind goes blank and you just go in there to do what you are going to do," said Gomez.
Gomez says she first ran to one of her son’s classrooms and got the teacher to open the door and then help lead the entire class out of the school.
”I said they’re already coming in for me so might as well take everyone out so she’s like OK and she’s getting the kids and saying come on guys we are going to go.”
But, Angeli says she wasn’t done. Her other son was still inside. She was terrified and could still hear gunfire in the distance.
”So, I kind of got on one knee and I kind of said a prayer real because I could hear the kids screaming 'I want my mom,' coming from the cafeteria, 'I want my mom.'”
She says she made it to her other son’s room and managed to get him and one of his friends out. She says a resident shot video of her running from the school and gave it to her. It shows her and the two boys running into the parking lot, her son breaking down into tears.
"So, we run out and so when I’m running out with them I see the cops were chasing and coming for me," Gomez said.
Gomez's attorney Domingo Garcia says she acted with more heroism than most of the officers who responded that day.
"It’s a sad statement that these police officers are willing to arrest parents who are just trying to save their children as opposed to going after an active shooter who at that time was still shooting students and killing teachers and they did nothing,” said Garcia.
Weeks after the shooting Angeli says she’s still being threatened with arrest. She claims she’s been watched by Uvalde Police in marked cars. Uvalde Police have not responded to requests for comment.
“I’ve had a car parked here while me and my grandmother are exercising flickering his headlights. I don’t know what he is doing, he’s just there,” said Gomez.
She says they’re angry with her for ignoring their orders.
“They said they could arrest me for tampering with an open investigation of an active shooter.”
Her attorney says it’s intimidation and a form of small-town justice.
“I think she has been a victim of terrible injustice and frankly intimidation with people under the badge for telling the truth and her story of trying to save her kids,” said Garcia.
Angeli wants Police Chief Pete Arredondo fired and held accountable.
He was the presumed incident commander that day.
Uvalde police have not responded to repeated requests for comment on Anglei’s case to WFAA or her attorney.
She hopes by speaking out, it will protect her from future retaliation.