She Begged Him to Save the Kids. He Heard the Shots. He Stayed Outside.

Melody Flores spent 23 years taking care of children in Uvalde schools. Special needs kids. Behavioral kids. The ones who needed extra patience, extra attention, extra love. That was her job. That was her life.

On May 24, 2022, she heard the radio call about a shooter on campus. Standard protocol would have been to lock down, stay inside, wait it out. She didn't do that. She knew the schedule. She knew there might be kids outside. So she ran out.

She found fourth graders coming out of the south door of the building. She screamed at them to get back inside. They were confused at first, then they heard the shots and ran. She kept running toward that door, wanting to make sure it was locked.

She never made it.

At the corner by the AC units, she saw him. All black. Hoodie down. He raised his weapon and started shooting at her.

She ran. She looked back. He was still there, still shooting. She could see fire coming from the barrel. Then she was on the ground. She thought she'd been shot.

That's when the police car pulled up beside her.

She said it two, three times. She pointed at the building. She told him where the shooter was heading. The officer asked which building. She pointed again.

Shots kept firing. Both of them could hear it.

He paced back and forth. He never went in.

What the Defense Showed

Nico LaHood did what good defense attorneys do. He didn't attack her character. He praised her, actually, told her she was a special type of woman for dedicating her life to special needs kids. Then he methodically showed the jury that trauma distorts perception.

She described the police vehicle as plain white with no markings. It had UCISD Police logos.

She described the officer as wearing khaki pants, a white short-sleeve shirt, and having a full beard. Gonzales was in a dark uniform with no beard.

She thought the shooter had a handgun. It was a rifle.

She believed the shooter entered through the south door. He went west.

She didn't talk to investigators until May 31st, seven days later, after watching news coverage that whole time.

LaHood also pointed out something the prosecution might not love: Gonzales was the only officer who drove INTO the danger. Three other officers stopped further back. And at some point, according to her own statement to investigators, she saw the officer "move forward."

What the Prosecution Landed

On redirect, the state's attorney asked the question that matters: Could you hear the shots?

Yes.

Could the officer hear the shots?

Yes. He radioed "shots fired, shots fired" on dispatch. He heard them himself. He didn't need her to tell him.

And he stayed outside.

The Real Question

Her perception was distorted. Fine. That's what trauma does. She got the vehicle wrong, the uniform wrong, the weapon wrong, the entry point wrong.

But here's what she got right: She ran toward gunfire to save children. An unarmed school aide with 23 years of caring for kids did what no training manual told her to do. She acted.

The armed officer who showed up beside her? He paced.

That's not about her perception. That's about his choice.

▶️ WATCH NOW "Go Stop Him" - Witness Tells Jury Officer Heard Shots and Stayed Outside

The trial continues. More witnesses to come. But today, a jury in Corpus Christi heard what it sounds like when someone begs a cop to save children, and the cop doesn't move.

Watch it. Form your own opinion. That's what we do here.