Mother speaks about saving her children from Uvalde gunman

It has been just over a month since the community of Uvalde experienced the tragedy of a gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary.

One Uvalde mother took matters into her own hands that afternoon when she heard gunshots while outside the elementary school.

Angeli Rose Gomez says she heard there was an active shooter and quickly rushed to the school, where her two young boys went.

It was just moments when she walked up to the school and was face-to-face with law enforcement when she heard gunshots, then children screaming inside. Gomez said law enforcement were not doing what she hoped, so she tried to get some parents to force some action to get law enforcement into the school.

Gomez said authorities were telling her if she did not cooperate then she would be handcuffed, she eventually was. She then told them she would cooperate and calm down just so she could be released.

"As soon as they [police] take me off the cuff I see his arm like, give me a little gateway, because I'm real little so a little gateway where I can just run."

Gomez said there was no doubt in her mind she would run into the school and save her children herself, which is what she planned to do.

Immediately, Gomez jumped a fence and began banging on a door window where she saw her oldest son's teacher. Gomez told her, "like you already have a gateway out, so might as well just come out like if I'm going to run out with him, y'all just come on too."

Within minutes Gomez is able to get her oldest son and some of his classmates out. But her youngest was still inside. She ran around the school desperately searching for his classroom.

"At this moment I'm jiggling the handle and I'm going pretty nuts like trying to get the door open and it's not gonna open, so I stand back and the cops are already on me and they're like "ma'am calm down!"

She tells them to evacuate the school or she won't leave her spot, "immediately they start evacuating that classroom and my son runs out to me and he's like, "mom, mom!""

"I just remember when my son saw my other son, one hugged the other one and said 'I'm so glad you're okay', and the other one said, 'I was so worried you weren't.'"

Gomez says wiping tears, "so it was a big thing because in that moment I was like, they're really happy to see each other, thank god to each other that they're alive."

Ever since that harrowing day, Gomez says she has faced scrutiny from law enforcement, even at her own home, "the other night we were exercising and we had a cop parked at the corner like, flickering us with his headlights."

Because of these incidents, Gomez said she has had to separate from her boys, "just so my sons don't feel like they have to watch cops passing by, stopping, parking."

Earlier on Saturday, Gomez went to Uvalde's Town Square to continue protesting with other members of the community. With signs in hands that read, "Fire Pete Arredondo," Gomez said she wants to see Arredondo gone without pay.

Her goal moving forward is to file a lawsuit. Her lawyer, who was sitting next to her during this interview, Mark Di Carlo, a criminal defense lawyer from Corpus Christi said, "the fact that he wasn't fired immediately based upon whatever it is, hours of video, from testimonies such as Angeli's; is an indication that there is some sort of what, corruption or wrong-doing."

Di Carlo told media that he is currently representing about 15 parents in the Uvalde community. When asked when lawsuits will be filed, he said he wants to focus on gathering evidence and information before rushing to filing lawsuits.