Through the Uvalde taking pictures, an off-duty federal agent’s spouse texted him for assist. “I asked my barber if he had a gun,” he mentioned.

Jacob Albarado was in his barber's chair when both males received textual content messages concerning the capturing unfolding at Robb Elementary Faculty in Uvalde, Texas, last week. "There's an energetic shooter. Help. Love you," Albarado's wife Trisha said in three messages at 11:41 a.m.

She's a fourth grade instructor at the faculty, and their daughter is a pupil there.

"I asked my barber if he had a gun," Albarado, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent, informed CBS Information on Wednesday. He had attended an awards ceremony at the school earlier that morning and was off responsibility, with his weapon at residence.

The barber did have a gun. Albarado took it, a shotgun, and so they rushed to the chaotic scene. Law enforcement officials were already there, and Albarado started helping.

"Children are popping out the windows," he mentioned.

With folks fleeing to a funeral dwelling across the street, Albarado said he wished to get inside the varsity as quick as he could.

"I was performing as a husband and a father," he mentioned.

His wife let him know she made it to the funeral house, however she told him their daughter was locked in a faculty restroom.

"I did not know what restroom," Albarado said.

He ultimately learned his daughter was in a restroom situated inside her classroom. Albarado met up with two officers near the classroom.

"We have to get the children out of right here," Albarado stated he advised the officers. "… The shooter's over there. We have to get the youngsters out. That is our time."

The officers began opening classroom doors, and Albarado said he guided people to safety.

"First classroom, second classroom, third classroom, saw my daughter," Albarado said. "Relief. Large reduction."

He hugged and kissed her, and shortly she was heading to the varsity parking zone.

While Border Patrol brokers had been on the crew that breached the classroom the place the gunman was holed up, Albarado wasn't in that group.

"I did not have my gear, and so it wouldn't have been a smart decision for me to get into the building," he stated. "I didn't have my vest. A shotgun's not a adequate protection."

Throughout a press conference final week, the pinnacle of the Texas Department of Public Safety stated the school district's police chief did not initially send officers into the classroom where the gunman was situated as a result of he thought it was now not an active-shooter scenario. The U.S. Justice Department is conducting a overview of the police response.

For his part, Albarado mentioned he wasn't in a position to evaluate the response.

"I know my fellow officers," he stated, "and … to me, coronary heart of hearts, I consider they have been doing all the pieces of their energy they may do."

Alex Sundby is a senior editor for CBSNews.com