POPE LEO XIV
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Jacob Albarado was sitting in the barber's chair when he received a chilling text from his wife, a teacher at Robb elementary:
The off-duty border patrol agent received a horrific message mid haircut, and he swiftly reacted.
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"There’s an active shooter. Help. Love you."
His daughter, an 8-year-old second grader, Jayda, is also a student at the school.
Straight away the father and husband, and off-duty border patrol officer, dropped everything to rescue his family. The barber handed him a gun he had stashed in his shop and the two men headed to the school.
Albarado described the scene in front of the school as "chaos" to Today. “Everyone was trying to get to the school. People were trying to get everything situated. I was just trying to get towards my wife’s room and my daughter’s room."
Thankfully, because he is well-known in his community, the anxious dad was able to make his way through all the security forces gathered in front of the school.
Once there, he led children to safety and managed to find both his wife, who was hiding under a desk, and his daughter, who was locked in a bathroom. Even though the pair were safe from the shooter, Albarado continued to help the officers to get the rest of the kids to safety.
"I could just see kids coming out of the windows and kids coming my way, so I was just helping all the kids out," he explained to Today. "I was trying to just keep them as calm as I could as they were evacuating."
Although Albarado's job may have trained him for dealing with hostile situations, there's no doubt that the love of his wife and daughter, helped give him the strength and courage to run to their rescue.
