Shola Lee
A devoted mum shared her 'terrifying reality' as she taught her five-year-old what to do in an active shooter situation.
Cassie Walton, from Oklahoma, took her son Weston through the drill using his Spider-Man bulletproof backpack.
Unfortunately, more parents like Cassie are buying bulletproof backpacks and prepping their kids in the wake of horrific mass shootings like the one at Robb Elementary School, in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two adults died.
You can watch it here:
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Speaking in the clip, which she shared to TikTok, Cassie says to her son: "A call over the intercom says 'this is not a drill, everybody go in the corner and be really quiet and still’ – what do you do?"
Weston follows her directions, sitting in the corner and staying quiet, as his mum goes on to say: "Now show me how you use your bulletproof backpack."
The small boy holds up his Spider-Man backpack and covers his head and torso.
Cassie asks him a follow-up question: "If your teacher says, ‘Weston, you don’t need your backpack, let’s get in the corner’?"
Weston responds telling mum that he'd say: "No, I need it, it’s bulletproof."
As the video continues, Weston runs through more drills, following prompts from Cassie.
At one point she asks: "If the police are outside the door but the shooter is in your room, and they call out, ‘is anybody in there?’, what do you do?"
Weston responds by saying 'I'm here' but his mother quickly stops him, saying: "Absolutely not. You don’t say a word."
The video has since garnered 1.3 million views on TikTok, with one user writing: "Best advice she had… ‘run as far away from the school as you can run'."
While another said: "This is terrifying but it’s our reality AND IT SHOULDNT Be!"
While another said: "This made me cry."
Cassie's video, particularly her comments about the police, has a chilling resonance in the aftermath of the Uvalde shooting.
Police officers admitted that they made the 'wrong decision' by not storming the Robb Elementary School sooner.
According to Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, gunman Salvador Ramos crashed his car near the school at about 11.30 am local time and entered the building shortly after.
However, it was not until 12.51pm that the tactical unit breached the door to enter and eventually kill him.
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