Uvalde pediatrician recalls mass shooting horror
Dr. Roy Guerrero, the only pediatrician in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 schoolchildren and two teachers were killed by a gunman on May 24, discussed the shooting, his thoughts on the Second Amendment and his testimony Wednesday before Congress in an exclusive interview with ABC News.
Guerrero lost five of his young patients in the shooting, two of which he knew since they were 5 days old. Now “they’re gone,” he said.
The doctor traveled with one of his patients who survived the shooting, 11-year-old Miah Cerrillo, on the 3,000-mile trip from Uvalde to Washington, D.C., who also testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on Gun Violence.
Two weeks ago, Miah survived the shooting by wiping the blood of her dead classmates on herself and playing dead. She was treated for shrapnel injuries at the hospital within hours of the shooting.
“I believe in everyone’s right to bear arms,” Guerrero told “Nightline.” “But my question is: Does anyone have the right to bear this type of arm? Assault weapons?”
Guerrero, who grew up in Uvalde hunting with his father, a ranch foreman, questioned whether people have a right to weapons that are made to destroy and kill and meant for war.
“There’s no need for anyone to have assault weapons,” said Guerrero, as he spoke of witnessing the wounds suffered by the children following the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School, which Guerrero attended as a child.
After finishing medical school, Guerrero moved back to Uvalde to set up his pediatric clinic on the back side of his home. He had promised his mother that he would serve the tight-knit community.
“I had that dream, right, always that little boy dream. I’m going to be a doctor, I'm gonna come home and take care of people,” said Guerrero.
In line with still serving his community, Guerrero said he didn’t think twice about whether or not he wanted to testify. He said it was his obligation as a physician.
“As we say in the Hippocratic Oath to do no harm and I feel doing nothing is being neglectful to that oath,” said Guerrero. “No one's prepared for this. No one ever wants to see this. But I think in a way, you're also destined to help the families that you've known for so long to get through this.”
