'Horrifying experience': 10-year-old boy recounts hiding during deadly Texas school shooting

A 10-year-old boy in a classroom just down the hallway from the room where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday said the experience of hiding during the shooting was “terrifying.”

Jayden Perez told CTV News' Merella Fernandez that when his class heard gunshots coming from down the hall, his teacher immediately locked their door and told them to hide and stay quiet.

“Five of us were hiding where we hang our backpacks, and the rest hid under a table,” he said, adding that he was scared.

“After a while the gunshots stopped. And then we heard gunshots again, and then they stopped completely.”

• 10-year-old boy recounts 'horrifying experience'
• WATCH: Merella Fernandez on families coping with loss in Texas

What they didn’t know at the time was that an 18-year-old had entered a classroom at Robb Elementary and killed two teachers and 19 children, most of them the same age as Jayden.

He said that his class was only able to get out of the school when police broke the windows, allowing them to climb out.

"It was a horrifying experience," he said. "Terrifying."

He mentioned that he had known one of the children killed in the shooting.

“He’s a good drawer,” he said. “He liked to draw Pokemon and anime. It was very good.

“I’m just sad that some of my friends didn’t make it.”

Police are facing scrutiny for their actions during the shooting, with parents and officials questioning why the shooter was in the school for more than 40 minutes before police finally entered the building and shot him.