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

Jacob Albarado was in his barber's chair when each men acquired text messages in regards to the capturing unfolding at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, final week. "There's an active shooter. Help. Love you," Albarado's spouse Trisha mentioned in three messages at 11:41 a.m.

She's a fourth grade teacher at the college, and their daughter is a scholar there.

"I requested my barber if he had a gun," Albarado, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent, advised CBS News on Wednesday. He had attended an awards ceremony on the college earlier that morning and was off obligation, together with his weapon at home.

The barber did have a gun. Albarado took it, a shotgun, and they rushed to the chaotic scene. Police officers were already there, and Albarado began helping.

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

With individuals fleeing to a funeral dwelling throughout the road, Albarado said he wanted to get inside the school as quick as he might.

"I used to be appearing as a husband and a father," he mentioned.

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

"I didn't know what restroom," Albarado said.

He finally realized his daughter was in a restroom located inside her classroom. Albarado met up with two officers close to the classroom.

"We need to get the kids out of here," Albarado said he told the officers. "… The shooter's over there. We need to get the kids out. That is our time."

The officers began opening classroom doorways, and Albarado mentioned he guided individuals to security.

"First classroom, second classroom, third classroom, noticed my daughter," Albarado mentioned. "Aid. Big aid."

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

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

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

During a press conference last week, the top of the Texas Department of Public Security said the varsity district's police chief did not initially send officers into the classroom where the gunman was located as a result of he thought it was now not an active-shooter state of affairs. The U.S. Justice Department is conducting a evaluate of the police response.

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

"I know my fellow officers," he said, "and … to me, heart of hearts, I believe they have been doing everything in their power they might do."

Alex Sundby is a senior editor for CBSNews.com