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

Jacob Albarado was in his barber's chair when both men obtained text messages concerning the shooting unfolding at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, last week. "There's an active shooter. Assist. Love you," Albarado's wife Trisha mentioned in three messages at 11:41 a.m.

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

"I asked my barber if he had a gun," Albarado, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent, told CBS Information on Wednesday. He had attended an awards ceremony on the college earlier that morning and was off responsibility, with his weapon at residence.

The barber did have a gun. Albarado took it, a shotgun, and so they rushed to the chaotic scene. Law enforcement officials have been already there, and Albarado started serving to.

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

With folks fleeing to a funeral residence throughout the road, Albarado stated he wished to get inside the school as quick as he may.

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

His wife let him know she made it to the funeral home, however she advised him their daughter was locked in a school restroom.

"I did not know what restroom," Albarado mentioned.

He eventually learned his daughter was in a restroom located inside her classroom. Albarado met up with two officers near the classroom.

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

The officers started opening classroom doorways, and Albarado stated he guided folks to safety.

"First classroom, second classroom, third classroom, noticed my daughter," Albarado said. "Aid. Huge aid."

He hugged and kissed her, and soon she was heading to the varsity parking lot.

While Border Patrol brokers were on the staff that breached the classroom the place the gunman was holed up, Albarado wasn't in that group.

"I did not have my gear, and so it would not have been a good move for me to get into the constructing," he stated. "I did not have my vest. A shotgun's not a ok defense."

During a press convention last week, the pinnacle of the Texas Department of Public Safety stated the varsity district's police chief did not initially send officers into the classroom where the gunman was located because he thought it was not an active-shooter situation. The U.S. Justice Department is conducting a overview of the police response.

For his part, Albarado stated he wasn't able to assess the response.

"I know my fellow officers," he mentioned, "and … to me, heart of hearts, I consider they had been doing every part in their energy they might do."

Alex Sundby is a senior editor for CBSNews.com