(NewsNation)—The children that attend Child’s Day Care less than a mile from Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, are like “my babies” to day care cook Carrie Perez.

When news of an active shooter at Robb Elementary School reached the day care at 11:40 a.m. Tuesday, Perez and the rest of the staff sprang into action to keep the children in their care safe.

“We did go into lockdown mode, we followed state-mandated guidelines as we always do to ensure the safety of our staff and especially the children in our care,” Perez said. “We basically just locked all our doors, kept the children safe away from the windows.”

Fear gripped the facility as information about what was happening at Robb Elementary School poured in. But the staff did not falter.

“We weren’t discussing anything in front of the children as far as what was going on,” Perez said. “Our main focus was just keeping the kids safe. We didn’t know if there was another shooter. “There was so much information coming in from so many different places that we just didn’t know, so we just went on lockdown mode.”

Students who attended Robb Elementary, some of whom also attend Child’s Day Care after school, are getting counseling through the Civic Center in Uvalde.

“A lot of our students, they lost loved ones in the shooting,” Perez said. “We have a staff member, her son attended Robb. At this time, I can say that he is physically OK, but he is mentally shaken. So he will find some more counseling.”