Days after 19 students were killed by a gunman at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde city of Texas, it has come to light that the father of a deceased child was a first responder of the incident.
Angel Garza, a trained medic, had rushed to help emergency services who were rescuing survivors from the school building. He recounted how he learnt about the death of his 10-year-old daughter Amerie Garza in the dastardly attack.
While speaking to CNN, Angel said, “When I arrived on the scene, they still had kids inside. They started bringing the kids out and I was aiding assistance. This one little girl was covered in blood from head to toe. I thought she was injured, I asked her what was wrong. She was hysterical, saying they killed her best friend. I asked her the name and she said Amerie.”
Angel Garza, whose ten year old daughter Amerie was murdered, holding her photo to his heart:
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) May 26, 2022
“How do you look at this girl and shoot her? Oh, my baby. How do you shoot my baby?” pic.twitter.com/TKGDp81Pze
He broke down in tears while speaking about his personal tragedy. While clutching a picture of his daughter in hand, he inquired, “How do you look at this girl and shoot her, my baby?”
Angel Garza informed that his deceased daughter Amerie tried calling 911 when gunman Salvador Ramos had barged into the classroom. “She was just trying to do the right thing, she was trying to call the cops.”
Amerie had received her phone as a present for her 10th birthday. “She was so sweet, the sweetest little girl who did nothing wrong,” Angel Garza lamented.
In a Facebook post, the mother of Amerie, Kimberly Garcia, wrote, “You did not deserve this my sweet baby girl. Mommy loves you, mommy can’t sleep without you. Mommy needs you, Amerie I can’t do this life without you. How am I supposed to live life without you? I will never understand. I love you and I’ll never be the same, ever again.”
Angel and Kimberly are now consoling their young son, who is distraught by the untimely death of her beloved sister. ‘We informed him that his sister is with God and that she will no longer be with us and of course, he just cried,’ Kimberly said.
Texas school shooting
More than 500 students, mostly Hispanic and economically disadvantaged, study at Robb Elementary school from second through fourth grade. The killings came on the day when students were preparing to start their summer break.
The gunman was identified as an 18-year-old man who had attended a nearby high school. The shooter reportedly abandoned his vehicle and entered the school with a handgun and assault rifle. The teenager had shot his own grandmother before going on a killing spree at the school.
The gunman was neutralised by the police officers, the officials said, adding 3 more adults were also killed in the attack. The CCTV footage showed that small groups of children were being rescued through parked cars and yellow buses, even some holding hands as police escorted them from the school.
The latest attack on the Texas school is one of the deadliest attacks since the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed.
