Despair turned into heartbreaking grief for the families of murdered elementary school students after an 18-year-old gunman barricaded himself in the Texas classroom and started firing, killing 19 children and their two teachers.
On Wednesday morning, many faced the sad reality of unimaginable horror as the names of the young victims of Tuesday’s shooting at Robb Elementary School in the southwestern city of Uvalde began to emerge.
Among them were relatives of 10-year-old Eliahna Garcia, who learned Tuesday afternoon that she was among those killed, said her aunt, Syria Arizmemdi.
“She was very happy and very outgoing,” said Arizmendi, a fifth-grader at Flores Elementary School in the same school district.
“He loved to dance and play sports. He was very familiar, he enjoyed being with his family.”
This undated photo provided by Syria Arizmendi shows his 10-year-old niece, Eliahna Garcia. Garcia was among those killed in Tuesday’s shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. (Syria Arizmendi / The Associated Press)
The kids were all in the same class
Veronica Luevanos, whose 10-year-old daughter Jaliah Nicole Silguero was among the victims, said in tears to Univision that her daughter did not want to go to school on Tuesday and that the girl seemed to intuit that something would happen . Jaliah’s cousin also died in the shooting.
All of the dead were in the same fourth-grade classroom, where the shooter barricaded himself and opened fire on children and teachers, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told a news conference Wednesday. He said the gunman used a gun and posted on Facebook shortly before the shooting: “I’m going to shoot at an elementary school.”
Superintendent of Schools Hal Harrell fought back tears as he talked about the children and their teachers.
“You can only tell by their angelic smiles that they were loved,” Harrell said of the children. “That they liked coming to school, that they were just beautiful people.”
The two teachers “poured heart and soul” into their work, he said.
Vincent Salazar’s 10-year-old daughter, Layla, was among those killed. He loved swimming and dancing with videos on TikTok, his father said. An avid runner, she won six races on the school field day, and Salazar proudly posted a photo of Layla showing two of her tapes on Facebook.
Every morning as he drove her to school in his van, Salazar performed Sweet Child O ‘Mine, by Guns’ n’ Roses, and they sang, he said. I was excited to see Marvel’s new movie, Thor: Love and Thunder.
“She was a lot of fun,” he said.
‘The sweetest boy’
Manny Renfro said he learned Tuesday that his 8-year-old grandson, Uziyah Garcia, was among those killed.
“The sweetest kid I’ve ever met,” Renfro said. “I don’t say that just because he was my grandson.”
Renfro said Uziyah last visited him in San Angelo during the spring break. “We started throwing football together and I was teaching him passing patterns. A kid so fast and he could catch a ball so well,” Renfro said. “There were certain plays that I would call that he would remember and that he would do exactly as we practiced.”
This March 2022 photo provided by Manny Renfro shows his grandson, Uziyah Garcia, while on spring break in San Angelo, Texas. The 8-year-old was also killed on Tuesday. (Manny Renfro / The Associated Press)
Lisa Garza, 54, of Arlington, Texas, mourned the death of her 10-year-old cousin, Xavier Javier López, who had been looking forward to a summer of swimming.
“He was just a loving boy … who just enjoyed life, not knowing that this tragedy would happen,” he said. “He was very bubbly, he loved to dance with his siblings, his mother. That just took its toll on us all.”
He also lamented what he described as lax gun laws.
“We should have more restrictions, especially if these children are not in the right mood and all they want to do is hurt people, especially innocent children who go to school,” Garza said.
Arizmendi also spoke angrily, in tears, about how the shooter managed to get a gun.
“It’s hard to understand or put it into words,” he said. “I don’t know how people can sell this kind of weapon to an 18-year-old boy. What will he use it for but this purpose?”
The teacher was also a mother
The murdered fourth-year ESO teacher, Eva Mireles, 44, was remembered as a loving mother and wife. “She was an adventurer … She will definitely miss her,” said Amber Ybarra, 34, of San Antonio.
While Ybarra was preparing to donate blood to the wounded, he wondered how no one noticed problems with the shooter in time to stop him.
“For me, it’s more about raising awareness about mental health,” said Ybarra, a wellness coach who attended Robb Elementary. “Someone might have seen a dramatic change before something like this happened.”
In a post on the school’s website at the beginning of the school year, Mireles introduced herself to her new students.
“Welcome to 4th grade! We have a wonderful year ahead!” he wrote, noting that he had been teaching for 17 years, loved to run and hike, and had a “supportive, fun, and loving family.” She mentioned that her husband was a school district police officer and that they had an older daughter and three “furry friends.”
‘She is gone’
In the hours following the shooting, pictures of smiling children were posted on social media, with their families asking for information. During the school year the classes were coming to an end and each school day had a theme. Tuesday was Footloose and Fancy, and students had to wear a nice dress with fun or stylish shoes.
At a civic center where desperate relatives had gathered to receive news on Tuesday afternoon, a man left sobbing on his phone: “She’s gone.” Behind the building, a woman was alone, crying and shouting alternately on her phone, shaking her fist and slapping her feet.
Even for the survivors, there was mourning.
Lorena Auguste was a substitute teacher at Uvalde High School when she learned about the shooting. He began sending frantic text messages to his niece, a fourth-grader at Robb Elementary, until Auguste learned from his sister that the boy was fine.
Auguste said his niece asked him that night, “Auntie, why did they do this to us? We’re good kids, we didn’t do anything wrong.”
Hillcrest Memorial Funeral Home, located in front of Robb Elementary School, said in a Facebook post that it would help the families of the victims of the shooting at no cost to the funeral.