The widower of a Texas elementary school teacher killed in a shooting has died of a heart attack just days after his wife was killed.
Joe Garcia, Irma Garcia’s husband, suffered a fatal heart attack on Thursday, two days after the death of his wife in a shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, confirmed the nephew of the couple, John Martinez, and a close family friend. .
The couple, who had known each other since eighth grade, were due to celebrate their 25th birthday this year, the family said.
Irma Garcia was a fourth-grade teacher who had been in school for 23 years, according to the website of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District.
Irma Garcia, a 4th grade teacher at Robb Elementary, was killed in a school shooting on May 24, 2022 in Uvalde, Texas.
Uvalde CISD
“I love having a barbecue with my husband, listening to music, and doing country cruises in Concan,” Garcia appeared to have written on the school district’s website.
Irma Garcia also spent five years co-teaching with Eva Mireles, the other teacher who died in the attack, in the same classroom.
The two teachers were among 19 other children, mostly third and fourth graders, who were shot dead on Tuesday when alleged gunman Salvador Ramos opened fire on the classroom.
Crosses in the name of the victims of a school shooting, are shown in a monument outside Robb Elementary School, after a gunman killed nineteen children and two teachers, in Uvalde, United States, on May 26 of 2022.
Marco Bello / Reuters
Ramos allegedly used an AR-15-style rifle to carry out the second-worst school shooting in U.S. history, just days after turning 18 and buying two firearms. Another 17 people, including three law enforcement officers, were injured.
Ramos was killed after exchanging gunfire with law enforcement officers who responded to the school.
Alondra Valle of ABC News contributed to this report.