Texas School Shooting: Grandmother Mourns 10-Year-Old Granddaughter Killed While Calling 911
- A mass shooting at an elementary school in Texas, USA, on Tuesday 24 May left at least 19 children and two adults dead
- Among them was Amerie Jo Garza, who was shot for trying to call 911 after an 18-year-old shooter stormed their school, as explained by her grandmother
- Garza, who was 10 years old and was sitting in class next to her best friend, died on the spot as per what authorities told her grandmother
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Among the 21 victims of the Tuesday 24 May shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in the US, was a 10-year-old girl who was killed while calling 911.
Source: UGC
Amerie Jo Garza's grandmother, Berlinda Irene Arreola, said her granddaughter was a fourth-grader at the elementary school where 19 learners and two adults were killed in a mass shooting.
Arreola told The Daily Beast that her granddaughter was sitting in her classroom when the gunman, identified as an 18-year-old male resident, came in.
"So the gunman went in and he told the children, 'You're going to die,'" Arreola told The Daily Beast.
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"And she had her phone and she called 911. And instead of grabbing it and breaking it or taking it from her, he shot her," added the heartbroken grandmother
The woman's granddaughter died on the spot
Authorities told Arreola that her brave granddaughter had died on the spot. Garza's best friend, who was sitting next to her, was covered in her blood, Arreola said.
The friend's condition is not known.
According to the grandmother, her granddaughter was shot and killed for trying to call 911, adding that she died a hero trying to get help for her and her classmates.
Arreola described her granddaughter as a teacher's pet who was super-outgoing and looked forward to making a life for herself.
Garza had just received her award for the elementary school's honour roll on the morning of the shooting.
Gunman kills 21 in Texas elementary school
Tuesday's attack was the deadliest elementary school shooting since the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in 2012, which killed 20 children and six adults.
The shooting suspect was shot dead by law enforcement at the scene, the Associated Press reported.
Police said two military-style rifles were used in the attack, the outlet reported.
Texas school shooting: Mother attended award ceremony for son hours before he was shot and killed
In an earlier publication, Briefly News reported one of the students who was killed in the mass shooting at the school was identified as 10-year-old Xavier Lopez. Eighteen-year-old Salvador Ramos stormed the school in Texas and opened fire in the classrooms, killing and leaving others in critical condition. Ramos had first shot his 66-year-old grandmother and left her in a critical condition before invading the school where all hell broke loose.
Lopez's mother had just been at his awards ceremony a few hours before he was killed and didn't know it would be the last time she would see him. According to the fourth grader's cousin, Xavier’s mom was at his awards ceremony 1-2 hours before the shooting. Official statistics from the authorities indicate that the current death toll stands at 19 students and two teachers.
"We are starting to learn their stories. We must remember their names and their faces. May we continue sharing stories from the families that wish to be heard right now," ABC News wrote.
Source: Briefly News
Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 14 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.
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