First responder learns daughter was Texas school shooting victim
“How do you look at this girl and shoot her?”
Angel Garza said through tears Wednesday while holding a framed picture of his step-daughter, Amerie Jo Garza, one of the 19 children who died during the Robb Elementary School massacre in Texas.
The world watched the heartbroken father tell CNN’s Anderson Cooper how he learned she was a victim. He works as a medical assistant and a dispatcher sent him to her school in Uvalde.
“One little girl was just covered in blood head to toe. Like, I thought she was injured. I asked her what was wrong and she said, she is OK. She was hysterical saying that they shot her best friend. They killed her best friend and she is not breathing. She was trying to call the cops and I asked the little girl the name … and she said, Amerie.”
“How do you look at this girl and shoot her?” Angel Garza said through tears while holding a picture of his daughter Amerie Jo Garza, one of the 19 children who died during the Robb Elementary School massacre in Texas.
His step-daughter had just turned 10 years old on May 10. She had been asking for a cell phone and finally got one. Students in her classroom told the grieving father she tried to use it after Salvador Ramos walked into her classroom.
Ramos used an AR-15 rifle to kill Amerie’s two teachers, Eva Mireles and Irma Garcia, and 18 of her classmates. A friend of Amerie’s mother, Kimberly Garcia, set up a GoFundMe page.
“She received an award yesterday for honor roll just before the shooting occurred,” she wrote. “She was so smart and such a good child. Amerie is known for being a hero and trying to call 911 before the shooter took her life.”
Complete coverage
States divided on gun controls, even as mass shootings riseTexas school massacre: Community mourns lives lost
Wednesday and Tuesday stories
Investigators search for school shooting motiveBSO increasing patrols to protect schools following Texas shootingTexas school shooting hits ‘close to home’ for Rays pitcher
A state trooper escorts a group of family onto the campus of Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Wednesday, May 25, 2022. Desperation turned to heart-wrenching sorrow for families of grade schoolers killed after an 18-year-old gunman barricaded himself in their Texas classroom and began shooting, killing at least 19 fourth-graders and their two teachers. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) (Jae C. Hong/)House official: Lawmakers should not carry guns at Capitol‘Horrifying’ conspiracy theories swirl around Texas shootingEXPLAINER: Social media and the Texas shooter’s messages
Two Texas Troopers light a candle at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Wednesday, May 25, 2022. Desperation turned to heart-wrenching sorrow for families of grade schoolers killed after an 18-year-old gunman barricaded himself in their Texas classroom and began shooting, killing several fourth-graders and their teachers. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) (Jae C. Hong/)Beto O’Rourke disrupts news conference on shootingA decade of congressional inaction on gun controlTexas elementary school shooting: What do we know so far?
People mourn outside of the SSGT Willie de Leon Civic Center following the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022 in Uvalde, Texas. (BRANDON BELL/)Texas school shooting invades trial of Parkland murderer‘Precious individuals’ taken in Texas school shootingTexas shooting hits close to home for Parkland families, survivors
People become emotional at the City of Uvalde Town Square during a prayer vigil in the wake of a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022 in Uvalde, Texas. According to reports, 19 students and 2 adults were killed before the gunman was fatally shot by law enforcement. (Photo by Jordan Vonderhaar/Getty Images)Will Congress act on guns after Sandy Hook, Buffalo, Uvalde?Governor: Texas gunman said he was going to shoot up schoolSchool massacre continues Texas’ grim run of mass shootings
People react outside the Civic Center following a deadly school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas Tuesday, May 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills) (Dario Lopez-Mills/)Families mourn, worry in wake of elementary school shootingBiden says ‘we have to act’ after Texas school shootingAfter Texas shooting, Conn. senator begs for gun compromise
People react outside the Ssgt. Willie de Leon Civic Center in Uvalde, where students were transported from Robb Elementary School after a mass shooting on May 24, 2022. (Reuters/Marco Bello/)Gunman kills 19 children in Texas school rampageSchool massacre in Texas: Student kills at least 19 children‘I’ve got to dig deep’: Texas shooting tests Newtown parents
A family grieves outside of the SSGT Willie de Leon Civic Center following the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022 in Uvalde, Texas. According to reports, 19 students and 2 adults were killed, with the gunman fatally shot by law enforcement. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)Read More
