The aunt of a teacher killed in the Texas school shooting last night said: “I’ll cry forever”.
Teacher Irma Garcia, 48, was killed by gunman Salvador Ramos, 18, on Tuesday. Two days later her husband Joe died of a heart attack caused, his family say, by grief.
Irma’s aunt, Olivia Vella, 88, said: “It’s unbelievable. Irma was an excellent wife, a beautiful girl. She and Joe were very good together.
"When I found out I took a shower and let the water run. I was crying like an idiot because the kids are so young. I will cry forever.
“But people are doing a beautiful job with a fundraiser for them. Everything for the children is going to be paid for – they need that.”
Irma, 48, died trying to save her pupils when Ramos opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, killing 19 children and two adults.
The Garcia’s orphaned family – Cristian, 23, Jose, 19, Lyliana, 15, and Alysandra, 13, are being looked after by Joe’s family. Last night their fund had topped £1.9million.
Meghan Markle, who is sending presents to the Garcia children, laid flowers in Ulvade on Thursday and made an emotional call to Irma’s sister Velma, who lives 90 miles away in San Antonio.
Irma’s nephew Anthony Martinez, 26, tweeted: “I just want to say Meghan Markle is a wonderful person. Her intentions are pure.”
More details from the US’s worst school massacre in a decade have emerged. Terrified pupils trapped in a class with a Ramos repeatedly called 911 during his deadly attack.
One girl pleaded: “Please send the police now,” as officers waited more than an hour to enter the room.
Miah Cerrillo, 11, said she covered herself with a slain friend’s blood so she looked dead and avoided being shot.
She said the crazed gunman played “Sad-I-want-people-to-die music”. She said the class was watching the Disney movie Lilo & Stitch as it was the end of the school year, when her teacher got an email warning of an active shooter.
But it was too late. She went to lock the door but Ramos was already there.
Miah said Ramos walked into the fourth-grade classroom and looked one of the teachers in the eye and told her “goodnight” before shooting her and opening fire on students.
Steven McCraw, of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said up to 19 officers piled into the hallway outside the classroom but another 47 minutes passed before the Border Patrol tactical team broke down the door and shot the killer.
Texas governor Greg Abbott, who initially lauded the police response in a news conference on Wednesday, said he was “misled” and that he is “livid”.
