Uwalde, Texas (AP) – Bereaved gathered at a Catholic church Wednesday to say goodbye to elementary school teacher Rob Irma Garcia – who died in a shooting at an elementary school in Uwalde, Texas – and her husband Joe – who died two days ago. later than a heart attack.
Nineteen children and two teachers – Garcia and her classmate, 44-year-old Eva Mireles – were killed on May 24 when an 18-year-old gunman stormed their classroom. The litany of visits, funerals and burials began on Monday and will continue until mid-June.
At the Sacred Heart Catholic Church on Wednesday, double black hearses carrying the coffins of the Garcia family arrived in a procession led by police and civilian motorcyclists. Covered with flowers, the two closed coffins were carried from graves along the phalanx by policemen in uniform and priests in white robes.
Some wept during the service, in which Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siler thanked Irma Garcia for his devotion. He listed the names of the students killed several times during the sermon.
“Because you were there with them,” he said. “You did what you would do with your own children. You took care of them until your last breath. “
Irma, 48, was finishing her 23rd year as a teacher at Rob Elementary School. In a letter posted on the school’s website earlier this school year, Garcia told her students that she and Joe have four children – a Marine, a student, a high school student and a seventh grader.
Most of the readings during the service on Wednesday and the sermon were in English, with Garcia-Siller offering some words in Spanish.
“It all hurts,” he said. “Among so many, please, please, people need comfort, people need you. … Let us all promote a culture of peace. ”
Joe, 50, fainted and died after leaving flowers at his wife’s monument. The couple was to be married for 25 years on June 28. His obituary notes that he and Irma “began their relationship in high school and it grew into a love that was beautiful and sweet.”
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, who attended Garcia’s funeral, said in a statement that America “must unite as a country against this senseless cycle of violence, act immediately to protect our children and make sure that every child and every educator feels safe in our schools. “
Another funeral on Wednesday was for 10-year-old Jose Flores Jr., also at Sacred Heart. He made the honorary roll and received a diploma on May 24, hours before the shooting. His father told CNN that his son loved baseball and video games and “was always full of energy.”
Hundreds of people remember Ameri Garza, a smiling fourth-grader whose funeral service was the first since the massacre, on Tuesday afternoon. The funeral of 10-year-old Maite Rodriguez was on Tuesday night.
At Amery’s funeral, grieving Erica Santiago, her husband, and their two children wore purple shirts adorned with images of the victims. She described Amery as “a nice little girl who smiled a lot” and who was “so modest and charismatic but full of life.”
Investigators are still searching for answers as to how the police reacted to the shooting, and the US Department of Justice is reviewing the actions of law enforcement agencies.
The school’s chief of police, Pete Aredondo, was blamed for the painful delay in killing the shooter – even when parents outside begged police to rush in and panicked children called 911 inside. The state police director said last week that Aredondo had made the “wrong decision” not to break into the classroom, believing the shooter was barricaded inside and the children were not at risk.
On Wednesday, Aredondo told CNN that he spoke regularly with investigators from the Texas Department of Public Safety, which contradicts claims by state law enforcement that he has stopped cooperating.
Authorities say gunman Salvador Ramos legally bought two weapons shortly before the school attack: an AR-15 rifle on May 17 and a second rifle on May 20. He has just turned 18, which has allowed him to purchase weapons under federal law. Ramos was killed by police.
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