A grieving father who lost his young daughter Tuesday in the horrific shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, told CNN his child “died trying to save her classmates.”
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Angel Garza told CNN’s Anderson Cooper his child, Amerie Jo Garza, 10, whom he described as “the sweetest little girl,” tried to use her cell phone to call the police when the gunman took her life.
“She was just trying to do the right thing. She was just trying to call the cops, that’s all,” he said. “I just want people to know that she just died trying to save her classmates. She just wanted to save everyone.”
Garza, a medical aide, said his daughter had just received a phone for her birthday two weeks before the shooting.
After he arrived at the scene Tuesday to help victims, he said two students revealed his child was shot while trying to phone authorities for help.
Garza shared some incredibly painful details in his gut-wrenching interview with Cooper. They only add to the unimaginable images of the horrors that befell students inside the building.
“One little girl was just covered in blood head-to-toe. I thought she was injured. I asked her what was wrong, and she said ‘she was OK,'” he said. “She was hysterical saying they shot her best friend. … ‘She’s not breathing, and she tried to call the cops.’ I asked the little girl the name, and she said, she told me ‘Amerie, she said Amerie.'”
Watch Garza’s heartbreaking interview:
Garza discussed his 3-year-old son as well, whom he said is processing through his sister’s loss as best a toddler can. The little boy, who adores his sister, was informed she has gone to be with the Lord.
“We’ve informed him that his sister is now with God, and she will no longer be with us,” the emotional dad said.
Amerie was among the 19 kids and two teachers killed inside Robb Elementary School. The event has renewed discussion and debate about gun control and the underlying causes of mass shootings in America.
And while the nation retracts in horror, residents of Uvalde continue to process the atrocities that have rocked their community. A tearful vigil was held Wednesday night, bringing together hundreds of mourners who were joined by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Sen. Ted Cruz (R), and others.
Continue to pray for this anguished community and bereaved parents as they continue to grapple with the unthinkable.
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