A medical assistant who rushed into Robb Elementary school moments after the onset of a deadly massacre learned that his daughter had been killed.
Angel Garza spoke to another girl, who “was hysterical, saying they shot her best friend … she was not breathing, and she was trying to call the cops,” he told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in an interview.
Her best friend was Angel Garza’s stepdaughter, Amerie Jo Garza, who passed away after a shooter fired on people in two classrooms at Robb Elementary school, killing 19 students and two teachers.
As emergency personnel evacuated the children outside, Angel Garza went into the school to provide medical aid to the injured.
“How you are going to look at this girl and shoot her? My baby, how do you shoot my baby?” he said.
According to Angel, Amerie Garza was trying to call authorities when the shooter started firing on students and teachers. She just got her cellphone two weeks prior on her 10th birthday.
“I just want people to know that she just died trying to save her classmates … she just wanted to save everyone,” he said.
Amerie’s 3-year-old brother still asks for his big sister every morning, Angel Garza said.
“We’ve informed him that his sister is now with God … and that she will no longer be with us,” he said. “He’s 3 years old … this is emotional for him to even process.”
“Thank you everyone for the prayers and help trying to find my baby,” Garza said in a Facebook post. “She’s been found. My little love is now flying high with the angels above.”
“Please don’t take a second for granted. Hug your family. Tell them you love them. I love you Amerie Jo. Watch over your baby brother for me,” he said.
Jasmine Wright, the best friend of Amerie’s mother Kimberley Garcia, has started a GoFundMe.com page for the late Amerie.
Thousands attended vigils held across several Texas cities and across the United States on Wednesday to honor the victims.
