(CNN) — Emergency medical assistant Ángel Garza rushed to Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday, arriving as authorities began herding children shocked by the shooting out of classrooms.
“One girl was covered in blood from head to toe. I thought she was hurt, I asked her what happened. She told me she was fine… she was shocked and said her best friend had been shot, her best friend had been killed.” friend, that she wasn’t breathing,” Garza told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Wednesday.
“I asked the girl her name, and…she said Amerie,” Garza added as she dropped her head and cried.
This is how this father learned that his daughter, 10-year-old Amerie Jo Garza, was killed in the Robb Elementary School massacre: deadliest school shooting in the US in almost one decade. A gunman barricaded himself inside a classroom of fourth graders and killed 19 children and two teachers.
Garza was worried as he headed to school, but he did not know about his daughter’s whereabouts.
Amerie had turned 10 just two weeks before the attack. Her family celebrated the date with a dinner and gave her a cell phone, the first she had. Her classmates told Garza that Amerie tried to call 911 during the attack.
“She had wanted a phone for so long and we finally got it for her. She was just trying to call the authorities, and I guess he shot her,” Garza said, holding up a photo of Amerie from when she made the honor roll. at school.
Garza then recounted her agonizing story between sobs, as Cooper listened and put his hand on Garza’s shoulder.
“How do you look at this girl and just shoot her?” Garza continued, hugging the photo. “Oh my baby. How do you shoot my baby?” she insisted.
Her little brother keeps asking where she is
“I just want to know what she did to be a victim,” Angel Garza said of the death of her daughter, 10-year-old Amerie Jo Garza, in the shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Garza described her daughter as a sweet and creative girl who listened to her parents and never got into trouble at school.
Amerie was afraid of strangers. And she always rushed to lock the car door when her father went out to put gas.
“This is literally his worst fear,” Garza added.
It was the older sister of a 3-year-old boy, who has been asking about her these mornings. But who doesn’t fully understand why he will never see her again.
“We have told him that his sister is already with God. And that she will no longer be with us,” Garza shared. “She just cried…she’s 3 years old. It’s emotional for him to even process it.”
Hours after the shooting, Garza posted a message on Facebook for her little girl.
“My sweetie is now flying high with the angels above. Please don’t take a second for granted. Hug your family. Tell them you love them,” she wrote. “I love you, Amerie Jo. Take care of your little brother for me.”
Garza wants people to remember her daughter as a sweet girl
Students at Robb Elementary School were celebrating the last week of school with themed dress up days.
Tuesday’s theme was “Footloose and Fancy,” and the teachers encouraged the children to come dressed in nice clothes and wear fun shoes.
But what started as a day of fun abruptly turned into a terrifying massacre.
The 18-year-old shooter battled with authorities for about a half hour before officers stormed the classroom and killed him, said US Rep. Tony Gonzales, whose district includes Uvalde.
Mourners gather outside Robb Elementary School. (Credit: REUTERS/Nuri Vallbona)
It was the deadliest elementary school shooting in the United States since 2012, when 26 children and adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut.
Garza said she wants people to remember Amerie as a good girl who tried to do the right thing until the end.
“She was just trying to call the police, that’s all,” he said. “I just want people to know that she died trying to save her classmates. She just wanted to save everyone,” she insisted.