There were a couple of days left before the start of summer vacation at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, a town of 16,000 inhabitants 130 kilometers from San Antonio. That moment, which children cherish as one of the most anticipated of the year, turned into an unfathomable tragedy for the families of 19 school students and two teachers on Tuesday. An 18-year-old boy named Salvador Ramos broke into a fourth-grade class at around 11:30 a.m. and opened fire on the children. A police officer later killed Ramos.
The identities of the victims have been known with a dropper, while the parents went from one place to another trying to get some information. They themselves have been sharing the details of their intimate drama on social networks over the hours. This is what is known up to now about those murdered in Uvalde. (Other identified victims, of which, however, no further details have emerged, are: Tess Marie Mata and Maite Yuleana).
This is what is known so far:
Eva Mireiles (44 years old)
She was the children’s teacher. She had been teaching in the Uvalde school district for 17 years. She was married to a policeman. On the elementary school’s website, she welcomed her students to a course that would end up being their last, with this message: “Welcome to fourth grade! We have a wonderful year ahead! We are a supportive, fun and loving family. I love to run, walk, and you might see me ride a bike too!”
Xavier Lopez (10 years old)
His mother, Felicha Martínez, has told The Washington Post that only a few hours before the shooting he had participated in an end-of-term ceremony at school. “He was a funny kid, he never got serious and his smile… that smile I will never forget,” he said. “It lifted anyone’s spirits.” A cousin, Lisa Garza, has added that she was looking forward to summer, that she planned to spend “swimming nonstop.” “He was a loving child, he loved to dance with his brothers and with his mother.”
Uziyah Garcia (8 years old)
He is the youngest victim identified so far. The news of her was made known by her grandfather. “He was the most affectionate child you can imagine,” he has said of Garcia, who was a “baseball fan.”
Amerie Jo Garza (10 years old)
She was the first to die, according to the first testimonies collected by the local press. Ramos entered the class, and told the children: “You are going to die.” So, Garza tried to call the emergency phone, and the killer shot him without saying a word. “She was sitting right next to her best friend, and she ended up covered in blood,” said the little girl’s great-grandmother. The father wrote, for his part, on his social networks: “My sweetheart now flies high with the angels. Please don’t take a second of your lives for granted. Hug your families. Tell them you love them. I love you Amerie Jo.”
Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez (10 years old)
She died in third grade class, along with his cousin, whose name has not been released. In a harrowing experience shared by many of the relatives, the Rodríguez family spent much of Tuesday going from school to the hospital, trying to confirm the terrible news.
The students who died in the attack on Robb Primary School were all in their fourth year and were between the ages of 8 and 11.
Jose Flores Jr. (10 years old)
I was in fourth grade at Robb Elementary School. He loved to play baseball. His uncle Christopher Salazar confirmed the death of his nephew. “He was a very happy boy. He loved his parents…and he loved to laugh and have fun,” Salazar said.
To Eliahana ‘Eliajha’ Cruz Torres (10 years old)
Her relatives searched for her all Tuesday afternoon, until they could confirm her worst fears.
Ellie Lugo (10 years old)
“It’s hard to make a statement at a time when my head is going a thousand miles an hour…” Steven Lugo, the girl’s father, acknowledged on Facebook on Tuesday. “But I want to send our thoughts and prayers to those who didn’t make it home tonight either! Our Ellie was a very happy child.”
Miranda Mathis (11 years old)
The girl’s death was confirmed on Facebook by a cousin named Deanna Miller. Miller’s children were also at school at the time of the attack. They were able to escape through a window and take refuge in the neighboring funeral home.
Alithia Ramirez (10 years old)
A photo of her adorned with angel wings served her father both to warn him on Tuesday that he was looking for his daughter and to confirm this Wednesday on Facebook that the little girl was among the victims.
Cousins Jayce Carmelo Luevanos and Jailah Nicole Silguero (10 years old)
The death of both was confirmed by Luévanos’ mother, who lost her husband a week earlier.
Lexi Rubio (10 years old)
Her mother told when announcing that her daughter was among the victims of Salvador Ramos who had received an award for academic achievement that morning. “We told her we were going to pick her up after school. We had no idea that it was actually goodbye.”
Rojelio Torres (10 years old)
Rojelio Torres’s aunt, Preciosa Pérez, said that the family had been waiting almost 12 hours for the terrible confirmation that her nephew was among the victims. “We are devastated and heartbroken.”, Pérez has declared about the child, whom she has defined as “very intelligent, hardworking and helpful”.