Photo: ALLISON DINNER / AFP / Getty Images
A fourth grade student who died in the Robb Elementary School massacre was shot to death while trying to call 911, his family told the Daily Beast.
Amerie Jo Garza, from 10 years old, he spent the morning celebrating his honor roll appointment, but less than two hours later, the alleged shooter Salvador Ramos pointed a rifle at his face.
“You are going to die”, she told Amerie Jo and other children, according to the girl’s grandmother, Berlinda Irene Arreola, in the middle.
Amerie Jo started dialing the 911, but before she could make the call, Ramos killed her, Arreola said. .
“Instead of grabbing it and breaking it or taking it off, he shot it. She was sitting right next to her best friend. Her best friend was covered in blood”, said the disconsolate grandmother in the middle.
“She died like a heroine trying to get help for her and her classmates”.
Arreola remembered her granddaughter as “super outgoing” and “the teachers’ pet” who enjoyed excelling in her classes .
She said she had been photographed at 10 in the morning holding an honor roll certificate, but only an hour and a half later, Ramos entered the school and began shooting indiscriminately.
At least 17 children and two teachers died in the massacre, the worst school shooting in US history since the Sandy Hook massacre in 1200, which left 26 Dead children.
Other 15 children and four adults were injured in the massacre, hospital officials said.
While Uvalde, a small town about 26 miles west of San Antonio, was consumed with news of the shooting, parents scrambling to find their missing children, and Amerie Jo’s family turning to Facebook for others.
“I don’t ask for much or I hardly post here, but please. It’s been 7 hours and I still haven’t heard anything about my love. Please fb help me find my daughter,” wrote Amerie Jo’s stepfather, Ángel Garza, on Facebook around 8 pm local time.
Two hours later, she wrote another post saying that Amerie Jo had been murdered.
The parents rushed to find their missing children and the Amerie Jo’s family went to Facebook looking for others.
“Thank you all for the prayers and help in trying to find my baby. She has been found. My sweetheart now flies high…” Garza wrote.
“Please don’t take a second for granted… Hug your family. Tell them you love them. I love you Amerie Jo. Take care of your little brother for me.”
Arreola, who spoke with Texas officials and survivors of the massacre, said her granddaughter died immediately.
“She was super outgoing. She had a generous heart. She was always there to lend a hand to anyone. She was very fast for a teacher’s pet. She had just received the award from her today for the AB Honor Roll,” Arreola said. “She was very smart and she was eager to make a life for herself.”
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