WWALDE, Texas (AP) – It was supposed to be the first day of a happy week for Rob Elementary School students – the beginning of summer vacation. Instead, on Monday, the first two of 19 children killed in a classroom were commemorated at funeral visits.
The gathering for 10-year-old Ameri Joe Garza was at the Hillcrest Memorial in Uwalde, Texas, just across from the elementary school where the children, along with two teachers, were shot dead Tuesday before the shooter himself was killed. The visit for another 10-year-old, Maite Rodriguez, was at another funeral home in the city.
For the next two and a half traumatic weeks, people in the small town of southwest Texas will say goodbye to the children and their teachers, one heartbreaking visit, a funeral and a funeral after another. As family and friends reveal their grief, investigators will demand answers on how police responded to the shooting, and lawmakers said they would consider what could be done to stop violence with weapons infiltrating the nation.
Funerals for 11 children and teacher Irma Garcia are planned for this week alone.
On Monday, some mourners on their visit to Ameri wore purple or lavender shades of purple – Ameri’s favorite – at the request of her father, Angel Garza. Many of them wore flowers, including purple.
The little girl who loved to paint had just received a cell phone for her 10th birthday. One of her friends told Angel Garza that Amery tried to use the phone to call police during the attack on her fourth-grade classroom.
Among those saddened by Amer’s visit were some of Matt’s relatives. Like many people, they attended both.
Might’s family wore green shirts with a tie with an illustration of Might with angel wings. Before entering the funeral home, they stopped in the ditch to see the shooter in the metal door, Salvador Ramos, who collided with a pickup truck before crossing the field and entering the school.
– How did it go so long? Juana Maganya, Maite’s aunt, asked.
The Hillcrest Memorial itself and the shooting will be forever connected. After Ramos smashed the truck, two men at the funeral home heard the crash and ran to the scene. Ramos shoots at them. He missed and the two men reached safety.
Eliahna “Ellie” Garcia’s funeral will be on June 6, the day after she was 10 years old. Her family was preparing a big birthday party at her grandmother’s house this weekend. She was hoping to receive gifts related to the Disney movie Encanto.
“She loved this movie and talked a lot about it,” said her aunt Syria Arizmendi.
Ellie was quiet even around the family, but she loved making videos and was already training choreography with her older sister for her quinceañera party – the girl’s 15th birthday party – although there were five years left, Arizmendi said.
Ellie’s older sister is doing well, Arizmendi said, realizing that their family and others are facing a long road to recovery.
“It’s sad for all the children,” she said.
Funeral directors, balsamers and others from all over Texas arrived to help. Jimmy Lucas, president of the Texas Funeral Directors Association, brought a hearse and volunteered to work as a driver, participate in services or do whatever he could, he told NBC News. Other gravediggers who arrived were there to help with facial reconstruction services, given the damage caused by the rifle to the military-style shooter.
Speaking at a Longview Remembrance Day event, Gov. Greg Abbott called on Texans to keep Uwalde in prayer.
“What happened in Uwalde was a horrific act of evil,” Abbott said. “And as Texans, we must unite and raise Uwalde and support them in every way we can. It will take time to heal the devastation that families have gone through and are going through, but rest assured that we will not back down until Uwalde recovers. ”
The US Department of Justice announced on Sunday a review of law enforcement responses. Police have been heavily criticized for taking more than an hour to kill Ramos in neighboring classrooms where he carried out the massacre.
Officials revealed on Friday that students and teachers had repeatedly asked 911 operators for help as a police commander told more than a dozen officers to wait in the hallway. Officials said the commander believed the suspect had been barricaded in an adjacent classroom and that there was no longer an active attack.
The revelation raised new questions about whether lives were lost because officers did not act more quickly to stop the shooter, who was eventually killed by tactical Border Patrol officers.
Authorities said Ramos legally purchased two weapons shortly before the school attack: an AR-style rifle on May 17 and a second rifle on May 20. He has just turned 18, which allows him to purchase weapons under federal law.
A day after Uwalde’s visit and the promise of “We will” in response to people chanting “Do something”, President Joe Biden expressed some optimism on Monday that there could be some bipartisan support for tightening restrictions on the high-power weapons used by the shooter.
“I think things have gotten so bad that everyone is getting more rational, at least that’s my hope,” Biden told reporters before honoring those who died on National Remembrance Day at Arlington National Cemetery.
“The second amendment has never been absolute,” Biden said. “You couldn’t buy a cannon when the Second Amendment was passed. You couldn’t go out and buy a lot of weapons.
A bipartisan group of senators spoke over the weekend to see if they could reach even a modest compromise on gun safety legislation. Encouraging state red flag laws to keep guns out of people with mental health problems and tackling school security and mental health resources were on the table, said Sen. Chris Murphy, who is leading the effort.
The group will meet again this week within a 10-day deal.
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Nathan Elgren in Uwalde and Jim Salter in O’Fallon, Missouri, contributed to this report.
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