Featured Image Credit: CNN
Topics: no-article-matching, News, US News
Shola Lee
The father of 10-year-old Amerie Jo Garza, one of the victims killed in the Robb Elementary School shooting, has shared the devastating moment he realised his daughter was inside.
On Tuesday 24 May, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos shot and killed at least 19 children and two adults at the elementary school, as well as injuring a further 17 people, in what marks one of the worst shootings in US history.
The teenager was shot dead by law enforcement at the scene.
Now, a heartbroken father has spoken to CNN about his daughter, who had just made the honour roll at school.
Angel Garza was asked if there was anything he wanted people to know about his daughter. While holding a photograph of her, he said: "That she was just trying to do the right thing. She was just trying to call the cops. She was so scared of strangers like she would lock the door when I would step out to get gas.
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"This was her worst fear and she was just trying to help everyone."
Garza, who is a medical aide, arrived at the scene and started assisting. He described how 'one little girl was just covered in blood, head to toe.'
"She was hysterical, saying they shot her best friend. They killed her best friend and she's not breathing. And she was trying to call the cops.
"And I asked this little girl the name and she told me, Amerie. She told me, she told me, Amerie."
That is how the father learned that his daughter was one of the victims killed in the awful attack.
"She was so sweet. She was the sweetest little girl who did nothing wrong," he said of his daughter, who was a big sister to he and his partner's three-year-old son, Zane.
"He asks for his sister in the morning when he wakes up.
“We informed him that his sister is with God and that she will no longer be with us and of course he just cried."
Amerie had just turned 10 on 10 May and received a phone for her birthday. "She'd been wanting a phone for so long and we finally got it for her. She just tried to call the police.
"I got confirmation from two of the students in her classroom that she was just trying to call the police and I guess he just shot her. How do you look at this girl and shoot her?"
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677