Wednesday 25 May 2022 06:52 AM Second teacher killed in Texas elementary school massacre is married mom of four trends now
A veteran teacher who's a married mom-of-four has been named as the second educator killed in the Texas elementary school massacre.
Irma Garcia, 46, was named as a victim of the atrocity by devastated friends and family members in the early hours of Wednesday.
Her co-teacher Eva Mireles, 44, was named as the second teacher killed in the massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on Tuesday evening.
The women were among three adults killed during the incident, the third being shooter Salvador Ramos, 19, who murdered the two women and 19 young children.
Garcia had spent 23 years teaching, and had been nominated as a teacher of the year by the Uvalde Independent School District in 2019.
Sharing news of her death on Facebook, a nephew called John said: 'My tia did not make it, she sacrificed herself protecting the kids in her classroom, i beg of you to keep my family including all of her family in y’all’s prayers , IRMA GARCIA IS HER NAME and she died a HERO. she was loved by many and will truly be missed.'
Irma Garza, 46, has been named as the second teacher killed in the Texas elementary school massacre
The death of Garza's co-teacher Eva Mireles, pictured, was confirmed on Tuesday evening
Close friend Lisa G Salazar shared a snap of herself embracing Garcia on her Facebook page, prompting an outpouring of emotion from stricken family members and friends.
Friend Danielle Boone also posted a tribute to Garcia on Facebook, writing: 'No words are good enough. Irma Garcia was a sweet, funny, and gorgeous soul.
'My heart aches for her amazing family. I’m so heartbroken. Lord please be with them all during this nightmare.'
Garcia's murder was confirmed hours after that of her colleague Mireles. The five child victims so-far identified are Amerie Jo Garza, Xavier Lopez, Makenna Lee Elrod and Eliahana Cruz Torres, all aged 10, as well as nine year-old Uziyah Garcia.
Hauntingly, Mireles husband Ruben Ruiz, a police officer at Uvalde School District, held an active shooter drill at Uvalde High School, on March 22, two months before his wife's murder. Both the gunman and the cop were once students at the school.
The 16 year-veteran was snapped in chilling Facebook photos where he and his fellow officers posed as active shooters, with students playing dead by laying on the floor of their school during the drill.
Slain Robb Elementary School teacher Eva Mireles, 44, with her husband Ruben Ruiz, 43, an officer in the Uvalde School District and their daughter Analynn Ruiz
In a eerily prescient scene, Uvalde School District police peer around a corner for an active shooter during a drill as students pretend to be dead on the hallway floor
An officer will a mock gun faces an attacker in the Uvalde High School auditorium during the active-shooter drills in March
Uvalde School District Police conducted active shooter live-training drills at the high school in March, two months before the massacre that killed 19 children
Officers listen to the theory regarding active-shooter response during a training course in March at the Uvalde High School
Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Officer Ruben Ruiz, 43, the husband of slain teacher Eva Mireles, 44, trained in active shooter drills in March
Fourth grade teacher Eva Mireles, 44, was gunned down at Robb Elementary School on Tuesday. She was an avid hiker, runner and sometimes biker
The shooter, Salvador Ramos, 18, attacked the school Tuesday afternoon spraying bullets before he was shot and killed by a Customs and Border Patrol agent.
Photos posted on the Uvalde Police Department Facebook page show Ruiz in an active shooter lecture in the Uvalde High School cafeteria on March 22.
In a shot eerily similar to the devastation at the elementary school officers can be seen in photographs peering around a school hallway as several of the students lay on the floor in mock death.
Salvador Ramos, 18, shot his grandmother before going to Robb Elementary School in Uvalde; engaging border patrol agents nearby in a shootout; and then barricading himself inside the school, killing 14 students and a teacher
'Our overall goal is to train every Uvalde area law enforcement officer so that we can prepare as best as possible for any situation that may arise,' the department posted above photos of the drills.
Other shots of the drill show a man armed with a mock knife posed to attack a woman in what appears to be the auditorium.
Another shot shows the same mock assailant facing off with one of the training officer who is pointing an orange gun at him.
Ken Paxton, the attorney general for Texas, told Fox News that more teachers should carry guns.
'We can't stop bad people from doing bad things,' he said, adding that he had 'never understood that argument'.
'We can harden these schools. We can create points of access that are difficult to get through.
'We can potentially arm and prepare and train teachers and other administrators to respond quickly.
'The reality is that we don't have the resources to have law enforcement at every school.
Robb Elementary School shooting victim Xavier Lopeze was the first student identified in the massacre
