A GoFundMe campaign has raised more than $2.5 million in support for the children left behind by the slain Uvalde elementary school teacher and her husband who died shortly after her killing.
The couple was survived by two sons, 23-year-old Cristian and 19-year-old Jose; and two daughters, 15-year-old Lyliana and 12-year-old Alysandra.
Irma’s cousin, Debra Austin, wrote on the fundraiser campaign’s page that Irma was a “wonderful person” who would “do anything for anybody” with no questions asked and “loved her classroom kids and died trying to protect them.”
“I am equally [devastated] to report Irma’s husband Joe has tragically passed away this morning (5/26/2022) as a result of a medical emergency,” she added. “Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers. I truly believe Joe died of a broken heart and losing the love of his life of more than 25 years was too much to bear.”
As of the morning of May 29, the total amount of donations has reached $2,590,000, far exceeding the $10,000 goal initially set by Austin, who promised that all the money will “go to the Garcia family for various expenses.”
“I would like to thank all the donors worldwide that have contributed to these wonderful kids,” she wrote on the campaign page in a message to donors. “The prayers and love and support you have sent are so very much appreciated and needed as they continue their journey through life without their mother and father.”
“When I heard the shooting through the door, I told my friend to hide under something so he won’t find us,” said the boy, who was not identified. He and another four children were able to survive by hiding beneath a table with a tablecloth.
“They were nice teachers,” the boy spoke of Irma Garcia and Eva Mireles, who were killed while trying to shield their students from gunfire. “They went in front of my classmates to help. To save them.”
Steven McCraw, the head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said at a press conference that students trapped inside the classroom with Ramos repeatedly called 911 and plead for help, but officers spent more than an hour waiting in the hallway instead of breaching the classroom door.
According to McCraw, the commander at the scene in Uvalde—the school district’s police chief, Pete Arredondo—decided the group should wait to confront the gunman on the belief that “it had transitioned from an active shooter to a barricaded subject.”
“It was the wrong decision,” McCraw said.
