Kansas City Photographer
Robb Elementary
Reminder to care for yourself: This message contains mentions of death and violence.
Details of how a gunman was able to enter Robb Elementary School in Uvalde and kill 19 students and two teachers over the course of an hour have come out in parcels since the shooting.
Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Department of Public Safety officials have walked back some of their initial statements about the shooting and the authorities’ response after contradictory information came to light.
Details of how long it took for officers to confront the shooter — about 1 hour and 15 minutes — have also sparked widespread outage and criticism. In July, an investigation into the shooting by a Texas House committee determined the law enforcement response was plagued by "systemic failures and egregious poor decision making."
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/05/27/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-timeline/
Dia de los Angelitos – Our Little Angels
Many of us have learned about Dia de Muertos – Day of the Dead, but it isn’t just one day, it’s several. One of the days is Día de los Angelitos – Day of the Little Angels (November 1). It is believed that the souls of departed children return home on this day. They are so eager to return to the land of the living that they run ahead of the adults, who arrive a night later. Families who have lost children place milk, sweets, and toys on their altars for the children.
Uvalde is a small town I’ve passed through many times on the way to my grandmother’s house. I never thought much of it, indistinguishable from every other small town we would pass through.
On May 24, 2022, a gunman would walk into Robb Elementary and killed 19 children and 2 teachers. In the years since nothing has changed, except that the world now knows of that small town. 77 minutes of horror and tragedy. I took these pictures a few months after the shooting and the pain, sadness and grief was still palpable across the town. I was also there last month and it’s clear that it will never be the same.
Arnie Reyes, a teacher that was not only shot, but also lost all 11 of his students that day said “I told them to act like they were going to sleep. Please don’t be mad at me. You can give us all the training you want, but laws have to change. The only thing that I know is that I will not let these children and my co-workers die in vain. No one deserves this kind of pain. I will go to the end of the world to make sure things change.”
Now when I drive through, it’s no longer that small town that I never noticed, but rather this overwhelming reminder that these stories are unfortunately not unique.
I take this day to remember these little angels. I’ll wear my green chucks and say their names:
Nevaeh Alyssa Bravo, 10, Jacklyn Cazares, 9, Makenna Lee Elrod, 10, Jose Manuel Flores Jr., 10, Eliahna Garcia, 9, Uziyah Garcia, 10, Amerie Jo Garza, 10, Xavier Lopez, 10, Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, 10, Tess Mata, 10, Maranda Mathis, 11 Alithia Ramirez, 10, Annabell Rodriguez, 10 Maite Rodriguez, 10, Alexandria “Lexi” Rubio, 10, Layla Salazar, 11, Jailah Nicole Silguero, 10, Eliahna Torres, 10, Rojelio Torres, 10
Irma Garcia, 48 (and her husband Joe Garcia, who suffered a heart attack 2 days later – his family said “he died of a broken heart”) and Eva Mireles, 44 - who were their teachers.
It is a bittersweet day that provides space for healing and celebration. It is a prolific way to remember an extremely painful moment, and an opportunity for us to evoke the beauty of their lives and give us hope that one day they will meet their loved ones again.
It is also a reminder so that I won’t forget and that I can recommit myself to advocating for the change that all our children deserve. This should not be a reality.
I left my daughter at that school and that decision will haunt me for the rest of my life.
I told them to act like they were going to sleep. Please don’t be mad at me. You can give us all the training you want, but laws have to change. The only thing that I know is that I will not let these children and my co-workers to die in vain. No one deserves this kind of pain. I will go to the end of the world to make sure things change.
