Husband of teacher killed in Texas school shooting ‘dies of grief ‘
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The death toll from the Uvalde school shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers reached the campus’ extended family Thursday, when the husband of one of the slain teachers died of a heart attack.
Guadalupe “Joe” Garcia – the husband of 46-year-old Irma Garcia, who was shot and killed while sheltering children in her classroom – died two days after the mass killing that shattered his family, a cousin of his wife confirmed on a verified GoFundMe page.
The Garcias had been together for more than 30 years. They were high school sweethearts before marrying and having four children, the cousin, Debra Austin, wrote.
Shortly before his fatal heart attack, journalists recorded Joe Garcia dropping flowers off at a cross with his wife’s name written on it, Houston news station KHOU-TV reported.
“I truly believe Joe died of a broken heart and losing the love of his life … was too much to bear,” Austin wrote.
The Garcias’ nephew, John Martinez, said via Twitter that the couple’s children – ages 13, 15, 19 and 23 – had now lost both parents.
Irma Garcia taught fourth-grade students at Robb elementary, in a mostly Hispanic community about 85 miles west of San Antonio, where she had worked for 23 years.
Texas Highway Patrol officers stand near a memorial of flowers at the scene of a mass shooting at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, USA, 25 May 2022. According to Texas officials, at least 19 children and two adults were killed in the shooting. The eighteen-year-old gunman was killed by responding officers. EPA-EFE/TANNEN MAURY
