AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — After 19 elementary school children and two teachers were killed in a shooting in Uvalde on Tuesday, an Amarillo woman related to one of the victims spoke out.
Maria Fernandez of Amarillo said her cousin, Rojelio Torres, who died in that shooting, was just 10 years old.
“He was a happy kid. He was always smiling. I know, in all of his pictures and everything. He was always smiling,” said Fernandez.
Fernandez said Rojelio was the son of her first cousin and she is headed to Uvalde to be with her.
“I just want to get there to comfort her and my other family members who have lost people, you know, and my friends who have lost babies,” she said. “I just want to get there and comfort them because there’s no words I can tell them or send them that’s going to help. You know, I feel like I just need to go and hold them.”
Fernandez said she is angry about how the shooting was possible.
“I’m mad that, you know, this kid had just turned 18 and he can go and buy two assault rifles, and that many rounds of ammunition at once it was not controlled,” she said. “You know, it’s easier to get a gun and that much ammunition for a kid than it is for a driver’s license. You know, and that makes me really mad. At the end of the day, that’s what it boils down to. That’s what, that’s why it happened because it was accessible to him like that.”
She said she wants better for her child.
“Like my son, I have him here. He homeschools and I was getting him ready for high school next year, but I don’t think I’m gonna let him go to public school next year,” said Fernandez. “You know, I’m gonna continue to homeschool him because I’m afraid for him even more now.”
Fernandez said as a whole, people need to learn from this shooting.
“I’ve seen a lot of government officials using it as a platform and it’s not right. It’s very offensive, you know because these were babies. These were our babies,” she added. “I don’t know, maybe be more proactive with the schools. Maybe there should be armed security at the schools. I know that it’s not pleasant for a child to walk up to their school, and there’s armed security out there but it’s come to that.”
She also suggested paying better attention to mental health issues.
“If you hear somebody talking about that, they’re going to go and shoot up a school or they’re talking about violence on the internet, take it seriously. Take it seriously and do something about it, like be active about it,” Fernandez said. “Don’t be afraid to say something or to help somebody or if you see someone that’s going and struggling with mental health or emotional health, help them be there for them. You know, if one time they listen to somebody and talk to them and say, ‘Hey, what’s going on today?’ that might change a whole thing like this happening.”
Now, the families of 21 people who were killed are left to pick up the pieces as more details are released from law enforcement about their response.
“I’m sorry for, you know, my cousin. I’m sorry for everybody,” she said. “I hope that things can get better. I hope they’re, you know, they didn’t die in vain.”