'Hug your loved ones': How Uvalde residents united by grief, faith after shooting

UVALDE, Texas — The sun beamed through the trees as Jamie Martinez watched his five children laugh and play on the playground, looking over his shoulder as his son came down the slide.

Squirrels skittered around the picnic table as small hands tossed pieces of pizza crust into the grass. Martinez wrapped his arm around his son.

“It’s a sunny day but there’s just this gloom and a lot of silence, even with all the commotion,” the 33-year-old said. “We’re just trying to stay busy and come together as a family.”

His son, 9-year-old Seth Doria, is a student at  Robb Elementary School in the small town of Uvalde, Texas. Seth would have been in class Tuesday if he hadn’t pulled him out of school after a morning award ceremony.

Martinez drove to the school about 9:30 a.m. for the  ceremony. Despite usually encouraging his kids to go to school, he asked his wife, Maritza Hernandez, if he should bring Seth home after the ceremony. She said no, but something inside Martinez told him to trust his instinct. As he and Seth walked to his car, he wondered what they might’ve missed.

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About an hour after he checked his son out of school later  an 18-year-old man walked into Robb Elementary School, one of two schools in town, and fired his weapon, killing 19 children and two teachers. The shooting is considered the deadliest at a U.S. grade school since the 2012 attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

“Those kids were part of his class,” Martinez said. “All (Seth) knows is he lost some friends. Hug your loved ones because you really don’t know when it will be the last time."

Uvalde is a small, predominantly Latino town nestled by the Frio River. It's about 85 miles, or about an hour's drive, west of San Antonio. Though now known to many across the nation as the site of a tragic school shooting, residents knew it as a quiet, peaceful town with a close-knit community of friendly neighbors and long conversations at the grocery store.

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A drive across town  typically takes no more than 20 minutes, and the area is home to Garner State Park, bringing many travelers through the beautiful Hill Country.

“This town is so quiet and we know each other and help other people,” said 77-year-old Elia Gomez, a longtime resident.

Gomez spoke fondly of Irma Garcia, an elementary school teacher who was killed, recalling the way she treated those around her. Garcia and her co-teacher, Eva Mireles, were among the 21 killed in the shooting.

“(Garcia) always had respect for everybody,” Gomez said. “It didn’t matter if they were children or adults or senior citizens, and I couldn’t understand why this would happen.”

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'We need to do better'

Residents gathered early Wednesday morning, nearly 12 hours after the shooting, at the Sacred Heart Church, where Catholic Charities from San Antonio offered morning and evening mass and grief counseling to the community.

When Del Rio pastor Jaime Panaigua heard of the shooting, he knew the pastor of Uvalde’s Sacred Heart Catholic Church was out of town and quickly took off to help provide support for the community.

He went to the hospital, where he visited with families and kids, who were injured in the attack.

“In some cases the parents hadn’t arrived yet so we were in there in the ER rooms with the doctor and kids just praying with them,” Panaigua said. “We were present there as well when several families received the news of their kids being deceased and prayed there for them.

More: Uvalde sits on the edge of the Texas Hill Country. What to know about the town, county

“I think what happened is very sad, but it’s also a call to our attention that we need to improve as a society and we need to do better,” Panaigua added.

For many trying to cope with the lost lives, Sacred Heart has been a needed place of solace. A woman wrapped her arms around her friend, who was praying silently in a pew toward the back of the church. Another burst into tears as she approached the wooden doors of the church and another woman rushed to comfort her, whispering condolences in Spanish.

“There's a lot of people here, just trying to talk to people and ask about the town," said Bill Connor, a longtime Uvalde resident and member of the congregation. "You hear stories about this happening in cities, you wonder maybe if someone would have reacted or noticed this kid at school in a bigger town.”

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Connor’s wife, Rose, is a substitute teacher who previously taught at Robb Elementary School. She was substituting at the high school when she learned of the shooting.

"Personally, and this is probably contrary to others' views, but people need to start calling representatives," Bill Connor said. "For this to stop, we got to get people in Washington to do something."

At the evening mass, more residents and community members joined the church in a special service honoring those who died. With open arms, Panaigua greeted those who walked through the stained glass doors. Many blessed themselves with holy water before finding their seats beside their neighbors.

At First Presbyterian Church, Rev. Ginni Norris-Lane led the congregation in prayer for a member of the church whose daughter died in the shooting.

Heads down, the small group of residents stood from their seats and prayed in remembrance of those who were lost.

For Martinez, the father whose son lost classmates, keeping emotions in check has been tough.

"I really want to break down. I really want to cry but as a father you have to be strong," he said.

But he also knows he's not alone.

"It's affecting everybody," Martinez said. "You go to the store and you just see the long faces of people and you just give them a smile."

Ashlee Burns covers trending and breaking news in South Texas. 

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Uvalde, Texas, united by grief, faith, after school shooting