Husband of woman killed in mass shooting invites public to her funeral because 'he has no other family'
The husband of a woman who was killed in a mass shooting in El Paso has invited the public to her funeral as he says he has no other family.
Antonio Basco’s wife Margie Reckard was one of 22 people shot dead by a lone gunman at a Walmart supermarket on 3 August.
He “welcomes anyone to attend” her funeral in the Texas city on Friday afternoon, according to the undertakers arranging the service.
Mr Basco and his wife, who he has described as an “angel”, had been married for 22 years.
“He had no other family. Let’s show him and his wife some El Paso love,” wrote Perches Funeral Home in a Facebook post which has been shared more than 9,000 times.
Hundreds of people responded sympathetically to the post. Some pledged to attend the service, while others from out of town offered to send flowers and cards.
Many more posted on a tribute wall on the funeral director’s website.
Members of Ms Reckard’s family will be travelling from out of town for the funeral, according to KTSM. She was born in Baltimore and had two sons and a daughter, the El Paso-based news channel reported.
“We want to thank the people of El Paso because without them I don’t know what we would have done,” Ms Reckard’s daughter-in-law Hilda Nuzzi told the station. “Everyone is amazing.”
Mr Basco told news channel KFOX 14 last week his wife was “an awesome lady”.
“When I met her she was an angel and she still is,” he said. “I mean you didn’t even have to be there to talk to her, you could just look at how she was, how she acted, how she presented herself.
“When we first met, that feeling came to each one of us, to each other, and we’ve been together ever since. We were gonna live together and die together that was our plan.”
Patrick Crusius, 21, of Allen, Texas, has been charged with capital murder after confessing to being the shooter.
He told police had been “targeting Mexicans” at the supermarket, which is known to be popular which shoppers who cross the nearby border from the city of Juarez.
Of those who died, 13 were American, eight were Mexican and one was German.
