Grieving widower dies after leaving flowers at memorial for teacher wife killed in school shooting

The husband of a teacher fatally shot inside Robb Elementary School spent some of his final moments at a memorial for victims of the massacre, grieving her loss.

Video taken by KHOU outside the school shows Joe Garcia place a bouquet of red roses before a small cross bearing the name of slain wife and fourth grade teacher Irma Garcia. The devastating moment was captured not long before Garcia dropped to the floor of his home and died from a fatal heart attack.

“He was at home no more than three minutes after sitting down on a chair with the family,” the couple’s son, Christian Garcia told NBC News. “He just fell over. They tried doing chest compressions, and nothing worked. The ambulance came and they couldn’t bring him back.”

Married for 24 years, the couple had four children. Friends and family described them as high school sweet hearts.

Irma Garcia and co-teacher Eva Mireles were killed along with 19 children inside Robb Elementary, located about 85 miles west of San Antonio.

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Christian, the oldest child and a Marine, said a friend in law enforcement at the scene saw his mother shielding students when the alleged gunman, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, barricaded himself inside the fourth-grade classroom and opened fire. The massacre came just days before the end of the school year and what would have been Irma’s 23rd year of teaching — all of it at Robb.

The late mother-of-four was also previously named the school’s teacher of the year, and she was a 2019 recipient of the Trinity Prize for Excellence in Education from Trinity University.

In addition to her passion for teaching, Irma loved to barbecue with her family as well as listen to music and travel to Concan, a community along the Frio River about 25 miles north of Uvalde.

Family members said her death left Garcia reeling, and that they were still processing the loss of Irma when he died.

A GoFundMe Campaign created by Irma Garcia’s cousin said the widower suffered a “medical emergency” Thursday morning.

“I truly believe he died of a broken heart,” the page reads.

With News Wire Services