A week after the massacre perpetrated by a gunman in an elementary school in Uvalde, which shocked America, the still traumatized small Texan town buried its first child victims on Tuesday, May 31, torn between pain and anger.
The funeral of the 19 children and two teachers, who died on May 24 under the bullets of Salvador Ramos, barely 18 years old, will extend until mid-June.
The silver coffin of Amerie Jo Garza, a smiling girl who had just celebrated her tenth birthday when she was killed, was carried inside Sacred Heart Church by six men wearing shirts with red carnations.
The participants in the ceremony were massed outside the building, surrounded by a large police presence.
Amerie Jo Garza, "funny little diva who 'hated dresses'" and "had a big heart" dreamed of becoming an art teacher, described her family in her obituary.
The funeral of another victim, 10-year-old Maite Rodriguez, will take place at 7 p.m. (00 a.m. GMT Wednesday).
The little girl, who wanted to become a marine biologist, was "kind, charismatic, loving," her mother Ana Rodriguez wrote on Facebook Thursday.
"And above all, she was my best friend."
"This horrible and senseless nightmare, from which I cannot wake up, has absolutely destroyed and weakened my life and my heart," she added.
The police got "missed"
The pain of the bereaved loved ones mingled with anger at the delay in the intervention of the police, deemed too long - and which resulted in a mea culpa from the authorities.
It took about an hour for the police to intervene in the classroom where the shooter had taken refuge.
The 19 agents on site awaited the assault of a specialized unit.
The police "got it wrong", said the great-grandfather of one of the victims.
"They can tell me, 'We made a mistake. We made the wrong decision.'
But my great-granddaughter will not come back to me," explained Ruben Mata Montemayor.
This tragedy, like those that preceded it, has also awakened calls for stricter supervision of access to weapons, in this country which has more pistols and rifles than inhabitants and regularly experiences deadly shootings.
Joe Biden got to hear them firsthand as he drove to Uvalde on Sunday, voices chanting, "Do something!"
as he passed.
"Protecting Children from AR-15s"
The president “must pass laws so that we can protect children from AR-15s”, the semi-automatic weapon used at the Robb school, claimed Robert Robles, 73.
Ricardo Garcia, 47, who worked at the Uvalde hospital on the day of the tragedy, said he was unable to "remove from (his) head the screaming of the mothers to whom the bad news was announced."
"We must stop selling weapons, period," he pleaded.
The narrow majority of the Democratic Party in Congress does not allow it to pass gun control legislation on its own.
On Tuesday, the president "promised" that he would meet with elected Republicans on this subject.
Any text will require a compromise with these conservatives - traditionally more hesitant to legislate on the subject - in order to reach the necessary qualified majority.
With AFP
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