Girl gunned down in Texas school shooting after 'cops told her to shout for help’

A survivor of Tuesday’s primary school massacre claimed officers attending the scene told pupils to shout out, before they had incapacitated the 18-year-old shooter.

The boy, whose parents did not want his name revealed, said he and four others hid under a table that had a tablecloth over it, which he believed shielded them from the shooter’s view.

“When the cops came, the cop said, ‘Yell if you need help!’ And one of the persons in my class said ‘Help’. The guy overheard and he came in and shot her,” the boy told the Kens5 news station.

“The cop barged into that classroom. The guy shot at the cop. And the cops started shooting. I was hiding,” he said. “And I was telling my friend to not talk because he is going to hear us.”

The 10-year-old girl was one of 19 pupils and two teachers killed in one of the deadliest school shootings in US history.

The family of slain teacher Irma Garcia said yesterday that her husband, Joe, had died of a heart attack brought on by grief, leaving behind four children.

The cause of his death could not be confirmed yesterday.

The couple were “childhood sweethearts” who married 24 years ago, according to a biography posted on a school website.

“I truly believe Joe died of a broken heart and losing the love of his life … was too much to bear,” a family member wrote on a GoFundMe page set up for the family.

Another family member wrote on Twitter that their children – aged 13, 15, 19 and 23 – had now lost both parents.

Ms Garcia is said to have heroically tried to protect her pupils before she was killed.

More details of the shooting emerged amid growing anger in Uvalde, a small city halfway between San Antonio and the Mexican border, over the delayed police response to the attack.

A video recorded outside Robb Elementary revealed new details of the events, including that police officers restrained – and even handcuffed – parents as they tried to rescue their children from the gunman.

Javier Cazares, whose fourth-grade daughter Jacklyn Cazares was killed, said he raced to the school when he heard about the shooting, arriving while police were still gathered outside.

Upset that police were not moving in after more than an hour, he raised the idea of charging into the school with several other bystanders.

“There were five or six of us [parents], hearing the gunshots, and [officers] were telling us to move back,” Mr Cazares told the Washington Post.

“We wanted to storm the building. We were saying, ‘Let’s go’ because we wanted to get our babies out.”

Two officers can be seen kneeling on a person as others yell “There’s shooting!” and “What the f*** are you doing?”

Guidelines developed in the aftermath of the 1999 Columbine massacre instruct officers to immediately target the ­gunman.

Texas officials confirmed they are examining the police response amid conflicting law enforcement accounts and witness statements, which would include a review of radio traffic.

Meghan Markle yesterday paid a visit to a makeshift memorial in Uvalde, placing white roses at the cross for ­victim ­Uziyah Garcia (10).

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden renewed debate around the Second Amendment yesterday after claiming the bill that grants Americans the right to bear arms was not “absolute”.

He reiterated the need for “common sense” gun reform measures and urged Congress to stand up to the gun lobby.

Mr Biden, who helped pass the federal assault weapons ban while he was a senator, said on Wednesday he was ­astonished the teenager walked into a store and bought “weapons of war designed and marketed to kill.”

Ramos used an AR15 assault-style rifle bought after his 18th birthday, shooting his grandmother before laying siege to the school.

Conservatives and gun rights activists noted the Second Amendment includes the words “shall not be infringed”.

Rick Scott, a Florida senator, said: “We have our Second Amendment rights. I’m not interested in taking away rights from law-abiding ­citizens.”