Who was Eva Mireles? Texas Elementary School shooting victim identified as death toll rises to 22

As the investigation into the Robb Elementary School shooting in Texas continues, primary school Eva Mireles (44) has been identified as one of the deceased. The death toll is currently 22.

On May 24, 2022, 18-year-old Salvador Rolando Ramos walked into Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, with loaded guns. He arrived at the school after fatally shooting his grandmother at their home. Ramos opened fire on students and teachers before engaging in a gunfight with police and border patrol officers. He was eventually fatally wounded.

While Mireles was identified as one of Ramos’ victims, the names of many of the victims currently remain unknown.

According to the Independent, Mireles was a bilingual 4th-grade special education teacher who had been with the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District for 17 years. Speaking to the Times, her aunt, Lydia Martinez Delgado, told reporters that her niece sacrificed her life to protect her students.

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Texas elementary school teacher was a passionate educator

According to Robb Elementary School's website, Mireles was a mother with a keen interest in hiking and jogging. She recently learned how to ride a bike. According to the Independent, her husband, a police officer with the Uvalde Consolidated School District (UCISD), participated in an active shooter drill at the high school two months before the incident.

Locals told news outlets reported that Mireles had been a pleasant and well-liked member of a small community about 80 miles away from San Antonio, the second-largest city in Texas.

In an interview with The Post, one of Mireles’s neighbors mourned her tragic passing.

“She was the sweetest person and she would take her cute dogs out on walks and she would say say hello."

She continued:

“Her husband is a police officer and they are just very nice people. We are in shock something like this would happen.”

Mireles was the first of the two adult victims to be identified. Another Robb primary school teacher, identified as Irma Garcia, was confirmed to have died afterward.

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A community and nation mourn the attack on a small Texas elementary school

The attack on the small, predominantly Hispanic town has elicited responses from community members, celebrities, and leaders.

Mireles’ aunt Martinez Delgado expressed her despair and frustration at the situation in a Facebook post.

“I’m furious that these shootings continue. These children are innocent. Rifles shouldn't be easily available at all.”

The post continued:

“This is my hometown, a small community of less than 20,000. I never imagined this would happen to especially loved ones… All we can do is pray hard for our country, state, schools, and especially the families of all.”

CNN reported that due to the town’s demographics and its proximity to the Texas border with Mexico, the Mexican government is also assisting.

The office of the Mexican secretary of Foreign Relations released the following statement:

“The government condemns this act of violence that has cost children’s lives and devastated families in a predominantly Hispanic town.”

The proximity to the Mexican border and the involvement of border patrol officers prompted a response from Chris Magnus, Commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection.

In his statement, he said:

“One behalf of the entire CBP workforce, I extend my deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims from today’s horrific school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.”

He continued:

“CBP responded immediately to the incident with local law enforcement. Many of our local CBP personnel live in Uvalde; they call this community home, and they work to protect their families, friends, and neighbors every single day.”

The tragic incident also provoked a discussion in the Texas Senate. In the past, leaders have offered several explanations as to why mass shootings occur at such an alarming frequency in America, ranging from mental health to video games.

However, US Senator Chris Murphy passionately urged his colleagues to make firearms less accessible across the state, delivering an impassioned statement on why weapons access laws must be federally tightened.

He said:

“What are we doing? Why are we here? Why are we here if we don't solve a problem as existential as this.”

According to a report by EducationWeek, 119 shootings have taken place in American schools since 2018. As per a report by the Gun Violence Archive, 212 mass shootings have taken place in the country this year. The attack on the Texas Primary school followed another mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, just two weeks ago.