Tragic class photo released one year on from school shooting
At first glance, this looks like any other class photo. But the haunting truth behind the students’ faces will shock you.
Looking at the bright, happy, smiling faces of these schoolchildren on picture day, you could never imagine the horror that lay ahead.
This poignant class photo was taken mere weeks before an unspeakable tragedy would change the lives of those in a small Texas town forever.
One year ago this week, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos stormed through the front doors of Robb Elementary School and mercilessly gunned down 19 innocent children and their two devoted teachers.
Aged between nine and 11, the fourth grade classmates in these group photos had their whole lives ahead of them – but sadly, that would be ripped away in an instant.
On May 24, 2022, students Nevaeh Alyssa Bravo, 10, Jacklyn Jaylen Cazares, 9, Makenna Lee Elrod, 10, Jose Manuel Flores Jr, 10, Eliahna Amyah Garcia, 9, Uziyah Sergio Garcia, 10, Amerie Jo Garza, 10, Xavier James Lopez, 10, Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, 10, Tess Marie Mata, 10, Maranda Gail Mathis, 11, Alithia Haven Ramirez, 10, Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez, 10, Maite Yuleana Rodriguez, 10, Alexandria Aniyah Rubio, 10, Layla Marie Salazar, 11, Jailah Nicole Silguero, 10, Eliahna Cruz Torres, 10 Rojelio Fernandez Torres, 10, and teachers Irma Garcia, 48, and Eva Mireles, 44, were murdered in a horrific school shooting.
The teenage gunman Ramos was shot dead by police after a lengthy wait – a move that was heavily criticised by many.
The event remains the third-deadliest school shooting in the United States, after the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012.
It is the ninth-deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.
Before this tragedy, Uvalde was just like any other community in small town America.
Two months earlier, photographer Nancy and Art Sutton from Uvalde Photo went to Robb elementary to facilitate the school’s annual picture day.
Nancy takes great pride in capturing class photos, a moment in time that their parents will be able to treasure forever.
But little did she know, these photos of the two classes would hold more meaning than she ever imagined.
For 19 of these children, it would be the last school picture that they would ever be in.
“Our company, Uvalde Photo, are the school photographers here,” Nancy told news.com.au.
“We take individual fall [autumn] photos when school starts, and in February we take class group photos.
“The parents can purchase the photos if they want to. Some do and some don’t, as we are a very poor community.
“When the tragedy happened, we went through all our files and gifted all parents the individual photos we took in the fall.
“We went all the way back to kindergarten too. Many parents cried for joy, as they had never seen the photos before as they did not have the money to buy them.
“We gifted the class group photos as well. It was very emotional finding all the digital files and gifting each parent the photos.
“There were many tears involved. I’ll never forget the mothers’ cries when they came in for their photo package we made them. It was so heartbreaking.
The tight-knit community of Uvalde has not been the same since the school shooting.
Like so many other places across America – Columbine, Newtown, Parkland to name a few – the town’s name will forever be synonymous with unspeakable tragedy, conjuring up images of death, despair and heartache when it is mentioned in the media.
But while the town of just over 15,000 people will never forget what happened, they also do not want to be defined by evil.
“It is sad that we are known for this,” Nancy said.
“It is something we will never get over, but we will get through it.
“We, as a community, will never forget, but we do have to move forward. We continue to pray for the families and encourage them as much as we can️.
“There are so many counselling services available to anyone that needs them, and I do believe many people are using them.
“Our community wants to be remembered as coming together during this tragedy.
“So many of us rallied around the families through prayer, monetary gifts, meals, and so much more.
“There were so many donations that came from our community to them, as well as from all over the world. They had tremendous support.”
Nancy said it has been difficult to reconcile with the fact she took these children’s last class photograph, adding that it has changed the way she takes pictures in the future.
“It has been hard; our community will never forget,” she said.
“When I’m taking school photos now, I take the extra time to fix their hair, shirts and do my best to make them smile.
“You never know when it is going to be a child’s last school photo.”
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