Friends, families of those slain at Texas school tell their stories
Julie Bosman
Authorities have released the names of the 10 people who were killed in the mass shooting at a Texas high school.
The Galveston County medical examiner’s office and sheriff ’s office issued a statement Saturday listing those killed as Glenda Perkins, Cynthia Tisdale, Kimberly Vaughan, Shana Fisher, Angelique Ramirez, Christian Riley Garcia, Jared Black, Sabika Sheikh, Christopher Jake Stone and Aaron Kyle McLeod.
Perkins and Tisdale were teachers. The others were students at Santa Fe High School.
Relatives and associates have begun to share the stories of some of those who died.
SHANA FISHER
The family of Shana Fisher, a student at Santa Fe High School, announced that she did not survive the shooting.
Shana was in the art room at the time of the attack, her aunt, Candi Thurman, wrote on Twitter.
Shana’s mother told the Houston Chronicle that Shana was shy and sweet, had just turned 16 and was devoted to her dog, Kallie.
ANGELIQUE RAMIREZ
Family and friends called Angelique Ramirez compassionate and funny, a loving older sister with a contagious smile.
Her aunt, Sylvia Pritchett, announced her death.
“With a broken heart and a soul that just can’t process all this right now, I have to announce my niece was one of the fatalities,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “Please keep all the families in your thoughts, and hug your children tightly.”
SABIKA SHEIKH
On the Pakistani Embassy in Washington’s Facebook page, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States expressed condolences for the victims. Among them, he said, was a Pakistani exchange student at the school named Sabika Sheikh.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Sabika’s family and friends,” the ambassador, Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, said.
U.S. officials said Sabika had been part of a State Department-sponsored program for exchange students, the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program. A State Department official said the department extended its deepest condolences to Sabika’s family and friends, and that David Hale, the ambassador to Pakistan, was reaching out to her family.
“As an exchange student, Sabika was a youth ambassador, a bridge between our peoples and cultures,” Hale said on Facebook on Saturday. “All of us at the U.S. Mission in Pakistan are devastated by and mourn her loss. We will honor her memory.”
‘We both had two left feet. You were always smiling.’
CHRISTOPHER STONE
At 17 years old, Christopher Stone was the baby of the family, the youngest of three siblings. But he still played the role of protector to his sisters, Angelica and Mercedez, as if he were the oldest, said his father, who is also named Christopher.
“Being a brother was his best job,” Stone said. “He was always there if someone needed someone to listen or some cheering up.”
Chris was adventurous beyond his years, the life of the party, up for any thrill. He hiked mountains in Colorado. Zip-lined in Alabama. Parasailed in Mexico.
He was a football player for Santa Fe High School. Not the biggest guy on the team, his father said, “but he had lots of heart.”
On Twitter, Chris’ friends mourned his death, remembering his easy charm and happy nature. At a quinceañera, one friend wrote, Chris danced up a storm. “We both had two left feet,” she wrote. “You were always smiling.”
CYNTHIA TISDALE
Cynthia Tisdale was killed in the shooting, her brother-in-law, John Tisdale, announced on Facebook. Her family said she was a teacher.
John Tisdale asked his friends to pray for Cynthia Tisdale’s husband, the Rev. William Recie Tisdale, and their children.
Cynthia Tisdale was a member of Anchor Bible Baptist Church in Pharr, Texas, he said.
“We never know when our death will come,” he wrote. “Cynthia planned on one day retiring and being a full-time grandmother. It will never happen.”
KIM VAUGHAN
Rhonda Hart wrote on Facebook that her daughter, Kimberly Vaughan, was one of the victims, a student in first-period art class.
She hashtagged her message with #fightforkim and #oneof10.
“Folks — call your damn senators. Call your congressmen,” she wrote. “We need GUN CONTROL. WE NEED TO PROTECT OUR KIDS.”