When she and her husband walked into Walmart with their infant son to buy school supplies, even in their wildest dreams they didn't see the tragedy about to strike.
It was just supposed to be a normal Saturday morning with people of El Paso walking around and enjoying their day or taking care of errands. But for the people who had the tragic luck of visiting the local Walmart, things turned deadly and horribly wrong. Especially for this one mother who died trying to save her child. The Daily Mail reports the heartbreaking story.
Jordan and Andre Anchondo were at the store shopping for back-to-school supplies when the shooting that took the lives of 20 people began. The 25-year-old mother-of-three had taken their infant on a simple run to the store to grab some school supplies for their other children. However, when the gunman started shooting, there was only one thought on Jordan's mind - that she had to save her baby.
Shielding her two-month-old infant son, she took the bullets that would have taken his life. Jordan's heartbroken sister, Leta Jamrowski said that she ended up falling on top of him though, resulting in injuries including broken bones. However, he is being treated in a hospital and that's what is keeping him alive.
"From the baby's injuries, they said that more than likely my sister was trying to shield him," Leta, 19, said, according to USA Today. "So when she got shot she was holding him and she fell on him, so that's why he broke some of his bones. He pretty much lived because she gave her life."
Sadly, Andre, Jordan's husband also lost his life in the shooting, reported NBC News. CNN also shared that as Jordan protected her baby, Andre had jumped in front of her to protect his wife. And in the blink of an eye, both of them were gone.
The family of #JordanAnchondo just confirmed they also lost her husband #AndreAnchondo in the #ElPasoShooting, leaving all three of their kids without their parents. Their 2-mos-old newborn, Paul, survived and will be released from the hospital today. @NBCLA pic.twitter.com/60wVkzgsOk
— John Cádiz Klemack (@johnNBCLA) August 4, 2019
According to the friend who reported his passing to the news outlet, he mentioned that Andre has just turned his life around after he had been struggling with drug dependence and run-ins with the law. The friend, Koteiba Azzam said, "I love the guy. He had the character and the charisma." In fact, Andre had also started a business which became successful in order to support his family, a family that now consists of only two little girls and the little boy who is fighting for his life.
Their relatives mentioned the couple had just celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary and had gone to the store after dropping off their 5-year-old daughter at cheer practice, reported CNN.
"The baby still had her blood on him. You watch these things and see these things and you never think this is going to happen to your family," Elizabeth said."How do parents go school shopping and then die shielding their baby from bullets?"
Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones who became victims of a callous mass shooting. According to the Daily Mail, among the other victims was a US Army veteran named Arturo Benavides who was shopping with his wife (who managed to escape the firing), Angie Englisbee, an 86-year-old grandmother, Javier Rodriguez, a 15-year-old teen, and many more. While quite a few people inside the store managed to escape, our prayers are with the ones who didn't get the chance to see another sunrise.
References:
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/04/us/el-paso-shooting-victims/index.html
