A courageous mother or four died trying to shield her little ones from gunfire during the Texas church massacre.
When the killer entered the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Joann Ward pushed Rihanna Garza, 9, to the ground and used her body to block bullets from her three younger kids, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
Her quick thinking saved two of her kids — Rihanna survived with barely a scrape, and son Ryland Ward, 5, was shot four times but is the alive in a hospital after surgery.
But Brooke Ward, also 5, died at the scene, and Emily Garza, 7, died later in a hospital.
‘‘I didn’t get shot because I was hiding, and Mama covered Emily, Ryland and Brooke,” family friend Vonda Greek Smith quoted Rihanna as telling her.
Their father, Chris, had stayed home because he’d worked the night before and was awakened by his brother with the devastating news.
“They shot up the church, everyone’s been shot,” Michael Ward told his brother, according to Buzzfeed.
The men sprinted to the church and started pulling bodies out, to find Joann and Brooke dead. Michael told the Dallas Morning News that he carried Ryland out in his own arms. The boy is in critical condition.
