Husband confirmed dead after wife died shielding son in El Paso shooting
The husband of the young mom shot dead as she shielded her baby boy from the El Paso gunman, was also killed in the massacre, his brother said Sunday night.
Family and friends of Andre Anchondo looked for him for nearly a day after Saturday’s mass shooting at the Texas Walmart.
At around 6:30 p.m., Andre’s brother Tito Anchondo wrote on Facebook: “It’s official……he’s gone.”
Andre, 24, and his 25-year-old wife Jordan Anchondo had just dropped off her 6-year-old daughter at cheerleading practice when they went to the Walmart with their 2-month-old son to buy school supplies and party decorations.
The parents of three had just marked their first wedding anniversary and were invited to a big bash on Saturday, Tito Anchondo told The Washington Post from his home, earlier on Sunday.
They never made it.
Patrick Crusius, 21, turned the store into a slaughterhouse when he opened fire with a rifle, killing 20 people.
Several hours after the shooting, Anchondo said authorities asked him to identify Jordan at a hospital.
His infant nephew was also there, injured, but there was no sign of Andre.
“We’re desperate to know what happened to my brother,” Anchondo said earlier.
The family said they were hoping Andre would emerge as one of the more than two dozen injured.
Later, Anchondo posted that he believed, “my brother had been dead for a while and he’s still at the Walmart where he gave his life to protect his City and family.”
Most victims of the mass shooting had been inside the store and by Sunday evening police said all of the bodies had been removed. No names or ages of the victims were released.
Relatives and friends said Andre had recently turned his life around after struggles with drug addiction and run-ins with the law.
The El Paso native’s life changed when he met Jordan.
“She was his support system,” Anchondo said. “When he met Jordan, it gave him more reason to get on track with his life. He got his life in order.”
Just last year, Andre left the family car-repair business and started his own company, Andre House of Granite and Stone.
In his free time, he worked on building a home for his own family.
Jordan was a stay-at-home mother to her 6-year-old and 1-year-old daughters from previous relationships and to her infant with Andre.
Based on the baby’s injuries, including broken bones, it is likely that Jordan died while trying to shield him, her sister Leta Jamrowski, 19, said earlier.
“So when she got shot she was holding him and she fell on him, so that’s why he broke some of his bones.
“So he pretty much lived because she gave her life.”
Anchondo asked people to pray for his brother and their family and, “pray for that evil man who was sick in his mind that killed so many innocent people.”
With Post wires
Source: Read Full Article