10-year-old victim of Texas school shooting given highest Girl Scout award for ‘heroism’

Amerie did "all she could" to try to save her classmates.

Amerie Jo Garza, a 10-year-old girl killed in the school shooting in Uvalde Texas on 24 May, has been given the highest award in the Girl Scouts organisation - the Bronze Cross. The award is given "for saving or attempting to save life at the risk of the Girl Scout's own life," according to the Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas. Amerie, who was a member of the Girl Scouts group, tragically lost her life along with 18 other students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School, when a gunman opened fire on her classroom. In a statement on Twitter, the group wrote: "On May 24, Amerie did all she could to save the lives of her classmates and teachers. It was our honor as Amerie’s council to present the Bronze Cross to her family, and Girl Scouts will continue to pay tribute at her funeral services today with a Presentation of Color. "We will carry her story with us always and ensure her brave actions will endure for generations." https://twitter.com/girlscoutsswtx/status/1531645593092857856 In an interview with CNN, Amerie's stepfather Angel Garza described how his daughter had tried to help her classmates by calling the police on her mobile phone: "She's been wanting a phone for so long and we finally got it for her. She just tried to call the police... I got confirmation from two of the students in her classroom that she was just trying to call authorities." Breaking down into tears, he said: "And I guess he just shot her... How do you look at this girl and shoot her?" He added: "She was so scared of just strangers and things like this. She would lock the door when I would step out to put gas in the car. This is literally her worst fear and she was just trying to help everyone."