Families reflect on the 10 lives lost at Santa Fe High School

Hardworking. Funny. Loving.

Grieving family and friends recalled the endearing qualities of some of the victims of Friday’s mass shooting at a Texas high school, as authorities on Saturday released the names of the 10 killed.

Eight of the 10 were students: Kimberly Vaughan, Shana Fisher, Angelique Ramirez, Christian Riley Garcia, Jared Black, Sabika Sheikh, Christopher Jake Stone and Aaron Kyle McLeod. The other two, Glenda Perkins and Cynthia Tisdale, were teachers.

At least 13 people were injured in the attack at the high school in Santa Fe, which is about 30 miles southeast of Houston. A 17-year-old student, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, is being held on murder charges.

Here are some of the victims’ stories:

Christian Riley Garcia, 15

Christian Riley Garcia would hop on water skis and be pulled by the boat around the lake, ride Jet Skis and stay up late with his family to go night fishing during trips to Crosby, Texas, where the family would vacation in the summers.

His cousin, Ashley Fonseca, 21, said her fondest memories were with Riley at that lake. She recently promised him they would go on a trip to Six Flags amusement park soon, and he was supposed to meet her brother’s newborn baby.

On Friday, Fonseca saw there was another school shooting and thought “that’s crazy,” before realizing her cousin was missing. She learned eight hours later that he was among the dead.

“We were supposed to make the trip to go back up there this summer to go to the lake again,” she said, her voice trailing off.

Fonseca tweeted how she was at a loss for words and that her heart “is hurting sooo bad.”

In a picture posted by Crosby Church on Facebook, Riley rested his head next to a psalm he hand wrote on the door frame of what would be his new bedroom.

The scripture read: “He said, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.'”

Christopher Jake Stone, 17

Stone was among a group of students who blocked the door to try to prevent the gunman from entering their art classroom, freshman Abel San Miguel, who was in the class, told The Associated Press. The shooter fired his shotgun through the door, though, striking Stone in the chest, he said.

Stone was outgoing, “really funny” and had a lot of friends, said Branden Auzston, a 17-year-old junior at Santa Fe High. He said he knew Stone for about three years, and Stone was one of his best friends.

Auzston’s mother, Nicole Auzston, described Stone as a part of her family.

“We would have done anything for him,” she said. “He’s just a great kid.”

He was never the biggest player on the football field. But he was versatile, playing center, guard, defensive tackle and wherever else a coach needed him, said Mercedez Stone, his sister.

There was another quality that made him indispensable: “He had lot of heart,” Mercedez, 19, said in a Facebook message.

“Being a brother was his best job,” Mercedez Stone said. “He was always there if someone needed someone to listen or some cheering up. Definitely the life of the party, and one of the most understanding, open-minded kids I know.”

Sabika Sheikh, 18

Abdul Aziz Sheikh thought his daughter would be safe in the United States, sending his daughter to a school in Texas as part of a cultural exchange program created by the U.S. State Department to foster understanding. But Sabika Sheikh, 18, was killed Friday while at school.

“We found out about the shooting from a local TV channel, and tried, but failed, to contact Sabika and her friends,” her father said in an interview from Karachi, describing the episode as like a nightmare.

Sabika was the eldest of three sisters and had an older brother. Another exchange student, Sayyed Zaman Haider, said Sheikh was about to return home to them: The academic year was ending, so she was almost done with her cultural exchange. Her family said he was due home on June 9, and her relatives had been counting the days, her father said.

She had been hoping to become a social worker to address women’s issues in Pakistan, with an aim of empowering women there, said her uncle, Jalil Sheikh.

Her uncle described Sabika as “very jolly and brilliant” and said she always encouraged and motivated others.

Sabika Sheikh was in Texas with the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study program, which was created in 2003 to promote democracy, civic engagement, and national security, according to an official with the State Department. More than 10,000 students from approximately 45 countries have spent an academic year at U.S. high schools, living with American families who volunteer with the program. She was one of 72 students from Pakistan this year.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement Saturday that “Sabika’s death and that of the other victims is heartbreaking and will be mourned deeply both here in the United States, and in Pakistan.”

Ambassador David Hale of the U.S. Embassy Pakistan announced early Saturday that he had called Sabika Sheikh’s family to offer his deepest condolences.

“As an exchange student, Sabika was a youth ambassador, a bridge between our peoples and cultures,” he wrote on the embassy’s Facebook page. “All of us at the U.S. Mission in Pakistan are devastated by and mourn her loss. We will honor her memory.”

The American Councils for Interational Exchange, which administered the program for the State Department, said in a statement Saturday that officials there are grieving.

“Exchange is an experience filled with new discoveries and friendship. We are devastated that this tragedy has become part of the narrative for one of our students,” the group said. “We send our deepest condolences to Sabika’s friends, family, and loved ones in the U.S., Pakistan, and around the world.”

Cynthia Tisdale, 63

A substitute teacher, Tisdale frequently worked at Santa Fe High School, said her son, Recie Tisdale. The 63-year-old started to substitute teach because “she loved to help children,” he said.

“She didn’t have to do it,” said Recie Tisdale, a police detective. “She did it because she loved it.”

Leia Olinde said Tisdale, her aunt, was like a mother to her and helped her shop for wedding dresses last year.

“She helped me put it on, she helped fix my hair,” Olinde said through tears.

“She was wonderful. She was just so loving,” said Olinde, 25. “I’ve never met a woman who loved her family so much.”

She said Tisdale was married to her husband for close to 40 years and that they had three children and eight grandchildren.

Tisdale’s house was the center of family gatherings and she loved cooking Thanksgiving dinner and decorating her house, Olinde said.

Olinde’s fiance, Eric Sanders, said of Tisdale that “words don’t explain her lust for life and the joy she got from helping people.”

Aaron Kyle McLeod, 15

McLeod, a freshman who went by Kyle, could always be counted on to make light of any situation, said close friend Kali Reeves, who added she wouldn’t have been surprised if the 15-year-old “made a joke about getting shot” if he were still alive.

Reeves, 15, said she knew McLeod for years and became close friends with him in the eighth grade. She said he always had a smile on his face and loved to hang out with his friends.

“He was never one to be a sad or down person, he always had to joke or laugh about things,” she said. “He was just outgoing and super sweet. He definitely didn’t deserve this.”

Reeves heard that her friend had been shot as she was evacuating Santa Fe High School. She joked to her boyfriend that if she FaceTimed McLeod, he would have “made a joke about him getting shot,” adding that “he just always looked on the bright side of things.”

Reeves said she texted McLeod throughout the day to check up on him. She sent him one final text, saying she hopes he “gets better.” Shortly after, she checked Facebook and learned he was one of the 10 killed.

Jared Black, 17

Jared Black was in his favorite class – art – when he was shot and killed on Friday, family members said. It took 13 hours after the shooting for his father to find out what had happened to him, according to a family friend, Elizabeth McGinnis.

Now, Jared’s father is “broken and devastated,” McGinnis wrote in a statement.

Black recently turned 17 and his birthday party had been scheduled for Saturday.

“We miss him so much,” his half brother, Nick Black, and a close friend wrote in a statement. “We wish we would see him at least one more time.”

Black loved playing Minecraft on Xbox and Pokémon Go on his cellphone, they wrote.

Angelique Ramirez, 15

A family friend confirmed that Angelique Ramirez was killed in Santa Fe High School on Friday. In less than 15 hours, a $10,000 online fundraising goal in her memory was exceeded.

Ramirez was compassionate and caring, Rebecca Ruiz, a family friend, wrote on Ramirez’ GoFundMe page. Contacted Saturday, Ruiz said that Ramirez’ mother, Robin, has requested privacy as the family grieves.

“She brought smiles to those who knew her,” Ruiz wrote. “In losing Angelique, her friends and family lost so much.”

Shana Fisher, 16

Shana Fisher doted on her dog Kallie and was a beautiful, smart, funny and talented girl, her mother told the Houston Chronicle. She turned 16 the same month she was killed.

“She had a lot of love in her heart,” Fisher’s mother told the newspaper.

An aunt, Candi Thurman, posted to Twitter in the hours after the shooting, when Shana’s fate was still uncertain: “Still no confirmation on where she is. Please keep praying!” Thurman wrote. On Saturday, she tweeted of Shana: “She should be getting her first car, not a funeral.”

Kimberly Vaughan

Kandi Hart, a member of Vaughan’s family, told the Antelope County News in Nebraska that Kimberly was in her first-period art class on Friday when she was killed. Kimberly’s mother, Rhonda, “searched for many hours for any information” to find her daughter, Hart said. Kimberly’s family was eventually notified that she had been killed, Hart said.

“We are asking that you keep all of us, especially Rhonda and her son in your prayers,” Hart told the Antelope County News. “Kim is now in heaven with her Lord.”

School shootings were “extremely difficult,” she said, but it was much more difficult when it involved a family member.

“Thank you everyone for your prayers and well wishes this afternoon, it truly helps,” she said.

Glenda Ann Perkins

Within hours of the attack, students and others on social media were expressing horror that someone they described as a grandma, a sweetheart and a nurturing angel had been hurt. But the Galveston County district attorney announced Saturday that Glenda Perkins was killed Friday in the Santa Fe High attack.

Most people knew her as Ann – her middle name – Perkins.

A local dance group, TNT Dance Xplosion, asked for prayers for her daughter, who had been with the group, and for her husband: “She was an amazing mom and an adored substitute who was loved by all.”

A fundraising website shared a photo of her with a warm smile, and said she had died trying to protect her students.

John Barnes

School police officer John Barnes was shot in the arm when he confronted the gunman.

A bullet damaged the bone and a major blood vessel around Barnes’ elbow, which required surgery to repair, said David Marshall, chief nursing officer at the University of Texas Medical Branch.

Barnes was the first to engage Pagourtzis, according to Marshall.

Walter Braun, the school district’s chief of police, said Saturday that the last he had heard, Barnes was in critical condition.

Rome Shubert

Sophomore baseball player Rome Shubert said the gunman walked into his classroom and tossed something onto desks.

Shubert told the Houston Chronicle that he then heard “three loud pops” before the attacker fled into the hall. Shubert said he realized he’d been wounded as he was running out the back door.

Shubert said he was hit in the back of his head with what he says was a bullet, but that it “missed everything vital.” He also tweeted that he was OK and stable.

The Associated Press and Washington Post contributed to this story.