They were two completely different funerals. José Ángel, the 11-year-old boy who on Friday he shot teachers and students at the Cervantes de Torreón School it was done this Sunday with secrecy; while that of teacher María Assaf Medina, who died in the attack, was an emotional ceremony, which was attended by dozens of students with their families and neighbors in this city in northern Mexico shocked by this tragedy. Dressed in rigorous mourning and carrying red and white flowers, the attendees hugged and cried to say goodbye to those they consider a hero for having, they say, avoided a massacre. While the city tries to resume broken normality, the authorities announced that the return to school will take place on Monday with new safety regulations in schools.
The Jorge Serna Funeral Chapel in the city of Gómez Palacio, a neighbor of Torreón and part of the urban conglomerate known as La Laguna, began to be filled at 9 am – local time – of those who moved to honor Assaf. Here the teacher lived and here she had taught at local schools until a year ago I found a place at Cervantes College, where I taught English and French. Attendees at the ceremony remembered the teacher crying, who on the morning of the fateful Friday played a decisive role: he went to look for José Ángel after the boy left his room after asking permission to go to the bathroom and intervened when he He saw armed. It was when he shot him and then killed himself. Prosecutor’s investigations determined that Assaf died due to the bullet impacts he received on the skull and chest.
Luis Humberto, 11, was in his classroom when the attack occurred. So remember what happened in an interview with this newspaper: “When my teacher peeked out of the classroom and asked what was happening, they started screaming and said to the teacher [Assaf] something had happened to him. The miss He began to pray and cry a lot. We all worried and my classmates began to cry. I was traumatized, trembling, I didn’t understand what was happening. Another teacher came in and told us to start praying. We didn’t duck or anything because we didn’t know they were shots. Then a policeman opened the door and evacuated us from the room. Suddenly a teacher called me by my name and took me with my grandfather, because I had already arrived at school. The parents cried and ran with their children. When my mom arrived, she asked me what was going on. I told him there were shots and when he asked me who he was, I told him that José Ángel. She began to cry, because José Ángel was a very good child. ”
Luis Humberto’s parents tried to visit the funeral home where the boy was veiled, but family members did not allow them to enter and asked them to respect their privacy. About teacher Assaf, whom her parents classify as a hero, the boy says: “She was very funny and was cool. I went to school every day because I wanted to have English classes with her. I was going to give private lessons because I was doing very badly, but it always helped me and gave me extra points. In an exam we had to tell what our day to day school was like and I said that I wanted to be with her every day, because her laugh was very contagious. Each English class came in smiling. We all loved her very, very, very much. ”
The authorities of the Cervantes College, which on Saturday published a note of condolences in local newspapers in honor of Assaf, have decided to cancel the classes for three days and announced that they activated a protocol to address the trauma caused by Friday’s tragedy between Students, teachers and parents. They added that they will form a team of experts in crisis treatment, which includes psychologists and psychiatrists. Roberto Bernal, Secretary of Health of the State of Coahuila – to which Torreón belongs – informed that they will put a line of attention for people who ask for help. The Secretary of Education of the State also announced that from Monday safety measures will be taken in schools, which include the controversial ‘Operation Backpack’ in 1,300 educational centers in the region, which consists of the review of the school bags of students in coordination with the teaching staff and parents, an initiative that the Mexican authorities have carried out in public schools to guarantee “a healthy, safe and violence-free environment” among the students. “It is not an aggression against the child, but we have to reinforce actions,” Erik Varela, who is in charge of emergency care for educational entities, told local media.
Torreón was trying to return to normal over the weekend, but Friday’s attack was still the subject of conversation between his neighbors. Local authorities continue to investigate the fact, in order to answer the questions that help to understand how an 11-year-old boy could get two weapons, enter his school with them and shoot his classmates and teachers. In the event, six other people were injured, two of them seriously, but recovering from a local hospital. Perhaps the one who best summarized the feeling that the inhabitants of this industrial city live was a Peruvian singer who entertained food in a restaurant with traditional dishes. After singing Two gardenias The woman paused, took a drink of liquor and told the guests: “Let’s sing, let’s not be sad, things happen and hurt, but the wounds heal.” A shy applause rang between the tables and the woman began to interpret with melancholy Cinnamon’s flower.
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