Community remembers Santa Fe HS shooting victims as heroes

SANTA FE, Texas (KTRK) -- Time in Santa Fe will now be divided between life before and after the shooting that happened here.

The eerie shooting that killed 10, left others like Sarah Salazar badly injured.

"She's still intubated, so I can't talk to her, but she has been trying to open her eyes," said Sarah's mom, Sonia Lopez, who wanted to thank first responders for keeping her daughter alive.

Other families, like 15-year-old Christian Garcia's, who was killed after the gunman's shot went through the door he held for others and struck him, are left struggling with the unthinkable and saying goodbye to their own children.

"Proud of her son, but wanting to hold her baby. At 15 years old, that's not what you're supposed to give your life doing," said Garcia's family pastor Keenan Smith of the family's pain.

The family of substitute teacher, Cynthia Tisdale, released a letter as a way for others to understand what they're feeling.

"She worked at the school not out of necessity, but for the love of teaching and helping others to know," the family wrote.

Many stories of heroism, sacrifice, and survival have emerged as symbols of good humanity in the midst of such evil.

SANTA FE STRONG: Remembering the victims of the Santa Fe High School shooting