An 8-year-old special needs child died of his injuries from the San Bernardino school shooting. Jonathan Martinez was one of two students badly injured when Cedric Anderson gunned down his estranged wife, Karen Elaine Smith.
Authorities believed the children were near their teacher when the shooting happened. The 8-year-old was part of an intensive multi-level special needs class Smith handled with 15 students at the North Park Elementary School, as per Romper.
Martinez had Williams Syndrome, a genetic developmental disorder, as per Daily Mail. Not much was detailed about the boy but Martinez's family set up a GoFundMe page in the wake of their devastating lost. It's meant to pay for the boy's funeral expenses.
Too many. Another school shooting. This one at an elementary school, taking the life of an 8 yr old boy #JonathanMartinez #EnoughIsEnough pic.twitter.com/8AY4QxAqA8
— Laureen (@laureenm01) April 11, 2017
Meanwhile, the other student brought to the hospital is now in stable condition. Authorities suspected Anderson intended the shooting to be a murder-suicide following his separation from Smith.
The couple was only a few months married when Smith decided to leave her husband. She and Anderson frequently squabbled so she stayed with relatives as she feared for her life, sources told NBC Los Angeles.
Her colleagues at the school, however, were not aware of her domestic problems. One of the murdered teacher's four adult children, Adam Smith, said his mom went to school that day not knowing she would be "putting anyone in danger" and that she did not deserve to die in this violent manner.
Adam and his sister Jennifer attested students loved their mother, who had been teaching special needs for 10 years. "Children were the light of her world and their success was hers," Jennifer said. All of Smith's four adult kids were homeschooled.
Meanwhile, North Park parents were shattered when news about the shooting surfaced. The scene immediately following the incident was chaotic as classrooms were locked down while parents stood anxiously outside the school, as per Metro.
"As a parent, I couldn't breathe. I was having a panic attack," mom Gina Corrales told the press, adding her daughter developed nightmares. "She was scared. She was crying."
