Uvalde’s Long Road to Recovery After the 2022 School Shooting

Three years after the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, survivors continue to struggle with trauma and limited long-term support.

On May 24, 2022, an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 children and two teachers, injuring 17 others in the deadliest school shooting in Texas history. Among those deeply affected was former teacher Amy Franco, who ran to warn students during the attack. 

In the days that followed, she was wrongly accused by police of leaving a door propped open, an error later disproven by video footage. “I closed the door! I closed the door!” Franco shouted from her hospital bed after suffering an anxiety attack. 

“I died that day,” she told KNSI Radio during a recent interview.

Now 60, Franco lives with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and a foot injury that requires her to walk with a cane. Her workers’ compensation claim was denied, and her benefits were recently reduced from $487 to $315 a week. She received temporary support from the Texas Crime Victims’ Compensation Program, but payments stopped after a year, claiming she had already exceeded the amount that can be funded.

In 2022, Texas created the Uvalde Together Resilience Center with a $5 million state grant and allocated $1.25 million to the local school district for trauma and counseling services. But Franco said many survivors had to navigate the system on their own.

Father Michael K. Marsh of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church distributed national donations to families in need and helped launch The Children’s Bereavement Center, which provides free bilingual therapy. 

The center now offers more than 100 therapy appointments each week. Its director, Brenda Faulkner, said grief recovery takes time, especially in a town where many families live below the poverty line.

“You lose someone that’s dear to you, and then you’re expected in three days to have worked through the loss,” she said. “That’s just not realistic.”

For others, activism has become a form of healing. Gloria Cazares, Kimberly Mata-Rubio, and Verónica Mata—who lost their daughters Jackie, Lexi, and Tess—founded Lives Robbed, a nonprofit advocating against gun violence. 

“I don’t know if I’m finally letting myself grieve, but it’s a lot harder to get myself out of bed,” Cazares said.

A 2024 report by The Economic Hardship Reporting Project found gun violence remains the leading cause of death for U.S. children and teenagers, with gun homicide rates among Hispanic males up 70 percent from 2013 to 2022.

After two decades at St. Philip’s, Marsh retired this year, saying Uvalde’s healing will take decades. “In some ways, they’re treating the symptoms, but not the disease. And we’ve got to move to treat the disease,” he said.

For Franco, recovery still feels distant. “It’s a struggle mentally, physically, emotionally,” she said.

For more information regarding gun violence in Texas, visit RA’s site Gun Violence Watch and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and X.