Mother Died Protecting 2-Month-Old Baby During El Paso Mass Shooting

A 25-year-old mother died trying to shield her baby from the carnage of the El Paso shooter.

Jordan Anchondo, a young mother who had just given birth to a son two months prior, was among the 20 victims killed when a gunman opened fire in an El Paso area Walmart on Saturday.

According to the Associated Press, Anchondo was believed to be killed while trying to shield her baby from the gunfire. The infant survived but is being treated for broken bones, which investigators believe the infant suffered as a result of his heroic mother using her body to shield him.

“From the baby’s injuries, they said that more than likely my sister was trying to shield him,” Anchondo’s sister, Leta Jamrowski, told AP. “So when she got shot she was holding him, and she fell on him, so that’s why he broke some of his bones. So he pretty much lived because she gave her life.”

Jamrowski also confirmed that the family hadn’t yet heard whether her brother-in-law, Andre Anchondo, survived the shooting. “They said that if he were alive, more than likely he would have gotten in contact by now,” Jamrowski said.

Anchondo, a mother of three, was shopping for school supplies with her family on Saturday when gunfire erupted in the Walmart. Police arrested the suspect, identified as 21-year-old Patrick Crusius, who has now been charged with capital murder.