The husband of a teacher who was fatally shot in the Uvalde shooting on Tuesday died of a heart attack, his family announced Thursday.

Joe Garcia had been the high school sweetheart of Irma Garcia, who was one of two teachers killed in the bloody rampage. The Garcias had been married for 24 years and are survived by four children, Fox26houston reported.

“EXTREMELY heartbreaking and come with deep sorrow to say that my Tia Irma’s husband Joe Garcia has passed away due to grief, I truly am at a loss for words for how we are all feeling, PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR FAMILY, God have mercy on us, this isn’t easy,” John Martinez, Garcia’s nephew, tweeted.

Irma Garcia was shot while trying to defend her fourth grade class from the shooter, who went on to kill 19 students and Irma Garcia’s colleague, Eva Mireles, according to Martinez. An 18-year-old assailant wielded an Ar-style semi-automatic rifle during his attack, which also wounded 17.