Matthew McConaughey Texas shooting

In this file photo, actor Matthew McConaughey looks on during the second half of the Allstate Sugar Bowl between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Texas Longhorns at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 01, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Image: Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images/AFP

Texas shooting: Matthew McConaughey lends a hand to hometown

Matthew McConaughey met with families and those affected by the Uvalde shooting, including parents who lost their kids

Matthew McConaughey Texas shooting

In this file photo, actor Matthew McConaughey looks on during the second half of the Allstate Sugar Bowl between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Texas Longhorns at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 01, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Image: Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images/AFP

Hollywood actor Matthew McConaughey is doing all he can to help the families of victims from the recent shooting which rocked his hometown, Uvalde.

An 18-year-old gunman stormed the  Robb Elementary School and shot and killed 21 people – two teachers and 19 children between the ages of seven and 11.

McConaughey visited with Rep. Tony Gonzales at Uvalde Civic Center. During the visit, he also met with families and those affected by the shooting, including parents who lost their kids during the incident.

“This week was a solemn reminder that evil exists in the world, but we will never let it break us. We’ll unite to be an even more powerful reminder that love never fails & together we can change things. Appreciate Uvalde native Matthew McConaughey helping us heal,” Gonzales wrote on Twitter after McConaughey’s visit.

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY ON TEXAS SHOOTING

Matthew McConaughey’s trip to Uvalde came after he shared a message, in response to the shooting.

“This is an epidemic we can control, and whichever side of the aisle we may stand on, we all know we can do better. We must do better,” McConaughey added. “Action must be taken so that no parent has to experience what the parents in Uvalde and the others before them have endured,” he wrote.

McConaughey was born in Uvalde, where he lived for much of his childhood. His mother taught at school not far from Robb Elementary, where the shooting occurred.

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Meanwhile, it was learnt that the husband of one of the two teachers who were killed has reportedly died of a heart attack after learning of her passing. Irma Garcia taught at the school for 23 years and was married to her husband Joe Garcia, with whom she had four children.

According to Irma’s nephew, Joe went to place flowers for his late wife at the memorial for her. He then returned home from the memorial honouring victims of the Texas school shooting.

“When he got home, he was at home for no more than three minutes after sitting down on a chair with the family. He just fell over. They tried doing chest compressions, and nothing worked. The ambulance came, and they couldn’t, they couldn’t bring them back,” he said.