Victoria Soto- Newtown Teacher Emerges As Hero After Sandy Hook Shooting

Hola amigos: Victoria “Vicky” Soto, the Puerto Rican descent 27 year old teacher of  Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conneticut is a hero after the tragic shooting at the elementary school where she worked. She gave her life protecting the little ones on her watch, hiding them in a bathroom and closet of their classroom next to the room where the first killings of the shooter, Adam lanza, took place. The other Puerto Rican victim of the shooting was 6 year old Ana Grace Greene-Márquez, daughter of the american saxophonist Jimmy Greene and granddaughter of Maunabo Mayor, Jorge Márquez. Rest In Peace. ES

Victoria Soto Image

By: The Huffington Post

A 27-year-old teacher of Puerto Rican descent has emerged as a hero in the tragic shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.

Details remain fuzzy, but it appears that Victoria Soto hid her students in a bathroom and closet and died trying to protect them from alleged shooter Adam Lanza, according to several news reports.

“You have a teacher who cared more about her students than herself,” Mayor John Harkins of Soto’s hometown of Stratford, Conn. said, according to the Associated Press. “That speaks volumes to her character, and her commitment and dedication.”

About 300 people gathered for a memorial service Saturday night, according to the Associated Press.

A report from Fox News Latino describes Soto as a “model teacher, daughter, and citizen.”

The young educator lived with her parents, her sisters, and a brother in Stratford, Conn. in a modest Cape Cod-style house. She was single, spent time worshiping at the Lordship Community Church in Stratford and had a soft spot for her pet black Labrador, Roxy.

Her mother, Donna, was a nurse at Bridgeport Hospital for 30 years and her father, Carlos, worked for the Connecticut Department of Transportation as a crane operator. Vicki was special to her father, friends said, and it was his job to identify his child’s body following the shooting.

“She put those children first. That’s all she ever talked about,” her friend Andrea Crowell told the Associated Press. “She wanted to do her best for them, to teach them something new every day.”

Soto’s father is Puerto Rican and her mother is American, according to Puerto Rican daily El Nuevo Día, who spoke to Eliezer Soto, Victoria Soto’s uncle.

On Friday, alleged shooter Adam Lanza reportedly killed his mother Nancy, before driving to Sandy Hook Elementary and shooting 20 children and six adults. Lanza is also believed to have killed himself.

Ana Grace Greene-Marquez, 6

A year ago, 6-year-old Ana Marquez-Greene was reveling in holiday celebrations with her extended family on her first trip to Puerto Rico. This year will be heart-breakingly different.The girl’s grandmother, Elba Marquez, said the family moved to Connecticut just two months ago, drawn from Canada, in part, by Sandy Hook’s sterling reputation. The grandmother’s brother, Jorge Marquez, is mayor of a Puerto Rican town and said the child’s 9-year-old brother also was at the school but escaped safely.

Puerto Rican Genealogy