AURORA, Colo. — Ashley Moser drifted in and out of consciousness in the ICU, bullets lodged in her throat and abdomen. In her waking moments, she called for her 6-year-old daughter Veronica.
Nobody had the heart to tell her that Veronica was already dead, the youngest victim killed at a Colorado movie theater in one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history.
“Nobody can tell her about it,” Annie Dalton said of her cousin, Ashley Moser. “She is in critical condition, but all she’s asking about is her daughter.”
SPORTS BLOGGER SLAIN WEEKS AFTER CHEATING DEATH IN MALL GUN RAMPAGE
DAD’S ANGUISHED CRY: ‘FIND MY SON!’
Veronica was to start learning swimming lessons on Tuesday, Dalton said.
“She was excited about life as she should be. She’s a 6-year-old girl,” her great-aunt said
The young girl was among the 12 people killed when a gunman barged into a crowded Colorado theater, set off gas canisters and opened fire as spectators dove for cover. Dozens of others were injured, including the 25-year-old Ashley Moser and 10 others in critical condition as of Friday night.
The victims’ identities have emerged one by one after authorities told their families of their deaths. By late Saturday morning, relatives and family spokesmen had confirmed the identities of half of those who died.
One is 27-year-old Matt McQuinn. His family’s attorney, Rob Scott of Dayton, Ohio, said McQuinn was killed after diving in front of his girlfriend and her older brother to shield them from the gunfire. Scott’s account could not be immediately verified.
On Saturday morning, parents of John Larimer released a statement that Navy officials notified them about midnight that their 27-year-old son was one of the 12 killed.
The family said that Larimer’s brother is working with the Navy to take his body home to Crystal Lake, Ill. He was with a unit that belongs to U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. Tenth Fleet at Buckley Air Force.
Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said Friday evening that 10 victims died at the theater and two others later died from their injuries.