Victoria Soto: The Heroine of Sandy Hook

By Tony Castro, Voxxi

A Hispanic first grade teacher killed in the Connecticut shooting is being hailed by her community as a heroine for bravely sacrificing herself as “a human shield” to save the lives of her students.

Victoria Soto, 27, died protecting several students, throwing her body between them and the hail of bullets the gunman fired into the closet where they were attempting to hide.

“She was found huddled over her children, her students, doing instinctively what she knew was the right thing,” her cousin Jim Wiltsie told reporters.

“I’m just proud that Vicki had the instincts to protect her kids from harm. It brings peace to know that Vicki was doing what she loved, protecting the children, and, in our eyes, she’s a hero.”

Victoria Soto protects her students in school shooting

According to reports, when she became aware there was a gunman in the school, the quick-thinking Victoria Soto hid her first-graders in closets and cabinets and told the shooter they were in the gym.

But the gunman wasn’t convinced and apparently opened fire on a closet as Soto jumped over her students to shield them.

Soto was among the six adults, all women, shot to death along with 20 children at the Sandy Hook Elementary School Friday by gunman identified as 20-year-old Adam Lanza, took his own life. His mother was also found killed in a different location.

A candlelight vigil was held for Soto Saturday night at Stratford High School.

“Hug your loved ones (and) tell them how much you love them because you never know when you’ll see them again,” Soto’s sister Carlee tweeted Saturday. “Do this in honor of Vicki.”

Soto was close to her family, with whom she still lived in a Cape Code style house in Stratford, Conn.

Her father Carlos was a crane operator with the Connecticut Department of Transportation, and her mother Donna was a nurse at Bridgeport Hospital for 30 years.

Carlos Soto bore the difficult task of identifying his daughter’s body after the shooting.

Victoria Soto’s dream was teaching

Victoria Soto’s life dream was to be a teacher, and her cousin said she gave her life for that dream.

“She lost her life doing what she loved,” Wiltsie said. “She loved her kids. Her goal in life was to be a teacher to mold young minds.”

Victoria Soto, a graduate of Eastern Connecticut State University, was also studying for a master’s degree in special education at Southern Connecticut State University.

Victoria Soto had taught at Sandy Hook for five years.

“I have a passion for learning,” she wrote on her online teacher’s page.

“In my free time I love to spend time with black lab, Roxie,” she also wrote on her Facebook page. “I love spending time with my brother, sisters and cousins,’ she wrote. “I love to spend time reading books on the beach soaking up the sun. I also love flamingos and the New York Yankees.”

School librarian Yvonne Cech recalled that Soto had gone to the Sandy Hook library early Friday morning looking for a book to read to her first graders that fateful day.

“She was amazing and a wonderful teacher,” Cech said. “She loved her kids. It seemed that at the start of each year she loved them automatically.”

Cech said her friend had been close to her family.

“I saw her at the opening of a new bookstore in Newtown a couple of weeks ago with her whole, supportive family,” she said. “She had a lovely family.”

Among Victoria Soto’s friends who filled social media sites with recollections was Amanda Enriquez of Orlando.

“Vicki Soto, a young teacher and one of my childhood friends lost her life today protecting her students,” Enriquez tweeted. “You’ll forever be a hero in my eyes.”

This article was first published in Voxxi.

Los Angeles based writer Tony Castro is the author of the critically-acclaimed “Chicano Power: The Emergence of Mexican America” and the best-selling “Mickey Mantle: America’s Prodigal Son.”