Using her body as a shield, a mother dies trying to save children during church shooting

When a gunman entered First Baptist Church on Sunday, Joann Ward's motherly instincts immediately sprang into action, the Mirror Online reported. 

After pushing her 9-year-old daughter, Rihanna Garza, to the floor, Ward attempted to use her body to block the gunman's bullets from striking her three younger children, the Mirror Online said.

Ward and her 5-year-old daughter, Brooke Ward, were killed during the attack, reported the New York Daily News.

Her 7-year-old daughter, Emily Garza, died at the hospital from a severed artery, the New York Daily News said.

Rihanna and Ward's 5-year-old son, Ryland, survived the massacre in the church. The Dallas Morning News reported that Ryland was shot four times, with gunshot wounds in his stomach, groin and arm.

Vonda Greek Smith, a friend of the Ward family, posted on Facebook that Rihanna told her, "I didn't get shot because I was hiding and momma covered Emily, Ryland and Brooke."

This story was originally published November 6, 2017 at 2:12 PM with the headline "Using her body as a shield, a mother dies trying to save children during church shooting."