They had just dropped their oldest daughter off at cheerleading practice when they pulled into the Walmart parking lot, packed with hundreds of back-to-school shoppers like them. Jordan and Andre Anchondo grabbed their 2-month-old baby and headed inside.
It was a busy day for the Anchondos. Their daughter was having a birthday party, turning 6, so they needed to buy party decorations too. In just a few hours, family and friends would be coming over to the couple's new home for the first time, Andre's brother, Tito Anchondo, told The Washington Post.
But then came the gunfire.
And then, the silence from Jordan and Andre, who weren't picking up.
And then finally, hours later, came the phone call that Tito Anchondo dreaded the most: from authorities, asking him to come to the hospital.
Jordan, 24 and Andre, 23, were among 20 victims killed in Saturday's mass shooting at a Walmart and shopping center in El Paso, leaving their infant son without parents as they died protecting him, their family told The Post. Jordan's death was confirmed Saturday. Family members confirmed Andre's death to The Post late Sunday night, after waiting more than 24 hours to find out what happened to him.
Tito and other family members said they believe Andre died trying to shield his wife and son from the gunfire.
Jordan's sister, Leta Jamrowski, told the Associated Press that based on the baby's injuries, Jordan died shielding their baby.
"He pretty much lived because she gave her life," Jamrowski, 19, told the AP.
Jordan was holding him in her arms when she died, Jamrowski said. She fell on him as she collapsed onto the floor, breaking some of his bones but keeping him alive, her sister said.
Jordan's aunt, Elizabeth Terry, told CNN that when the baby was "pulled from under her body," his mother's blood was still on him. The baby, named Paul, suffered only broken fingers, she said, and is now at home recovering.
"How do parents go school shopping and then die shielding their baby from bullets?" Terry said.
At the time they died, the young couple had plenty to look forward to, their daughter's birthday party included.
Days before the shooting, Jordan and Andre had just celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary, Tito said. In the past year, the newlyweds welcomed their new son into the world, and Andre had quit the family auto-repair business to start one of his own, Andre House of Granite and Stone. He had built the family's house himself, Tito said.
After he'd been stuck in a rut, finally everything seemed to be looking up for his brother, which Tito attributed to his love for Jordan. She was a stay-at-home mom, caring for the infant, her 1-year-old daughter and soon-to-be 6-year-old. Jordan's daughters were from earlier relationships, Tito said.
"She was his support system," Tito said. "When he met Jordan, it gave him more reason to get on track with his life. He got his life in order."