Victoria Soto, a teacher at Sandy Hook school died as she tried to protect her first grade students by using her body as a human shield during Friday's tragic shooting a the school which resulted in 26 deaths.
Victoria Soto, 27, was one of six adults and 20 children killed in the elementary school shooting on Friday. Soto ushered her students into a closet when the shootings broke out.
"She was found huddled over her children, her students, doing instinctively what she knew was the right thing," her cousin Jim Wiltsie tells ABC News. "I'm just proud that Vicki had the instincts to protect her kids from harm," he continued. "It brings peace to know that Vicki was doing what she loved, protecting the children, and, in our eyes, she's a hero."
"She was trying to shield, getting her children into a closet and protect them from harm. And by doing that put herself between the gunman and the children and that is when she was tragically shot and killed."
Wiltsie said the family had taken some comfort in knowing that Soto died while doing a job that she loved.
"Her life dream was to be a teacher and her instincts kicked in when she saw there was harm coming towards her students," he told ABC News, adding: "She lost her life doing what she loved. She loved her kids. Her goal in life was to be a teacher to mould young minds."
Adam Lanza, 20, who shot dead 27 people in America's worst-ever school killing - began his rampage by shooting his mother in the face at the family's $1.6 million home in Newtown, Connecticut, dubbed America's 'safest town'.
Out of the children that were tragically killed in the massacre, 12 were girls and eight boys.
Victoria Soto taught at the school for 5 years and was remembered by one distraught 10-year-old former student as 'really nice and funny' according to Mail Online
