UVALDE, Texas (KXAN) — Some families are still awaiting word on the condition of their children Tuesday night after a shooting killed 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.

When we spoke with Alfred Garza Tuesday, he didn’t know how badly hurt his 9-year-old daughter Amy Jo was. He had to wait outside a church near the school for a definitive answer.

“We know she’s injured; we just don’t know her state yet,” Garza said.

By Wednesday morning, NBC News had confirmed with Garza that Amy Jo had died.

Other families were in the same situation as the sun set Tuesday in Uvalde, a city about 85 miles southwest of San Antonio. One by one, family members of school children were called into a church to receive the news they were hoping for or some they aren’t sure they can handle.

Garza expressed frustration over investigators and state officials for releasing death numbers before families were notified.

“We don’t know anything about our children,” he said, “and yet they can put that information out there to public, and yet we’re still waiting to hear from our own children.”

Garza had prepared for the worst Tuesday night.

“I’m just trying to be strong for my family, for my daughter,” he told KXAN in an interview before learning of Amy Jo’s death. “I know she’s out there — hopefully she’s out there, and she’s scared. I know she’s scared.”