Grieving Uvalde Dad Gets Poignant, Unsettling Tattoo

In July, the Austin American-Statesman published video from the hallway where police officers waited to confront the gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24. An editor's note was attached to the video: "The sounds of children screaming have been removed." Now that "chilling" note has been turned into a tattoo memorializing the victims, by one of their dads, the Houston Chronicle reports. Brett Cross' 10-year-old son Uziyah "Uzi" Garcia was among the students killed, and on Twitter Monday, he shared an image of the tattoo, an upside-down, black American flag containing those words and the date of the massacre.

"Thank you _Bratzdoll_tattoos_ on Instagram for bringing this idea to life," Cross wrote. "What started as a warning on a video of the tragedy has been reclaimed. Their screams weren’t just silenced. Their voices were indefinitely. We are their voices! #remembertheirnames #Uzi #unheardvoices." Says Abby Garcia, the tattoo artist behind the ink, "he is making sure his son's voice is heard and people make a difference from this incident. The kids voices will be heard. We need to make sure of it!" Cross has become an outspoken advocate for gun control reform and more in the wake of the massacre. See his tattoo here. (More Uvalde mass shooting stories.)