Derek Jeter calls mother of teacher killed in Connecticut shooting

On Wednesday, Yankees superstar Derek Jeter placed a phone call to the mother of Victoria Soto, a first-grade teacher who was killed in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School last week.

Jeter contacted the Soto family on the day of the teacher’s funeral, according to the New York Daily News.

Soto, 27, hid her students in a closet in an attempt to protect them from gunman Alex Lanza, who forced his way into the school and killed 20 children and six adults. Some of Soto’s students survived because of her quick action.

In her eulogy Wednesday, Soto’s love of the Yankees was mentioned.

“[Jeter] must have heard about it and ... reached out,” Soto’s cousin, James Wiltsie, told the newspaper.

Soto’s sister, Carlee, tweeted her appreciation for Jeter’s gesture.

“Derek Jeter just called my mom!!!!! Thanks Vicki, she needs it thank you @yankees this meant a lot to my mother and all of us.”

Wiltsie declined to give details about the conversation between Jeter and Soto’s mother, but he said the phone call was a bright spot on a devastating day for the family.

“Nothing is going to fix the fact that she had to bury her daughter today,” Wiltsie said of Soto’s mother.

“But I’m happy that it brought some comfort ... People like Jeter have reached out. It brings some comfort to know that people recognize Vicki as a hero.”

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