In Romania, she heard church bells ringing for her child, who was killed in a school shooting in Georgia.

WINDER, Georgia – Cristina Irimie's mother was at home in her small Romanian village last week when she heard church bells ringing, a sign that a member of the community had died.

The bells, she soon learned, were in honor of her own daughter, a math teacher at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga. Cristina Irimie was gunned down Wednesday – one of four people killed in last week's shooting for which a 14-year-old faces a murder conviction.

Only days earlier, Cristina's mother, Anuta, had abandoned her daughter after visiting family in Georgia and the thriving Romanian Orthodox community in the Atlanta area. Now, an ocean away, church bells rang tragically in Apoldu de Jos, their village of 1,100 people.

She “heard the bell and asked her son, 'Oh, maybe someone died,'” George Acsente, Irimie's pastor at Saints Constantine and Helen Romanian Orthodox Church in Lilburn, Georgia, told USA TODAY. That's when her son, the victim's brother, burst into tears and shared the terrible news.

More: Romanian community in Georgia mourns teacher killed in Apalachee shooting

Two students and two teachers were killed in Wednesday's shooting at Apalachee High School. Student Colt Gray, 14, has been charged as an adult with four counts of murder. His father, Colin Gray, is also charged with murder, manslaughter and child abuse for giving his son access to the AR-14 rifle used in the shooting.

Georgia is home to more than 8,000 members of the Romanian diaspora, with a close-knit community northeast of Atlanta. Here, Christina Irimie and her husband, Dorin, participated in cultural and church activities, maintaining the connection between suburban Georgia and their roots in the Transylvania region.

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Dorin Irimie struggled with the violent loss of his wife. “He is very angry,” said Acsente. “He keeps saying, 'They took my baby away from me.'”

“I'm trying to calm him down,” the priest added. “I probably stayed with him until one in the morning.”

The couple immigrated to the United States 23 years ago, trading the shadow of the Carpathian Mountains for Interstate 75 and a booming Georgia economy. Cristina Irimie soon became a familiar face, volunteering to teach the children traditional Romanian dances or tutor them in math. She also helped other women in the church kitchen prepare traditional dishes, said her friend Nicolae Clempus. For the twice-yearly Romanian festivals, she helped the children prepare a dance performance.

Dorin Irimie may be able to attend another service for Irimie scheduled for Saturday at the church, Acsente said, but “I have no idea how he will handle it.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Romanian church bells announce teacher's shooting death in Apalachee, GA