- An off-duty soldier told media outlets he scooped up children and rushed them to safety during the El Paso shooting.
- He said he saw a number of children running around without their parents, and that he and another man picked up roughly three apiece and hauled them out of the mall.
- Authorities said Saturday that 20 people were killed and 26 injured in the shooting. One suspect is in custody.
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An off-duty soldier is drawing widespread praise after telling media how he picked up children during the El Paso shooting and carried them to safety.
Army specialist Glendon Oakley told the local television station KVIA that he was inside the Cielo Vista Mall when a young child approached and told him there was an active shooter inside the Walmart nearby.
"A little kid ran in there telling us 'there's an active shooter in Walmart,' but we didn't pay it no attention because for one it's a just little kid, and for two we're at the mall and not at Walmart," Oakley said. "We just didn't pay no mind."
But Oakley said as he walked into a Foot Locker store, he heard two gunshots followed by the sounds of people starting to run and scream.
"I'm in the military, so when I hear the gunshots we're trained to think fast. Grab your weapon, think fast, take cover, do anything you can," he said.
Read more: 20 people killed, 26 injured injured in a mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart, Texas officials say
He added that he had his gun with him, and was licensed to carry.
But as he fled the mall, he saw "a whole bunch of kids just running around without their parents." He said he and another man acted quickly, and started scooping the children up.
"The only thing I think of is just to pick up as many kids as possible. Maybe a total of 13 kids running around, but I could only get about three. I think he grabbed three as well," Oakley said. "I was just focused on the kids, I wasn't really worried about myself. I put my head down and just ran as fast as I could."
Texas officials said Saturday that 20 people were killed in the shooting, and another 26 were injured.
One suspect, a 21-year-old white male, is in custody, according to the El Paso Police Department. Investigators are looking into an anti-immigrant manifesto they believe the shooting suspect may have authored.
- Read more:
- 2020 candidates and local celebrities react to the deadly shooting in El Paso, Texas that killed at least 18 people on Saturday
- Authorities are investigating an anti-immigrant manifesto they believe the El Paso shooting suspect may have written
- 3 Mexican nationals were killed and 6 were wounded in the El Paso shooting, Mexican officials say
- The El Paso shooting suspect appears to have posted about his rampage on 8chan — and it shows how the massacre of innocent people is becoming 'gamified'
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