ALLEN, Texas — On Saturday, May 6, 15 people were shot at the Allen Premium Outlets. Eight of them died.
Hundreds of people are left with a scarring memory.
“We're still going through those situations in our mind mentally,” said Scotty Montez. His family was inside the Nike store when they heard gunshots. "I immediately just grabbed my son and dove down."
Scotty was with 10-year-old Alejandro, separated from his wife, Sarah Montez, and 9-year-old Lorenzo.
Sarah said, “Alejandro and Scotty should have been outside. And so me as a mom, I started freaking out.”
As everyone ran to the back room of the store, they found each other and waited until police let them out.
They were asked to keep moving and to keep their hands in the air. As the Montez's crossed the street toward the North Face store with a crowd of people, a loud sound rang out.
“We hear a gunshot. And so everybody stops and we're like, wait, what is that? And then we heard another shot and that's when you see us running towards you guys,” said Sarah.
I was standing at the back of the stores when the Montez family ran in my direction. A moment captured on my camera has captivated people across the country. Lorenzo is seen screaming "run" as his mom grabs his arm while they sprint toward the lens.
In that moment, the Montez’s say all they knew was to run. They weren’t given any updates on the shooter or potential threats.
After the shooting, Lorenzo told his parents he was screaming at the camera person to run.
“I was thinking I didn't want no one to get hurt,” Lorenzo said.
I asked, “So were you telling that to us? To me?”
“Yes,” he replied.
Lorenzo was worried for others.
Scotty said, “When you're hearing my son saying run, that was an act of kindness from his heart.”
He is a glimpse of humanity in tragedy. And the video is a moment of a child’s innocence being taken away.
“Going over, watching that video over and over to this day, we still have tears in our eyes because we're we're still affected by it,” said Scotty.
Saturday was terrifying for the Montez family, but they understand the grief is heavy and unexplainable for the families who lost loved ones in Allen.
Lorenzo said, “We will pray for them.”