By Ashlyn Grace Brothers
EL PASO, Texas (UATV) — Victims continue to experience an aftershock due to the surge of recent shootings across the country. It happened at Walmart as the people of El Paso were getting groceries. On August 3, 2019, Patrick Crusius, a 21-year-old from Allen Texas, fired shots inside a Walmart Supercenter killing 22 people and injuring 24 others.
One couple who was visiting El Paso at the time said they never would have thought that a quick trip would turn catastrophic. David and Beverly Engle, residents of Rogers, stopped for water on their way out of town. David said he and Beverly were getting ready to head for checkout when they heard a muffled noise that sounded like firecrackers.
“We just kind of looked at each other and then all of a sudden people come running through the vegetable isle going, ‘shooter, white guy with an AK407. Get out of here,’” David said.
Amid the lost lives was a veteran, a high student and mother who shielded her baby boy. Beverly said she remembers a young man coddling the infant swaddled in a blanket that was drenched in the mother’s blood.
“Of course, I thought the baby was dead, and I was really just screaming out ‘That’s a baby! That’s a baby,’” Beverly said.
The couple knew they couldn’t do anything up front, but they found their purpose consoling the crowd of chaos.
“I put my hand on him and I said, and he kind of startled and he looked at me and I kind of made eye contact with him and I said, ‘you’re ok,’” Beverly said.
Josette Clein, director of CAPS at the UA, said initial feelings of fear and being overwhelmed are expected responses.
“It’s a normal reaction to an abnormal and scary and frightening and traumatic situation,” Clein said.
Victims may also suffer from symptoms such as re-experiencing the trauma or avoidance.
“We think about arousal symptoms too. People feel sort of keyed up,” said Clein. “They’re feeling irritable. They’re maybe not engaging with friends. They may have a hard time trusting.”
The health professional also said those symptoms resolve within a month for the vast majority of people, but not all escape those sleepless nights. It’s rare but some victims, first responders in particular, might have a delayed response.
“If someone were, say, a month or so beyond the trauma and were still experiencing symptoms to the level that they had experienced them right after the trauma, that’s the time when I would say maybe seek out some support,” Clein said.
Meanwhile, Beverly tells UATV there was a power that only evil could bring out.
“I was seeing, in the midst of fear, was also just this presence of love. Yeah. Love,” Beverly said.
The Engles had to leave behind their car and other belongings but returned a week later to retrieve their stuff. They said they weren’t uneasy at the thought of returning to El Paso. Instead, David said it was time to put the past behind him and focus on the future. His top priority was the people of El Paso.
David also said he doesn’t have any hatred in his heart toward the killer, rather he hopes Patrick Crusius gets the help he needs. If he got the opportunity to face the shooter, David said he would tell the young man he still loves him, just like he loves all God’s people. However, he would tell the murderer that he made a mistake and must deal with the consequences.
Police charged Crusius with capital murder. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into the shooting as an act of terrorism and possible hate crime.