Two brave dads rushed to the scene of the El Paso Walmart shooting to save the lives of three fellow parents after hearing they'd been shot in front of their kids as they ran a lemonade stand outside the store to raise money for youth soccer league
- Jimmy Villatoro called friend Ray Garcia to tell him about the shooting Saturday
- Both dads rushed to the Walmart in El Paso to find fellow parents who had been shot in front of their kids at a lemonade stand in the parking lot
- They helped injured parents Memo and Jessica Garcia and Maribel Saenzpardo
- All three parents survived, along with five children who witnessed the shooting
Two fathers rushed to the scene of the shooting at a Walmart in El Paso on Saturday to save their friends, who were running a lemonade stand to raise money for their daughters' soccer team when the shots rang out.
Ray Garcia was on the phone with his wife while out running errands when he saw four police cars race by him with sirens blaring.
Sensing something was wrong, he hung up the phone and answered another call from his friend, Jimmy Villatoro.
The father, whose son plays baseball with Garcia's, frantically revealed that a fellow parent, Maribel Saenzpardo, had been shot outside the Walmart where they'd been selling limonadas and agua orchata drinks to raise money for their daughters' upcoming soccer season.
Saenzpardo's husband Danny, who was out of town, had called Villatoro and begged him to make sure that his children were okay.
'Ray, Ray, Ray - Maribel's been shot,' a panicked Villatoro told Garcia.
Both fathers quickly sped in the direction of the nearby Walmart, where they laid eyes on the aftermath of what would become the eighth-deadliest mass shooting in American history.
Fathers Jimmy Villatoro (left) and Ray Garcia (right) rushed to the scene of the shooting at a Walmart in El Paso on Saturday to save their friends, who were gunned down while running a lemonade stand to raise money for their daughters' soccer team
Danny Latin had called Villatoro and told him that his wife Maribel Saenzpardo (above together) had been shot during the rampage on Saturday morning
Fellow parents Memo and Jessica Coca Garcia (above together) were also shot in front of their children while running the lemonade stand in the Walmart parking lot
Villatoro and Garcia recounted arriving on the scene (above) and passing bodies and bloodstained pavement as they rushed to find the children whose parents had been shot
Saenzpardo was one of the first parents to arrive for the fundraising effort on Saturday morning, along with Memo Garcia, Jessica Coca Garcia and their children.
The girls soccer team they were raising money for, EP Fusion, is part of the Paso Del Norte Soccer Association League, a regional squad which competes in New Mexico, Texas and Mexico.
Several of the girls on the team have brothers who play with X Squad Baseball, the team Villatoro and Garcia's sons play on.
At 10.39am local time, a gunman armed with an AK-47-style rifle opened fire on the parking lot and inside the store, killing at least 20 people and injuring 26 others.
The suspect was identified as 21-year-old Patrick Crusius of Allen, Texas.
Authorities said Crusius shared a seething anti-immigrant manifesto online just 20 minutes before the shooting, revealing that he intended to target Hispanic people at the packed Cielo Vista Mall.
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When Garcia and Villatoro met up at the Walmart police told them to stay back because the scene was still active.
But the men insisted that they needed to find 'their kids', the ones they'd spent nearly ever weekend with over the summer as one big sports family.
Recounting the chaos after the face, the dads said they didn't feel any fear as they approached the store, rushing past bodies and bloodstained pavement.
'We didn't even think twice,' Villatoro told the Dallas Morning News.
When they reached canopy that housed the lemonade stand, Garcia went to help injured parents and Villatoro went looking for the children.
He found five of them hiding under a car.
'They recognized me right away,' Villatoro said. 'I guess from all the school training they get - they knew to hide.'
Garcia found Memo Garcia, his son's baseball coach, badly wounded and fought to keep him awake and conscious.
He said a stranger who claimed to be a nurse came over and put pressure on Memo's wounds.
'I wish I knew who she was,' Garcia said. 'I told [Memo] we found the kids and got them away.'
An ambulance soon arrived and took Memo Garcia to the hospital, where he remained in critical condition as of Sunday afternoon.
The other two parents, Maribel Saenzpardo and Jessica Coca Garcia, are reportedly in stable condition.
Memo Garcia was rushed to the hospital (pictured) and remained in critical condition as of Sunday. His wife Jessica Garcia and Maribel Saenzpardo are reportedly in stable condition
Ray Garcia updated friends and family on the status of the three shooting victims on Saturday
At the hospital Garcia met up with his wife, April Telles-Garcia, whom he'd been talking to before getting the harrowing call from Villatoro about their wounded friends.
'Their life revolves around their kids. They are so dedicated to their kids. They are so dedicated to their teams,' Telles-Garcia told Dallas News.
'I don't know why God put them there, but he did.'
Francoise Feliberti, administrator of the Paso Del Norte Soccer Association League, said most of the EP Fusion families hadn't arrived at the fundraiser by the time the shooting began , which likely saved their lives.
'The league is made up of good people, coaches, players. This is just so tragic,' Feliberti said.
The families spent the next several hours at the hospital before finally heading home late Saturday night.
Villatoro said he walked in the door he was greeted by his father before both men started to cry.
'He's not really the emotional type but he hugged me right away. I saw my wife and my son. I was just happy to be home,' Villatoro said.
The following day when Garcia and his wife turned on the TV, they were horrified to learn that another mass shooting had taken place just 13 hours after the one in El Paso, leaving an additional nine people dead.
'You know, it just brought me to tears,' Telles-Garcia said. 'I just. I don't, I don't understand.'
Members of the youth sports league that was holding the fundraiser are seen at a vigil
Daniel Latin, who's wife was shot and is recovering in hospital, and his daughter hug a friend during a vigil at a ball park in El Paso on Sunday
Garcia was talking to his wife, April Telles-Garcia (above together) on the phone when he got Villatoro's panicked call about the shooting
Garcia's son (above together) plays baseball on the same team as Villatoro's son
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