When a tragedy strikes, the unfortunate truth is that it can often put us too close to humanity’s worst impulses for comfort.
This goes double for situations that only occur because one or more people decided to embrace those impulses and inflict suffering on a crowd of people who only wanted to go about their lives. This was precisely what unfolded one fateful day at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas.
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However, footage released soon after the incident also shows that the ideals we hope we can still attribute to the human spirit can still emerge even in the most dire of circumstances.
One person proved that with his courageous deeds, but it remains unclear as to who exactly this person is.
On August 3, a shooter described as an “out-of-town white supremacist” opened fire on shoppers in the Cielo Vista area of El Paso.
As The El Paso Times reported , he is believed to have been targeting people of Hispanic descent. His actions would claim 22 lives.
Among these victims were Andre and Jordan Anchondo.
They died in the process of trying to protect their infant son, Paul, and apparently fell on top of him.
The baby would survive the incident with injuries to his finger and head, but that wouldn’t have been the case were it not for one unidentified man.
The man was recorded by a witness named Lem Arredondo carrying the infant out of the store.
According to The El Paso Times , this apparently occurred after he moved the bodies of Paul’s parents so the baby wouldn’t suffocate.
By the time the child’s grandfather, Gilbert Anchondo, knew what had happened, the baby was already at El Paso Children’s Hospital.
El Paso police have since released what they understand to be a photo of the man taken from a Walmart security camera.
Also, they do not want to specifically confirm his actions due to an ongoing investigation into the incident, they have lauded his deeds as “critical and lifesaving.”
The reason they’re trying to locate him, however, concerns the more simple fact that he’s a witness to the shooting itself.
So far, the man has not contacted the Anchondo family and it’s unclear why he hasn’t come forward.
Gilbert, however, told KVIA that he hopes the man reveals himself “because I would like to thank him in person, hug him and tell him that he’s a very special person in my life because he pulled my grandson out of there.”
At this point, it’s unknown whether this “mystery man” is even aware that authorities are looking for him.
h/t: The El Paso Times
