EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Even heroes have fear. On the morning of the anniversary of the Cielo Vista Walmart shooting, one Walmart employee considered to be a hero said his wife noticed him shaking.
“I kissed my wife goodbye, and she was like ‘Are you ok?’ and I was like ‘yeah.’ She was like, no, you’re not your shaking, so I had a bit of anxiety this morning on my way to work the anxiety I was remembering the morning of the tragedy on my way to work,” said Gilbert Serna a Cielo Vista Walmart employee.
Serna says the images of that horrific day on August 3, 2019, came into his mind. One year ago, Serna walked into work just as he had every day before. When shots rang out at 10:39 a.m., Serna rushed customers to safety.
He hid many in a storage container behind the store. Then left to help customers who were in the parking lot. A hero, no doubt, but even heroes get scared. On the morning of the anniversary, anxiety sunk in.
However, that anxiety Serna felt quickly faded away when he saw his colleagues who also lived through the August 3rd tragedy.
“It was emotional. It was tough. I was looking around my employees and making sure that they were okay,” Serna said.
Saying he found comfort when he and his coworkers had a moment of silence for the 23 victims who were killed. As well as when he saw the line of people wrapped around the building waiting to get inside on Monday when the store opened.
“We’re not going to let this tragedy define us, define our community and hates not going to divide us,” said Serena.
