El Paso Shooting Survivor ‘Grateful’ to Be Alive After Attack

Octavio Ramiro Lizarde, one of the survivors of Saturday’s shooting in El Paso, Texas; has spoken out about the attack and how it has affected him. Speaking at a media conference on Tuesday, Lizarde said that he was “grateful” to be alive. He also detailed what exactly he saw inside the Walmart store that served as the epicenter of the mass shooting, and revealed that his nephew, 15-year-old Javier Rodriguez, was killed in front of him.

“I’m in pain. It hurts, but the only paint hat won’t end is the emotional,” Lizarde said at Del Sol Medical Center, where he is being treated. “I’m just grateful to be alive. He (the shooter) had the chance to kill me, but he didn’t. … I did lose my nephew, right in front of me. I won’t go into details, but it was a horrible image, and I hope nobody ever goes through [that]. It’s very painful. And I hope that my family and I get better emotionally, and everybody in the city and around the country whose been helping us, and the other ones who were affected, I hope they are OK, as well.”

He detailed his account of the tragedy and revealed he was in First Convenience Bank location inside the Walmart when he was shot in the foot, himself.

“I heard the gunshot when we were in line to open a bank account,” he said. “We saw people running, and I grabbed him (Rodriguez) with my hand and was like ‘oh crap.’ So I grabbed him, and shots were fired, and I took him to the back of the room, the bank. Well, everything happened, and while I was trying to crawl back to where I was hiding, he (the shooter) shot my foot. And like I said, he could have easily shot me, but he didn’t.”

He added, “I took a quick glance at him (the shooter). I saw he had glasses, and I looked away.”

The man behind the attack is believed to be 21-year-old Patrick Wood Crusius, who is currently in custody. Crusius is accused of killing 22 people and injuring 24 others in the attack. Two unnamed law enforcement official told ABC News that the suspect told officers that he “wanted to shoot as many Mexicans as possible.”

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