The Hero in a Blue Vest: The Cielo Vista Walmart employee who saved lives

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA)-- El Pasoan Gilbert Serna's life was forever marked by the Aug. 3rd, 2019 mass shooting inside the Cielo Vista Walmart. The deadly attack claimed the lives of 23 people.

Thousands of customers were inside the store when the gunman opened fire. Many scrambled to find emergency exits, but Serna chose to help save his customers. The Walmart associate has been working there since 2001.

He had just returned from his lunch break when the shooting took place.

“A call came over the radio with a code brown, which is acts of violence. And it took, it took me a while to register like a code brown because we don't get that often," he said.

Serna said his instincts kicked in at that moment. Although he never saw the shooter, he heard the gunshots.

“It was POP. And then. And then everybody froze. And then, maybe about 2 seconds later, it was POP. POP. And then that's when everybody ran."

Serna said he led dozens of customers to the back of the building. He still remembers the faces.

"They were panicking, and some were crying and scared, and frightened, and…it was crazy.”

The Walmart employee realized many customers would not be able to run far. He helped many customers get to safety.

"I was helping some of the older ladies into the trailers, and I was telling them, ‘We're okay here, we're safe here. Get inside quickly.’”

He then returned to the store's warehouse, alerting other customers that they were safe to run out.

"And I was telling them to run to Sam's. And then I was running back and forth, and there was a lady who had been shot in her arm. And so I, I grabbed her and I told her, Let's go to Sam's.”

Amid the chaos, Serna was able to call his wife.

“She had told me they don't be a hero, go hide."

But Serna did not stop. He doesn't know the exact number of people he helped, but he believes it was anywhere between 100 and 200 people.

Despite feelings of anxiety, stress and fear developing weeks later, Serna knew was going back to Walmart. He was part of the committee that helped prepare the store for reopening.

"I knew I had to be a leader for my associates and a lot of people who were looking at me. And so I, I, I said that this PTSD is not going to win me, and the shooter’s not going to win. Like I'm going to go out there and be a leader, and I'm going to go back to the store. I'm going to help reopen in it. We're going to welcome back our customers.”

After the shooting, Serna was hailed as a hero by many—a title he had a hard time accepting at first.

“Families have gone on five years without their loved ones. And, and I always get told that families are still together because of me, too.” “Somebody told me to define a hero. And he's like, That's exactly what you did. Your hero. And so now, now I do."

Serna and his family were invited to the White House shortly after the shooting. He was commended for his efforts and valor during the shooting.

To this day, Serna still works at the Cielo Vista Walmart. He is proud to be an employee there.

He said the shooter did not triumph.

“He failed at what he tried to accomplish? We're still here, and we're still El Paso strong and we're going to keep fighting, and he, he made us stronger.”