ALLEN, Texas (NewsNation) — A 16-year-old Fatburger & Buffalo’s Express employee was working the register when she caught someone saying there was a shooter with a gun outside. Without hesitation, she started pulling customers, and co-workers rushed everyone inside the restaurant to the concrete tunnel out back.
Kiera Mojica, who works part-time at her parent’s franchise, said it was a very busy Saturday at the outlet mall where the restaurant is located, when a gunman opened fire on a crowd of people walking outside the shops.
Surveillance footage from the restaurant shows the moment the teen helped customers evacuate to a back corridor.
“I was really scared in the moment. It was a lot of adrenaline. I was thinking, ‘We’re all gonna die, we’re all gonna die.’ But I really just, my mind was also focused on the people that were surrounding me. And I was looking at the kids that were with us,” Mojica said.
During the situation, she said she could see people running outside the mall, but initially didn’t think anything of it. It wasn’t until she could hear the gunshots and people screaming that the situation fully registered.
“It was just a lot,” she said.
Mojica said she had gotten most of the customers and her co-workers to the back corridor when she saw more people rushing into the restaurant. She went over to the storage door and called them to come back toward her for shelter.
“It was a crazy situation. A lot of chaos, a lot of running, a lot of screaming. Definitely a lot of crying,” she said. “I’m looking back on it. … I’m just really curious as to why it happened, if that makes sense.”
During the situation, Mojica said her reaction was just instinct. She explained that she didn’t think anything about being called a hero or being heroic — she just saw people who needed help and she assisted them.
But Mojica is definitely looking for more answers, and she said she has a lot of questions for the person who killed eight people, including three children, that day.
Now, she said she’s scared to leave her house after experiencing something like that. She said she’s more fearful of being in a larger area where there are a lot of people.
However, she does anticipate going back to the restaurant, especially because her parents own it.
Mojica’s family has been very verbal about how proud they are that she was able to be composed and helpful during such a scary situation at just 16 years old.
Aleksandra Bush contributed to this report.