LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KFOX14/CBS4) — An Army corporal who witnessed a shooting at a car show on Friday night recounted the harrowing moments he spent aiding victims in the aftermath.
Corporal Shaquane Heckstall, who is also the captain of a car team in El Paso, described the chaotic scene at Young Park.
“The adrenaline is coming down, I’m aware of what’s going on, I’m looking around, there’s like seven more bodies around me, I’m covered in blood. And I’m like, I can’t do anything else, I don’t know what to do,” Heckstall said.
Heckstall said he saw the alleged gunmen flee the scene before he got out of his car to help the victims. Using shoelaces from his basketball shoes as a makeshift tourniquet, he attempted to stop the bleeding of a young victim.
“So I took shoelaces out of my basketball shoes, I had like two t-shirts, a pair of sweatpants, and a jacket. I grabbed those things and I headed over to the first person I saw,” he said.
Heckstall described encountering a young boy, approximately 15 or 16 years old, who had been shot in the arm, leg, and possibly the torso. Despite the boy’s injuries, Heckstall tried to keep him talking.
“I’m trying to address the wound on his arm, and he stopped me and he said, please bro, go help my dad, go help my dad, and he points in a certain direction,” Heckstall said. He then asked a woman, whom he believed to be the boy’s mother, to maintain pressure on the wound while he attended to the boy’s father, who was also injured.
“He has a gunshot wound to the wrist, he has multiple wounds in his legs, like upper legs inner thigh. And that’s a very sensitive area, so I go to address that first,” Heckstall said. “I walk up on him, like, don’t worry I got you, mister, it’s going to be alright, we’re gonna be alright.”
Heckstall’s hands were shaking and covered in blood as he worked to tie the makeshift tourniquet and apply pressure with t-shirts and a jacket. Another bystander noticed Heckstall’s distress and reassured him that police had arrived.
“You’re good man, the police are here. You did what you can,” the bystander said.
After leaving the parking lot, Heckstall met with friends who were unharmed. He expressed gratitude that multiple family members of those he helped have reached out to inform him of their recovery. Heckstall emphasized that the violence was not a reflection of the car shows themselves but rather those who perpetrated the violence.
RELATED: Las Cruces Young Park shooting suspect had prior arrests in El Paso for smuggling migrants
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