1st Birthday Parade For Boy Whose Parents Died Saving Him During El Paso Walmart Shooting
EL PASO (CBSDFW.COM/CNN) - A community in Texas came together over the weekend to celebrate the birthday of a tiny survivor of the deadly 2019 Walmart mass shooting.
Paul Gilbert Anchondo was two months old when his parents died shielding him from a shooter at an El Paso Walmart on August 3, 2019.
Over the weekend, the toddler turned one and hundreds of residents drove in a parade to celebrate the boy.
They wanted to remind him "he's not by himself," said Gilbert Anchondo, the baby's grandfather. "We want him to remember that everybody here in the El Paso area and our community is supporting him."
Relatives said the boy's mother, Jordan Anchondo, shielded the baby with her body when she was shot and his father, Andre Anchondo, tried to protect them both.
"The shooter had aimed at Jordan. And Andre jumped in front of Jordan. And the shooter shot Andre, and the bullets went through Andre and hit Jordan," Misti Jamrowski, Jordan Anchondo's mom, said at the time.
And while it was relatives and friends who began putting together the idea for the parade, as more community members found out about it, they wanted to help as well, participants said.
Eduardo Prieto, a motorcyclist who rode in the parade, said since the boy's parents couldn't be there to celebrate with him on his birthday, the community wanted to make sure his first celebration was a great one.
"He's a symbol of the goodness that came out of it because he brought everyone even more so together," said Joshua Hernandez, another participant of the parade.
Patrick Crusius, the suspect in the shooting that claimed 23 lives, remains in custody and has been indicted on 90 federal charges, including hate crimes.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The CNN Wire™ & © 2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company contributed to this report.)
