Texas shooting witness describes 'massive trauma' as he helped victims

A witness said he had to cut "shopping bags and purses" off of victims.

ByABC News
May 8, 2023, 7:25 AM

The moments after Saturday's shooting at an outdoor mall near Dallas, Texas, will never leave Joshua W. Barnwell's memory.

Barnwell, who rushed in to help those who were wounded, said he had to cut away shopping bags and purses from the injured, "because all they were doing was shopping with their families," he told "Good Morning America" on Monday.

PHOTO: Joshua W. Barnwell speaks to "Good Morning America," on May 8, 2023.
Joshua W. Barnwell speaks to "Good Morning America," on May 8, 2023.
ABC News

A women who was conscious asked Barnwell, who has prior military experience, to help her daughter.

"This woman had massive trauma, five to six gunshot wounds," Barnwell said.

He went to the daughter to start chest compressions, he said.

PHOTO: A law enforcement officer walks as people are evacuated from a shopping center where a shooting occurred, May 6, 2023, in Allen, Texas.
A law enforcement officer walks as people are evacuated from a shopping center where a shooting occurred, May 6, 2023, in Allen, Texas.
Lm Otero/AP

"When I saw the massive amount of blood come out from her when I gave her chest compressions to her back," Barnwell said. "I knew she was gone."

Steven Spainhouer, a military veteran whose son works at the mall, arrived just after the shooting, he said. He immediately encountered wounded people, he said.

PHOTO: Steven Spainhouer speaks to "Good Morning America," on May 8, 2023.
Steven Spainhouer speaks to "Good Morning America," on May 8, 2023.
ABC News

"I was on the phone and I started counting bodies," he told "GMA" on Monday.

He recounted the conversation he had with an emergency operator: "I said, 'I've got seven bodies, I need seven ambulances.' She said, 'I don't know if I have that many.' I said, 'However many you can get.'"

Editor's note: The Allen Police Department later said Spainhouer "is not a credible incident witness," saying there are discrepancies in what he told several media outlets. On his Facebook page, Spainhouer disputed the statement from police and said he was "hurt and disappointed" by the press release.

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