Initial reports indicated a mom left her kids locked in a car, but surveillance video shows that's not true. INSIDE EDITION reports on what really happened.
It was a frantic scene as citizens at a mall smashed the window of an SUV to rescue two children trapped inside.
It was widely reported that the children's mom left them in the hot vehicle while she was at the hairdresser. But that turns out to be wrong.
Surveillance video was taken from a nearby Postal Plus store and it shows the mom with her two toddlers. They leave the store together, but she returns alone moments later, desperate with worry because she has accidentally locked the car with the kids and her keys inside.
Postal Plus employee Heidy Lopez said, "I would describe her as a loving mother who really cares about her kids."
Lopez explained, "As soon as she put the kids in the car seat the doors locked. Of course, she panicked and she went inside our store."
She called her insurance company and was told it may be two hours before help arrives.
That's when she asked other store customers to break the window. The mom climbed inside, risking injury, to rescue her kids, who were trapped inside for less than five minutes.
The scene which unfolded near Houston shows the mania spreading across America about leaving children in hot cars.
In a Modern Family episode, Mitchell and Cameron realize they have locked baby Lily in the car. Cameron freaks out and is ready to break in. The car is equipped with a remote unlocking system, and the doors are opened with one phone call.
Meanwhile, we're hearing for the first time from the mother of little 22-month Cooper Harris, who prosecutors say was deliberately left in a hot car to die by his father.
"Leanna Harris is living every parent's nightmare. The child she bore and loved every moment of his life has died," a statement from her attorney says.
The letter complained that media coverage of the case has "fostered a poisonous atmosphere."
Ross Harris claims he left the boy in the car accidentally after forgetting to drop him off at day care.