El Paso Walmart Manager 'Just Wanted to Save as Many People' During Shooting

A memorial outside the El Paso, Texas, Walmart where 22 people were killed on Aug. 3.
Getty Images / MARK RALSTON / Contributor

Robert Evans was able to take lead and help people escape the gunfire.

As gunfire erupted at the El Paso Walmart last week, store manager Robert Evans immediately sprang into action, putting the important training he learned into practice to save his customers.

Evans, in an interview Friday with CNN, said he quickly evaluated the scene when the gunman began shooting inside the store. He yelled out that there was an active shooter and called a "Code Brown" on the radio.

“I just wanted to save as many people, ... and get people notified that there was danger,” he said.

The El Paso store had given its employees active shooter training, through virtual reality and on the computer. So when it actually happened during his shift, Evans was able to take lead and bring people to the back of the store, informing them how to get out safely. Being careful not to cause a bottle neck at the exits, he alerted them to different escape routes.

The gunman killed at least 22 people, leaving many of the victims bleeding in the store aisles. Evans knows the toll the incident will take on his fellow employees.

“They saw some pretty horrific things, that are going to be embedded into their mind and their life and impact their life in some way,” he said.

RELATED STORIES