'I just really appreciate the help': Mother thanks Target employee who helped her
Police believe 250 people were in the store when the shooting started. All of them have a story. We're hearing two more, as a customer and an employee came back for their belongings Wednesday.
Police believe 250 people were in the store when the shooting started. All of them have a story. We're hearing two more, as a customer and an employee came back for their belongings Wednesday.
Police believe 250 people were in the store when the shooting started. All of them have a story. We're hearing two more, as a customer and an employee came back for their belongings Wednesday.
Police believe 250 people were in the store when the shooting started.
All of them have a story. We're hearing two more.
As a customer and an employee came back for their belongings Wednesday.
Those two stories actually intertwine. One is a local mom who was inside with her three young kids.
Another is a hearing-impaired employee who helped them get to safety.
Employees and customers return to the Super Target off of 178th and West Center Road but it's not for work, or a fun Target run.
They're getting the stuff they left behind in Tuesday's chaos.
"I just, I got to get somewhere safe. I got to get somewhere safe. I can't let my kids see this, hear this," said one Omaha mom.
That's what went through that mother's mind after hearing the gunshots when she was in the toy aisle with her children. She asked us not to show her face.
She says she held two of her kids as she ran with a third trailing behind, out of the back of the store.
That's where she was met by Target employees.
"One was hearing-impaired. And his friend was, you know, signing for him," she said.
That employee was Jesse Weise.
"And he picked up my third son for me. And carried him because I couldn't carry everybody," said the mother.
They reunited outside the store Wednesday.
Weise and his fiance say he is deaf. He was without his hearing aids at work but he could see people running and did what he could to help.
"They were helping little kids, bringing them back to their families. And a family said thank you so much for bringing them home safely, he felt sad and cried a little bit," said his fiance.
Even though he says it was awful for him he's still thinking of others.
"He hopes that people, his friends and team workers, hope that they feel OK and are safe at home as well. And hopes they feel better too," said his fiancé.
He's worked at Target for five years and Tuesday was already going to be his last day there.
And that Omaha mom says she's glad he was there.
"I mean, as a mom, like, it's one of our main jobs to protect our kids, right? Make sure they're safe. And I only got two hands, but I got three kids. And I just really appreciate the help that he gave me," said the mom.
If you or someone you know still need to claim your belongings, Omaha police say you should contact Target by calling the store's main number 402-697-4930.