A heroic civilian who returned fire at a shooter who killed three people and injured seven more in Idaho recounted the gunman’s cowardly reaction when he realized he was also being shot at.
Jordan Salinas, 35, was headed out for a horseback riding date with his girlfriend on Saturday afternoon when he pulled into a recently opened In-N-Out parking lot in Twin Falls around the same time Chad Williams, 24, opened fire on innocent people with an AK-style rifle, police said.
Salinas immediately saw people running for their lives before realizing that a gunman was to blame for the chaos, he recalled to the Idaho Statesman.
An ‘automatic’ and ‘mechanical’ response quickly set in for him, as Salinas ran toward the danger after reaching for his shoulder holster and pulling out an FN Five Seven – a semi-automatic pistol with a suppressor – on Williams.
In a later interview with ABC News, Salinas recounted that the shooter appeared to be ‘unusually comfortable’ while aiming his rifle at innocent people, but his demeanor shifted when Salinas began firing.
‘As soon as some rounds started coming at him, everything changed immediately. All that bravado he had immediately crumbled,’ Salinas told the outlet.
An unidentified off-duty police officer also fired at Williams, and he and Salinas’s decisive actions likely saved the lives of others, Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks said on Sunday.
‘We want to take a moment and commend the actions of the off-duty officer and the citizen and their heroic action to stop this incident,’ the police chief said during a press conference on Sunday.
‘We believe their actions helped drive the suspect away from the scene, preventing further casualties.’
Jordan Salinas, 35, returned fire at a shooter who killed three people in Idaho on Saturday. He recounted the gunman’s cowardly reaction when he realized he was also being shot at
Salinas is pictured aiming and firing his FN Five Seven at the shooter, Chad Williams, 24. Police said Salinas and an off-duty officer who also returned fire at Williams likely saved lives
Williams fired an AK-style rifle at several innocent customers and employees at a recently opened In-N-Out before turning the gun on himself, police said
Williams died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after turning the weapon on himself. Authorities are ‘confident’ he acted alone, Hicks said, but a motive for the shooting remains unclear.
On Sunday evening, Salinas took to Facebook to talk about the previous ‘overwhelming’ 24 hours.
‘I want to sincerely thank my family, friends, and everyone who has reached out with messages, prayers, and support… they mean more to me than I can put into words,’ he said.
‘My heart remains with the victims, their families, and everyone affected by yesterday’s tragedy. Thank you for continuing to keep them in your thoughts and prayers,’ Salinas continued.
He further recalled to the Idaho Statesman that the shooter ‘did not like when bullets started firing both ways.’
Salinas, a healthcare worker and full-time caregiver for his disabled brother, told the outlet that he began self-defense training five years ago after the 2021 shooting at the Boise Towne Square Mall that left two dead and four others injured.
He said that the tragedy made him realize that gunmen often go after ‘soft targets’ – people like his wheelchair-bound brother and the aide by his side.
Salinas practices shooting on the weekends and does his own training in the desert. Until Sunday, he had never pointed his gun at a human and never thought he would have to, he shared.
Salinas (far left), a healthcare worker and full-time caregiver for his disabled brother, started to train in self-defense after the 2021 shooting at the Boise Towne Square Mall that left two dead and four others injured
Williams killed three people and injured seven more before turning the gun on himself. Police said a motive for the shooting remains unclear
Two of the three people who were killed in Saturday’s shooting have been identified by loved ones as In-N-Out employee Ashley Garibay, 23, of Stockton, California, and Christopher Claunch, 59, an employee at Renaissance Ranch Recovery Center.
Of the seven who were injured, two were taken to the hospital and later released. Three others were stable after the shooting, and the remaining two have been left in critical condition.
Claunch’s sister, Kimberly Castaneda, told the New York Times that her brother had been sober for two years after struggling with alcoholism.
She reminisced about spending time with him during the Fourth of July holiday and how she enjoyed his carefree attitude.
‘My silly brother took my headband that I was wearing with little tin wheels on it… and he sat with those things on like it was just no big deal,’ she told the Times.
‘He was always being a goofball.’
Claunch was from California but lived in Idaho for about three decades, Castaneda said.
So when an In-N-Out opened up in the state, he was thrilled to stop by and get the Pacific Coast classic take-out, she shared.
Christopher Claunch, 59, was identified by his sister as one of the three people who were killed in Saturday’s shooting. She remembered her brother as ‘always being a goofball’
Ashley Garibay, 23, of Stockton, California, was identified as the In-N-Out employee who was killed
Garibay’s mother, Sabrina Garibay, changed her profile picture to an image of the two, and said: ‘You will be missed so much.’ The mother and daughter are pictured together
Garibay’s mother, Sabrina Garibay, changed her profile picture to an image of the two after the shooting, and loved ones commented their condolences.
‘Ashley you are so beautiful. You will be missed so much. I remember when you were baby and you to come stay with me so mom could go to work,’ one family member commented.
‘You have become a beautiful young lady. Rest in paradise.’
In-N-Out President Lynsi Snyder described Garibay as a ‘beautiful’ associate who was working at the drive-thru.
‘My heart is broken, my chest is heavy, my eyes burn from the tears I’ve shed,’ Snyder said in a statement shared on Sunday.
‘We lost one of our beautiful Associates tonight. She was taking care of our most important asset – our Customers, and her life was taken by a disgusting human who doesn’t value the lives of others or his own.’
‘He shot both on our property and off, and ended his life shortly after he took the precious lives of our Associate and Customers, innocent people who never saw it coming,’ Snyder added.
