A North Texas woman was honored at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday for the heroic action she took during the deadly mass shooting at Allen Premium Outlets back in May.
Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) delivered a speech before the U.S. House honoring Richardson resident Gicela Aleman for her heroism on the day of the shooting. Aleman has been credited with saving the life of one of the shooting victims.
On May 6, a heavily armed shooter arrived at Allen Premium Outlets and opened fire on multiple shoppers in the area. A local police officer happened to be on the scene at the time and was able to kill the shooter just minutes after the shooting began. Unfortunately, the gunman managed to kill eight people, including three children. Seven others sustained wounds, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Aleman was on her way to the outlet mall the day of the shooting to buy tennis shoes for her 7-year-old daughter, according to NBC 5 DFW. Aleman missed her first exit to the mall and took the next one available.
She arrived at the outlet mall moments after the shooter was killed, but at the time, she was unaware of what had happened.
“I saw police running at the end of the mall. I was thinking, ‘What was that? Why are they running?’ But then, I saw the lady [on] the floor and that distracted me,” said Aleman, according to NBC 5.
When she realized the woman had been wounded, Aleman, a nurse, immediately began attempting to stabilize her and slow the bleeding. Aleman, along with her daughter, then drove the woman, later identified as Preeti Patel, to a local hospital to be treated.
As Aleman left the mall to take Patel to the emergency room, she saw the crime scene and began to realize what had just happened.
“That’s when it hit me,” said Aleman, NBC 5 reported.
Rep. Allred praised Aleman as a “hero” for her actions during the shooting, crediting her with Patel’s survival.
“She and her daughter should not have had to be a hero that day. But she was, and is. And we thank her for representing the best of North Texas,” said Allred.
Aleman told NBC 5 that she has remained in contact with Patel and even reunited with her on Mother’s Day.
“I know things are perfect, even when we don’t understand why things happened,” said Aleman, according to NBC 5. “I saw a lot of humanity. I saw a lot of people running to help and I know there were more going that way than the other. There are more of the good people, kind people, who want to help and make a difference.”