The mass shooting on Saturday afternoon in Twin Falls, Idaho, left three dead and seven injured. During the onslaught at an In-N-Out, a courageous citizen did what he could to stop the killings, and his timely action helped save lives.
Jordan Salinas, a 35-year-old health care worker, had stopped to grab lunch with his girlfriend, Emily Coelho, when they saw a large crowd run from the restaurant and heard the sound of gunfire. Salinas unholstered his semi-automatic pistol — an FN Five-seveN — and exited the vehicle. “Jordan!” he remembers Emily calling after him.
Five years earlier, Salinas had witnessed a similar tragedy unfold: the Boise Towne Square mall mass shooting. Only then, he was not armed or prepared. Salinas watched the shooter kill two people and injure four more. The shooter had pursued “soft targets,” Salinas told the Idaho Statesman.
The massacre made a mark on Salinas, who is the full-time caretaker for his disabled and wheelchair-bound brother. What if he had been with him that day? The pair would have been sitting ducks, easily targeted without a way to defend themselves. Salinas loved his brother too much to let that happen. So he started to train, out in the desert on weekends, drilling a four-step strategy approach, the OODA loop, developed by the military.
“Observe. Orient. Decide. Act.”
Salinas put this same method into action Saturday, saying his response “was like a switch” as he engaged the Twin Falls shooter.
Salinas saw him, firing at cars with an AR-style rifle, outside the In-N-Out drive-thru. Drawing his firearm, Salinas took his stance, steadied his hand, and started firing.
“As soon as some rounds started coming at him, everything changed immediately,” Salinas said. “All that bravado he had immediately crumbled.”
Both Salinas and an off-duty state trooper, a customer at In-N-Out, fired rounds, diverting the shooter, who fled and later died from a self-inflicted gunshot, according to law enforcement.
“We commend their heroic actions, which we believe helped drive the suspect away from the scene and prevent further casualties,” the Twin Falls Police Department said in a statement.
Twin Falls County Sheriff Jack Johnson echoed this statement: “These people are true heroes in our community. They diverted the shooter and without a doubt saved many lives.”
Pastor Brenen Beeler of Calvary Chapel Eagle Church was eating with his wife and three children “at the table closest to the main entrance” when the shooter began firing at the In-N-Out. Beeler said he heard “screams I will never forget,” as shots rang out and his family and other diners evacuated the restaurant through “the back patio entrance.”
“If it was not for [the] quick reactions of the two brave heroes there would have potentially been many more casualties and I honor them both for their heroism,” Beeler said in an Instagram post. “I am a firm believer in the need to stay diligent, to train, stay sharp, and preparedness. It is better to have it and not need it, [than] to need it and not have it. It saved many lives including our family on Saturday.”
Beeler also commented on another Instagram post, addressing Salinas directly: “Because he engaged the shooter, our family and others are alive! Thank you Jordan for your heroism! You saved many lives!”
While Salinas’ quick thinking and right to constitutional carry have many hailing him as a “Good Samaritan” and “hero,” his courageous response likely would have been unlawful in blue states that restrict gun rights and do not have “stand your ground” laws that allow civilians to use deadly force in self-defense. Democrats and the corporate media consistently oppose citizens defending themselves against violent criminals, ignore or downplay the heroism of “good guys with guns,” and bemoan laws that protect self-defense.
“There’s a task that needs to be done, and we’re the ones who need to do it,” Salinas said. “Everyone says, ‘It’s not going to happen here.’ But what if it does?”
When law enforcement arrived on scene, Salinas stood down to let them take over and then assisted the injured. Salinas said he will share a “more complete account” in the coming days and that the past few days have been “overwhelming.”
“My goal was to try to help as many people get home as possible,” Salinas said on Good Morning America.
Twin Falls law enforcement and the FBI are continuing their investigation of the shooting, in search of a motive for why 24-year-old Chad Williams committed these murders. The FBI is requesting that “media files” of the Twin Falls shooting be submitted to its tipline.
Two of the slain victims have been publicly identified, including 23-year-old Ashley Garibay, an In-N-Out employee, and Christopher Claunch.
“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 does not value the lives of others or his own,” In-N-Out founder Lynsi Snyder said in a statement on social media. “In-N-Out will be mourning with the families and praying for them as they tread through a very painful season.”
