A gunman opened fire at the Kickapoo Casino, killing two and injuring at least five others, leaving patrons like Rachel Palacios in shock and fear.
SAN ANTONIO — It was a terrifying sight at the Eagle Pass Kickapoo Casino when a gunman opened fire in the parking lot, killing two people and injuring at least five others early Sunday morning.
Rachel Palacios, who frequents the popular casino with her husband, was inside when shots rang out. Palacios said she was only 100 feet away from the casino entrance – near where the deadly shooting occurred and her husband was even closer.
“I heard three loud bangs. I knew it was a gun immediately. And so I just got up and ran. I was on the machine playing and I just got up and ran,” Palacios said. “I knew it was a gun but I was hoping that it wasn’t a gun. I was hoping it was just something that broke but you can tell the difference.”
Palacios said she initially saw a restroom and considered hiding in there but was worried the gunman might go inside and ran into a nearby empty closet – turning off the lights and getting on the ground. Fearing she might not make it out alive, she texted her daughters telling them what was happening.
“I just texted both of them. They were in a group chat and I just said ‘They’re shooting, they’re shooting, they’re shooting. That’s all I kept saying because I think I was myself in shock and I said ‘I can’t find your father,'” Palacios said. “I just kept envisioning the other shootings in schools, how they come looking for as many people as they can to shoot.
After texting her children, she called her husband who was luckily unharmed in the shooting and alerted him of where she was hiding.
“He found me and we just ran out the building after that because he said they wanted us to get out of the building,” Palacios said.
Palacios said she and her husband exited towards the middle of building, running to their car – unaware that several people were injured near the entrance of the casino. Being a nurse, Palacios said if she had known people were hurt she would have gone back to help.
“I was just trying to get out because they were saying for everyone to leave, so I didn’t know that there were injured people,” she said.
Palacios recalled that about an hour before the shooting, she had noticed how crowded the casino was and thought about what were to happen if someone had a gun and started firing rounds.
“I don’t know why I had that thought but I did and I even told my daughters that that thought did cross my mind. It was just really surreal, I just can’t believe it,” Palacios said.
Palacios said she and her husband would regularly drive from their Devine home to enjoy a night at the casino, but after this tragedy she’s apprehensive about returning.
“It does concern me because it can happen anywhere. Like I said I was safe but I didn’t know about my husband and I feel bad for the people that died. I just pray that their family has comfort and can get over this,” Palacios said. “Just be careful when you’re in public.”