have been an earthquake in the building was collapsing. so that was the point when i just told my kids to lie down. of course, i am scanning the area wondering where we are going to go. scenes captured on security cameras in the mall, showed how quickly the attack and began. you can see machine gun bullets flashing down the main concourse, as shoppers frantically scramble and dive to the floor. and then i saw rounds starting to hit the shops that were straight ahead. katherine s first thought, protect her kids. it was just instinct to grab the girls and run. but we must not have gone very far. a kenyan came and scooped up portia. and we both ran right behind this display table, display cabinet. katherine, her girls, and the kenyan woman to cover the only place they could. here they are crouching under a flimsy temporary display table.
and they were carrying very, very large weapons. very large guns. hearing the gunfire and screens echoing through them all, both katherine and faith could tell the gunmen were spreading out, killing people as they went along. two mothers trapped with young children, worried they d be next. and a growing fear seized catherine. her boys were no longer and three in their phone. where were they? coming up the terrifying uncertainty for those inside the mall and loved ones outside. i was a will come by the phone call. your wife and sons are in there and they are separated. sun, a friend of katherine s who s been texting with her, would go from worry to frantic. when she said that, my heart just sunk. when dateline continues.
with just a few words between them, katherine walton and abdul haji quickly coordinated an exit strategy. opened fire towards the door, just to scare the tourists away. then it was time. then we hold fire, and then i tell the lady, now! and suddenly, this young gun appears out of nowhere, and i call to her to run towards me and she starts running and immediately i m thinking what a brave girl. when portia got up and ran, did you have a moment where you thought, my god? i think i realized it was precarious, but i was also trusting that if they were telling us to run, that it was safe. for katherine, it was a gigantic leap of faith after shielding her daughters for four and a half hours. she knew that, to save, them she would have to let them go. the image of four year old portia running to abdul haji was one no one would soon
the walton chose to move to kenya two years ago from texas. four katherine and phillip it, was like going home. they were both children of missionaries and grew up in countries in west africa. they met in boarding school in africa, married in the states, and started raising their family. at the time of the attack, blaise was 14 years old, ian ten, portia, four and gigi, too. and petra, the baby, 13 months old, was born in kenya. their morning at the mall unfolded just as any families might. they had lunch together on the third floor food court. after lunch, the boys decided to race down to the first floor to a big department store. sort of like a super walmart. mom and the three young girls were still finishing up lunch, so they lagged behind. as they were walking through the mall to catch up with the boys, with the baby in a sling, and the two toddlers holding mom s hands. it happened.
abdul worked his way down to the main floor, and as he did, his brother managed to escape. i reached out to my phone to try and call him, and i see this message on my screen saying, i m out, i m safe. please come out. but abdul haji didn t come out. despite the gruesome scene, the blood, the bodies, the smell of smoke and constant gunfire, he decided to stay and help. a dual searched through the mall, looking for victims. then he made a discovery that shocked him. i looked down, and i see somebody hiding behind a table. it was a lady. she looked very scared. and i m thinking, she was right in the middle of the cross fire. katherine spotted abdul as well, but sensed he wasn t a threat. how did you know they weren t terrorists? they weren t carrying the large guns we had seen, that the terrorist had.