A father’s frantic journey to get his daughter to safety during the recent Las Vegas shooting was captured on video inside of a taxicab. CBS 8 News in Vegas uncovered the amazing story of a taxicab driver assisting the father and driving into harm’s way to locate his daughter, Ashley Movil.
As seen in the chilling dashcam footage, the father gets into a taxi driven by John Zerquera-Jimenez and immediately tells him Movil is in danger and he needs to get to her.
Movil and her husband were at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival Sunday, where a shooter killed 58 people and injured almost 500 more after opening fire on the concert crowd from a 32nd-floor hotel room at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
“I’ve got to get my daughter,” the man says to Zerquera-Jimenez, warning him that it may be dangerous. “Hurry up, there’s a shooting going on there. Please, get me there as fast as you can … You’ve got to do whatever you’ve got to do.”
At one point, the father speaks on the phone with Movil, telling her to remain calm and to meet them at a Motel 6 near the chaotic shooting scene. As Zerquera-Jimenez continues driving, the father tells him that he’s going to give him some extra money on top of the fare for the good deed. But Zerquera-Jimenez rejects the offer, explaining the gesture wasn’t necessary.
“No, no, no, man, I’m a father too, I can do that for free,” he says.
As they arrive at the Motel 6, a camera pointing out of the windshield shows Movil and her husband sprinting to the car as others flee around them. A large group of people comes up to the taxi with the couple, and the driver encourages them to load up as many people as possible inside of the vehicle.
“Thank you, I don’t know you but I love you,” a female voice says before Zerquera-Jimenez speeds away.
Watch the dramatic video below:
After helping the group to safety, Zerquera-Jimenez told KHON2 News that he went back and helped another group of five people.
The next day, Movil sent the driver a text message and expressed her gratitude.
Hi John, it’s Ashley. Thank you so much for being so brave to come toward the shooting to rescue us. You are a hero and my family and I will always be grateful for your bravery that night.
YouTubeThe text message Movil sent the cab driver.
Zerquera-Jimenez told KHOUN2 News during the interview that he felt “at peace” for coming to the rescue.
A similar incident occurred for another Vegas taxi driver. The Yellow Checker Star employee arrived at the the shooting scene and offered a hand, as seen on his vehicle’s dashcam. With shots audible in the background as he tries to find out what’s going on, the driver approaches a group of people looking for help. He offers to load up as many people as possible and take them wherever they needed to go.
“We’ve got a guy shot in the corner,” a male’s voice can be heard as a woman asks the driver if he can take them to the hospital.
The group of people cram into the car as the unidentified driver takes them to the medical facility.
Watch the video below:
Investigators are still searching for a motive in the shooting, which they say was committed by 64-year-old Stephen Paddock. Police say Paddock fired into the crowd of more than 22,000 people for about 15 minutes before he turned the gun on himself and committed suicide.