The family was celebrating a birthday at the crowded Louie's restaurant when the shooter suddenly burst in.
The 911 calls that followed a horrific shooting at an Oklahoma restaurant in May are shedding light on a dire situation as a mother clung to her daughter, who had both been shot.
Inside the popular lakeside restaurant Louie's in Oklahoma City, a family was singing "happy birthday" to 14-year-old Shayla Giles when Alex Tilghman suddenly entered and opened fire.
Shayla's 12-year-old sister, Niah, and mother, Natalie, were hit.
Natalie cradled Niah as she hid in the bathroom and called 911. Niah can be heard screaming in pain in the 911 call.
Natalie told 911 that Niah was struck "in the stomach and [the bullet] went through and through."
"Niah was screaming, 'I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die,'" Natalie recalled to Inside Edition.
Not knowing whether the gunman was still in the restaurant, Natalie told her daughter, “I know you're hurting. I know you're scared, but please be quiet I don’t want him to hear us. I don't want him to come in here."
The heart stopping drama unfolded at a popular lakeside restaurant, Louie’s, in Oklahoma City.
Dramatic bodycam video shows police bursting in, guns drawn — but the gunman had already fled.
Air Force veteran Brian Whittle happened to be passing by and saw the commotion. He confronted the shooter in the parking lot.
"I continued to fire upon him until I seen him fall down," he told Inside Edition.
Another hero, Juan Carlos Nazario, a security guard in the area, stopped by the restaurant after hearing gunshots. He too drew his gun and fired on the shooter.
Niah was rushed to the hospital. She was seriously wounded, but is on the road to a complete recovery.
Tilghman, the 28-year-old gunman, was killed.
Inside Edition was there as Whittle met the grateful mom and her husband, Jabari, for the first time recently.
"Had he not been there, who knows what would have happened, but I feel in my heart it would have been much worse," Jabari said.
In June, an Oklahoma City prosecutor cleared both Nazario and Whittle, saying they would not face charges.
"It should be noted that both of the civilians who neutralized Tilghman had received significant firearms training and employed tactics that lessened the potential that their use of deadly force would harm innocent bystanders," Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater said in a statement.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the Giles family.
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