Eerie feeling remains after shooting in Crete neighborhood

CRETE, Neb. (KLKN) – The neighborhood in Crete where Friday’s mass shooting left seven people injured remained eerie on Saturday.

Ana Flores and her children live right down the street from the scene, and she said the area is never this quiet.

“You never really think that something like this will happen in an area, in this kind of an area in Crete, even in Crete overall,” Flores said.

Flores was at work during the time of the shooting, while her children were at home.

She recounts calling her son to see if the shooting was near their house.

“I was like, ‘Angel lock down there’s an active shooter out there. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m on my way home right now,'” Flores said.  “He looked out the window and he’s like ‘Mom, there’s cops everywhere outside with big guns walking up the street.’ In that moment I freaked out.”

Just like any mom, Flores said she is willing to do anything to get to her children, despite first responders blocking off parts of the neighborhood.

“I was willing to knock on somebody’s door and be like ‘hey I need to get to my kids right now,'” Flores said.  “But that did not happen, nobody stopped me and everybody let me through.”

Although Flores doesn’t know if this was a hate crime, it was one of her first thoughts due to the area being predominantly Hispanic.

“We are in a country where we’re able to speak our mind and be free,” Flores said. “But I can’t wrap my mind around if it’s a hate crime how it got to that extent, especially shooting at children.”

Flores said there’s also a fear of this happening to another home in the neighborhood due to how many kids live in the community.

“My kids were here, and we have so many children around this community,” Flores said. “Every other house there’s kids, and that’s not the only house that has kids.”