Three innocent people were murdered and seven others were wounded when a gunman turned an ordinary lunch rush into a killing ground at a newly opened In-N-Out Burger in Twin Falls, Idaho.
The gunman had a rifle and was firing at cars.
Families were trapped in a crowded shopping plaza.
Then the bullets started coming back.
Jordan Salinas, the armed citizen credited with confronting the attacker alongside an off-duty Idaho state trooper, has now described what he saw when the balance suddenly changed.
Salinas said the gunman had appeared remarkably comfortable while shooting at vehicles. Once he faced return fire, that composure vanished.
The newly released interview clip captures Salinas’s blunt account of that moment:
🔥THE HERO SPEAKS “He seemed incredibly comfortable firing at cars but as soon as rounds started coming at him…EVERYTHING CHANGED… the Bravado crumbled.” – Jordan Salinas
The Twin Falls, Idaho hero definitely saved lives along with the other off duty LEO when they fired on the… pic.twitter.com/KzONXdnaPa
— Johnny St.Pete (@JohnMcCloy) August 4, 2026
Salinas’s account fits the findings police released after investigators began reconstructing the attack.
In its official update, the Twin Falls Police Department said an armed citizen and an off-duty state trooper returned fire toward the attacker. Police credited both men with driving him away from the restaurant and preventing additional casualties.
The department identified the gunman as 24-year-old Chad Williams and said investigators were confident he acted alone.
Williams later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police had not announced a motive as of Tuesday.
Investigators said Williams’s family was cooperating and that detectives were continuing to review physical evidence, witness accounts and video from across the shopping area. The department asked anyone with recordings from the restaurant, parking lot or nearby roads to preserve them for investigators building the final timeline.
Police also warned the public against spreading an innocent man’s name after false claims about the shooter’s identity began circulating online.
That distinction matters: Salinas and the off-duty trooper did not kill Williams, according to the official account. They forced him away from a restaurant full of potential victims. Williams ended his own life after the confrontation.
Salinas did not arrive at the restaurant looking for trouble. The 35-year-old healthcare worker and full-time caregiver had been out with his girlfriend before they stopped for lunch.
According to the Idaho Statesman, people were already running from the building when the couple pulled in. Salinas first wondered whether there had been a kitchen fire.
Then he heard the unmistakable rhythm of gunshots and moved toward the danger.
He described the response as automatic and mechanical rather than theatrical, with his attention narrowing to the immediate threat and the people trying to get away. Years of training took over through a simple four-step loop: observe, orient, decide and act.
Salinas had begun taking firearms training seriously after witnessing the deadly 2021 shooting at Boise Towne Square, an experience that convinced him preparation could matter when seconds were all anyone had. He practiced regularly, but he had never fired at a person before Saturday.
His normal life was far removed from law enforcement. Salinas works in healthcare and serves as the full-time caregiver for his brother, who uses a wheelchair.
He had spent years practicing in the Idaho desert so that his movements and decisions would not depend on improvisation during a crisis. On Saturday, that preparation met the emergency he hoped would never come.
This was not a movie. There was no guarantee that the armed stranger he was moving toward would miss.
There was no guarantee arriving police would immediately know which man was trying to stop the attack.
Salinas went anyway.
The Associated Press reported that three innocent victims were killed and seven other people were wounded.
Williams’s death brought the total number of dead to four.
Two of the wounded had been treated and released by Sunday. Three were stable and two remained in critical condition at that point, leaving families waiting through the first full day after the attack for signs of recovery.
Police Chief Matthew Hicks said the gunman acted alone and that his family was cooperating with investigators. Detectives were still looking for a motive and reviewing a life that, based on an initial records search in Idaho and Arizona, did not include an obvious criminal case matching Williams’s name and birth date.
The attack moved through a busy restaurant and the surrounding parking area before Williams fled. The armed citizen and off-duty trooper changed that movement by forcing his attention away from the people he had been targeting.
The victims should not disappear behind the bravery of the response. They were people eating lunch, working a shift, driving through a parking lot or simply standing in the wrong place when a killer opened fire.
A 23-year-old In-N-Out employee, Ashley Garibay, was among those killed. She had traveled from California to help train workers at the new Twin Falls location.
Another victim, Christopher Claunch, was 59.
An In-N-Out owner described the company as heartbroken over the loss of one of its employees. Families of the dead and wounded are now carrying consequences that no act of heroism can undo.
But Salinas’s actions still matter enormously.
ABC News reported that video captured the 35-year-old returning fire as the attack unfolded. Its report identified Salinas as the armed bystander seen responding while the gunman moved through the area outside the restaurant.
The network’s video placed his account alongside footage from the scene and the official police findings. Salinas had just arrived for lunch, drew his handgun after recognizing the sound of gunfire and engaged a rifle-armed attacker in the middle of a busy commercial lot.
The report also reinforced the key limit on the claim: Salinas did not shoot Williams. His fire, combined with the off-duty trooper’s response, redirected the attacker while customers and workers were still trying to escape.
The gunman had every advantage he wanted until somebody refused to remain a defenseless target.
Salinas did not claim that training made him fearless or invincible. It gave him a process to follow while innocent people were under fire.
And by his account, the instant Williams realized he was no longer shooting at people who could not answer, everything changed.
Three families are grieving, wounded survivors face long recoveries and police still have critical questions to answer about motive and sequence.
But one fact is already settled.
Jordan Salinas and the off-duty trooper ran toward the gunfire. Police believe that decision saved lives.
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