Grocery union praises King Soopers employees for rushing coworkers and customers to safety as the mass shooting unfolded: 'They really acted as heroes'

• A shooting left 10 dead at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, on Monday.
• The local grocery union president called store workers "heroes" for leading customers to safety.
• Police have not yet identified a suspect or motive.

The employees at a Boulder, Colorado, grocery store targeted in a mass shooting on Monday have been praised as "heroes" by their local union president.

Ten people - including a police officer - were killed in a shooting at the King Soopers in Boulder Monday afternoon. A suspect is in custody, though police have not released their name. The identities of the victims have not been announced either.

In an interview with 9News, Kim Cordova, local union president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 (UFCW), told of the acts of courage exhibited by store employees during the shooting.

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"We know that when they heard gunshots, some of the workers grabbed coworkers, also led customers out to safety through various exits throughout the store, including the back dock and the back area of the store," Cordova told 9News. "They work during every manmade or natural disaster, and now, they again stepped up [and] helped save customers and members of the community. They continue to be heroes."

Cordova said the shooting comes amid a tough year in general for grocery workers, given the health threats they face continuing to work during the coronavirus pandemic.

"Unfortunately, these workers are going to be traumatized over this situation, but they really acted as heroes as they've been throughout this whole pandemic. They really care about their community and their customers, and each other. Now, they were faced with this tragedy," Cordova told 9News.

Cordova said she was not aware that any of the victims were store employees. However, police have yet to officially name all 10 victims. So far, only one victim has been named, Boulder police officer Eric Talley, a father of seven who was the first officer to arrive on the scene.

Cordova told 9News that the union will work to get the store's employees the help they need after the shooting, including in-store counseling.

Meanwhile, survivors of the shooting have described how the store's staff responded to the threat.

Andrew Hummel told ABC7 Denver that his friend and roommate, identified as Mason, works at the King Soopers, and Hummel was shopping in the store when the shooting happened,.

When Hummel got out of the store, he learned that Mason was hiding from the shooter in a storage closet with customers.

"One of the biggest scary texts he sent, he just said, 'I love you guys. Thank you for everything in case things go bad.' That was a really hard text, especially me being in this situation," Hummel said. "That was something I would never want to hear from any of my friends. It was horrifying. It was truly horrifying."

Store employee Andy Arellano also told ABC7 that a coworker showed him and others a way to escape the store through the bakery section when the gunshots first rang out.

Arellano also said that he witnessed one of his managers helping an elderly man to safety.

As soon as he was safe outside the store, Arellano said his thoughts immediately turned to his coworkers and figuring out whether they were safe or not.

"I'm more concerned for my coworkers; if they're alive, you know?" he told ABC7. "I'm trying to look for them. I'm trying to get a hold of them."

The shooting was the second mass shooting in the US in just a week.