The youngest survivor of the El Paso Walmart shooting celebrated his 1st birthday with a socially distanced parade
- Paul Anchondo was just months old when his parents were killed in an August 3, 2019 mass shooting in an El Paso, Texas, Walmart.
- Paul's parents, Jordan and Andre Anchondo, died protecting him from harm.
- Paul turned one last week, and on Saturday his family celebrated his birthday with a socially distanced parade.
The youngest survivor of a 2019 mass shooting in an El Paso, Texas, Walmart celebrated his first birthday with a socially distanced parade.
Paul Anchondo was orphaned in the August 3, 2019 shooting that killed 23 people. His parents, Jordan and Andre Anchondo, died protecting him from harm.
Paul turned one year old last week. On Saturday, his uncle and grandfather organized a drive-by birthday party for Paul, and hundreds of people stopped by his home.
Video of the parade shows Paul in a crown and wearing blue and gold regalia for the event.
"I'm so happy. Today is his first birthday and I think we had to celebrate it, not only because it's his first birthday but because he survived," Paul's uncle, Gilberto Luis Anchondo, told KDBC-TV. "He obviously reminds me of my brother a lot. I think they look exactly the same and you have to remember that Andrew was my little baby brother."
Mass gatherings are discouraged in Texas to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, so Paul's family set up the drive-through parade so people could still show him love. Hundreds of vehicles stopped by with signs, and members of the Muertos motorcycle club rode together to greet him.
Paul's grandfather, Gilbert Anchondo, told KTSM that he wants his grandson to know he's not alone and that El Paso will support him through anything.
"It's out of this world what happened here," he said. "The outfit says that he's a prince but he became the prince of El Paso."
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