California survivors of theater shooting speaking out

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Survivors of the Colorado theater shooting with connections to California and even the Valley are emerging.

Reality for many of the survivors of this massacre is just now beginning to set in.

Action News talked with a teenager who was in the theater next to the shooting scene. He says when news of this attack spread to California his family there began to panic.

19-year-old Alex Milano and his younger sister were inside the Century 16 theater when bullets began shooting through the walls early Friday morning.

"That's when I actually saw the bullet rip through the wall. People began holding parts of their body and they began running out," Milano said.

Alex and his family came back to the theater on Saturday, he says to share their story of survival and to mourn the 12 people who were killed.

Alex's sister is having a difficult time with what she saw. Their mom, Angela, says her family in Manteca, California began calling her moments after the massacre made national news.

"She's kind of shut down right now. She's had a lot of crying sessions. I'm going to get them the help they need. Get them to talk to who they need to talk to," Angela Milano said. "I believe they saw my son. He was one of the first eyewitnesses to be interviewed."

Alex was in the same theater as Army Specialist David Pharris from Sanger.

Pharris' father told Action News from Sanger that he's just trying to digest how close he came to dying. Pharris can't speak to us because of military restrictions, but he had told Action News he walked out of the theater moments before police say James Holmes began his shooting spree.

Jennifer Seger was also inside that theater.

"I saw little children screaming and crying, people getting mutilated. I heard gun shots. I saw gun shells touch my face like a shower all around me," Seger said.

Many of the victims and witnesses came to the theater to pick up their cars that were being held inside the crime tape.

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california, colorado, shooting, state, rick montanez

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