A survivor describes fleeing the Highland Park shooting with her 4 children and hiding in an elevator for an hour
Kelsey Payne said her husband told her to "grab the kids and go" when he realized the noise he was hearing was, in fact, gunshots.
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- A Highland Park shooting survivor said she hid in an elevator with her family until they could be rescued.
- Kelsey Payne was at the annual Fourth of July parade with her husband and their four kids.
- She said her husband told her to "grab the kids and go" when he realized firework-like noises were gunfire.
One survivor of the Highland Park, Illinois, shooting told Insider that when she fled the scene, her family had to hide in an elevator for an hour before law enforcement could bring them to safety.
Kelsey Payne went to the town's annual Fourth of July parade with her husband and four children, aged 6 weeks, two, four, and eight years old.
Payne said when the shooting spree began, she and her husband thought the noise was "just fireworks" so they stayed put and tried to figure out what was going on. Her husband then recognized the sounds of a gun reloading after the first round of bullets stopped, she said.
"That's when he said 'grab the kids and go,'" Payne told Insider.
Payne said she didn't know where to run, so she led her family back to their car, which was parked in a garage nearby.
"We got to the elevators and got in and another family came in and hit 'go' on the elevator and once it started moving, we pulled the emergency stop and just hid," Payne said.
She said they hid in the elevator for an hour before her husband's brother showed up with police to rescue them.
"You don't think about it happening ever because you run the numbers and statistically it wouldn't happen to you," she said.
"And then it just doesn't feel real," Payne continued. "You see the stuff on the news — it just doesn't happen where you are."
Payne said her eight-year-old was particularly curious about the Monday incident, during which a 21-year-old shooting suspect opened fire on the parade crowd from the roof of a nearby business, police said, killing seven and wounding at least 31 others.
Her four-year-old, on the other hand, was more concerned with his wagon and his car, Payne said, adding that he was wondering why they left their belongings at the parade.
"He knows there's a bad guy but past that hasn't really asked questions," Payne said.
The suspect has been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder. Prosecutors said he confessed to his crime Monday night when he was finally apprehended by police.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.