[GUNSHOT] [GUNSHOT] [GUNSHOT] [TYPING] [GUNSHOT] [GUNSHOT] [GUNSHOT] Watsonville is a small town
for, I guess, California. It's a large farming community. It's also right on the ocean. It is very diverse culturally,
and it's a great town to be in. On that day in June, I
was working part time. I had just come back to
work after having a baby. And I picked up this
call, and the whole day changed from there. JOHN MELLO: When she
started working at Big 5, we'd been married for
about three years. Tish was a great mother-- always dedicated attention
to her daughter and myself. It was a normal Tuesday. She's working a
morning shift that day. At that time in the store, any
employees that are in there are usually arranging
items, putting stock out. I need that gun over there. JOHN MELLO: Tish start getting
a feeling that something was wrong, because he didn't know
what type of gun he wanted or what type of
bullets for the gun. She was thinking
that he's buying a gun for another person. Usually, if something
doesn't add up when somebody is trying
to purchase the gun, a flag goes up. When he found out that
there was a waiting period, I guess he kind of flipped
out and proceeded to head out to his car. He wanted a shotgun,
and he was going to get it any way he could. MICHELE STEVISON: He went
to the front of the store, and she wasn't really sure
what he was doing, because she couldn't really see him. Turns out he was actually
locking the front doors with a bike chain so that
people couldn't get in or out. [HEARTBEAT] [TICKING] [SAW WHIRRING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [POLICE SIRENS] JOHN MELLO: What he
was actually doing was taking the
trigger guard off. Because usually when the
guns are on the rack, they have a trigger lock so
that the gun can't be loaded and fired in any quick fashion. [POLICE SIRENS] [TICKING] [GRUNTING] [GUNSHOT] [YELLING] [DIAL TONE] [GUNSHOTS] MICHELE STEVISON: He had
a big gun in his hand, and he had access to as
much ammo as he wanted. I was nervous. I was nervous for her. I was nervous for the
officers coming on scene, because he's got a lot
of firepower in there. As far as the
Watsonville Big 5, I think he chose it
out of convenience. The fact that they don't
have armed employees. [TICKING] [YELLING] [GUNSHOT] MAN: I know you can see me. Open the door! MAN: Man! Open the door! [TICKING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [SHOUTING] [GUNSHOT] [GUNSHOT] [TICKING] [TICKING] TISH MELLO: After he had
shot off the first round, I thought I'm probably
going to be next. That was the scariest moment. The police shot him about
50 feet away from my door. I felt relieved. I thought, OK, I'm safe. And that's when I just
wanted to be with my husband and my daughter. STEPHEN BAXTER: Robin Miranda
had gone to Watsonville High School, where he was a
wrestler, and did really well. And then when he was
17, he had a concussion. His family said,
after that, things weren't really right with him. There was some speculation
afterwards that Robin wanted to commit suicide by cop. His mother had said that there
were no indications that he wanted to end his life this way. I think things just
spiraled out of control. We don't really know
what he was thinking. He will come into my
head, into my dreams, and it's not always
the same scenario. But it's me fighting him
at some point in time. That's the only
thing that's still left that haunts me that I
don't think will ever go away. If I was in that
situation, I don't think I could be as strong as her. I think she kept me more calm
than me keeping her calm. She was amazing. I'm strong enough
to say it was awful. But I lived through it,
and I can tell the story. [MUSIC PLAYING] [SCREAM] BECKY MCCRACKEN: Emergency,
is this fire or medical? [MUSIC PLAYING] My son, Alec, was-- I wouldn't say shy, just
quiet, to himself, easygoing. He was very adventurous
and loved the outdoors. CHRISSY GELMINI: Alessandro was
always a pretty happy-go-lucky child. He was outgoing. We get to the trail, and I don't
remember anything particular except for just how
beautiful it was. We came upon just this
gorgeous tiered area of rock-- just flat rock but it tiered
down alongside of the falls. And then on top of that,
that's where the cave was. It was really just a
beautiful sight to see. Who wouldn't want to go
in there and explore? I took a picture of the two
boys in front of the ice cave. I remember Joni and
I turning around. [SCREAM] [PHONE RINGING] BECKY MCCRACKEN: Emergency,
is this fire or medical? [TICKING] All units dispatch
Lake Melakwa. We have an ice cave collapse
with two teenage boys trapped inside. [SIRENS] [TICKING] BECKY MCCRACKEN: When I
first answered the call, and I heard Joni's
voice, she was frantic. She was a mother whose
son was in danger-- the worst case scenario. [MUSIC PLAYING] [CRASH] [SCREAM] We didn't have any idea
where they were inside. I remember standing there, just
looking at it, thinking OK, they're going to come out. They're going to come out. I was calling the boys'
names as loud as I could, and there's no answer. I just remember thinking,
well, we've got to find them. When the call came in, it was
dispatched as a cave collapse. As the cruiser en route,
it changed to a snow cave collapse. If it was snow,
there was no chance. Because the snow would
have suffocated anybody that was inside of it. We felt that there was a high
likelihood that nobody would have survived this
type of a collapse. [TICKING] [SIRENS] [MUSIC PLAYING] [TICKING] CHRISSY GELMINI: Alessandro! [MUSIC PLAYING] [TICKING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [CRASH] BECKY MCCRACKEN: It's
not a manicured trail and it's fairly steep. So even though the rescuers were
climbing as fast as they could, obviously, time was running out. It's absolutely the
worst possible thing that can happen-- being a parent, thinking that
your child might not be alive anymore. [MUSIC PLAYING] [TICKING] BECKY MCCRACKEN: When
I hung up the phone-- I mean, in all reality, we had
just barely cracked the surface of what this call was. When I first saw
the site, it was worse than what I had envisioned. Just picture like, giant
ice cubes, big, heavy chunks of snow sitting that
had collapsed in. We got to work right away. CHRISSY GELMINI: I was
just pacing back and forth and praying. One of the paramedics came
to me and said, Chrissy, I think they've heard a voice. JONI CORBETT: I just
remember crying-- thinking, oh my god, one's alive. You know, the other
one has to be. And then it wasn't too long
after that they came back and said they heard
a second voice. I couldn't move because
I was pinned between a rock and the slid ice. It was very hard to breathe. I called Alec's name,
and he didn't respond. So I didn't know if he was
OK-- if he was alive or dead. About an hour into it, I feel
something kicking my head, and I realize it's Alec's foot. That kind of helped
me a little bit-- that I knew I wasn't
alone, that he was there. And then we started
smelling some fumes, and then the next thing we
know, we hear this chainsaw, and people using pickaxes
to pry through the ice. They dug me out first
and then dug out Alec. And then, eight minutes
later, another two tons of ice collapsed on the same site. CHRISSY GELMINI:
Alessandro has gotten a lot more contemplative. I think he's done a lot more
questioning now about life-- the purpose of life, where he
fits into the big universe. JONI CORBETT: My son, Alec, has
really been thinking about what happened. And he has decided to be a
wilderness first responder and help people the way the
first responders helped him. [PHONE DIALING] [PHONE RINGING] [RAGGED BREATHING] [MUSIC PLAYING] Caryn had been working at LA
Tan for probably about a year-- usually day shifts. Caryn wasn't even supposed
to be working that night. She was doing a favor
for the manager. I would never think that
this kind of incident could happen in Orland Park. [MUSIC PLAYING] Caryn was cleaning one of
the beds when the door buzzed. She came to help
what she thought was supposed to be a customer. The man pulled
out a gun and told her to give him all the money. He had her step away
from the register. And at that point, he
pulled out a piece of rope and forced her to
tie herself up. MAN: Tie it tight! SHANNON MCDANIEL: First
thing he saw was the gun. And then he saw Caryn tied up. Jason tried to explain
that he was a new father, he was married, that he
didn't have to do this. MAN: Look at my hand. Look at me! BENJAMIN FELDHEIM: As the gunman
pulled out the length of rope, he dropped one on the ground. He let go of the gun
and moved away from it to reach down and pick
up that piece of rope. And in that moment, Jason
saw his opportunity, and he went for it. MAN: Give me the gun! Give me the gun! [DIAL TONE] [PHONE DIALING] [PHONE RINGING] [TICKING] [INDISTINCT YELLING] [GUNSHOT] [MUSIC PLAYING] Gary Amaya decided to go
to the LA Tan in Orland Park to try to rob it, but
somewhere in there, something just snapped. He was there to hurt people. [INDISTINCT YELLING] Jason's instructing
him to stop everything that he's doing-- to stop moving, reaching
into his pockets, but the man didn't listen. [TICKING] [INDISTINCT YELLING] [POLICE SIRENS] [TICKING] JASON MCDANIEL:
Get on the ground! Get down now! Get on the ground! [TICKING] [POLICE SIRENS] [TICKING] [DIAL TONE] CARYN ROHDE: When I do
reflect back on this, something about him
just didn't fit. He's wearing all black, ski knit
cap, big guy, big, round guy. And he's older, too. He had no life in his eyes. When Jason came in, I just
thought, thank goodness. Somebody is here. Somebody is going to see me. I'm not going to die alone here. I kept asking him. I was bagging him like,
hey, show me your hands, or I'm going to
have to shoot you. He kept rolling around
on this belt where I see all these weird tools,
and you know, just weird stuff. So who knows what he could've
had underneath there? And I didn't want
to become a victim. That's when I shot him. BENJAMIN FELDHEIM: Police
ran ballistics on the gun that Gary Amaya used and
connected that gun to bullets found at four
other crime scenes. This man who was attacking
people and killing people at random. Gary Amaya was, in fact,
the honeybee killer-- a man who had approached people
in Illinois and in Northwest Indiana, mentions
something about honeybees, and then killed people. CARYN ROHDE: When I found
out that I came face-to-face with a serial killer, it
changed my world forever to know that all of these
odds were stacked against me. I definitely think that,
since I was saved that day, I have something greater to do. I know I'm not done yet. Heroes are policemen
and firemen. JASON MCDANIEL: I
wouldn't consider myself a hero like that,
but it feels good, though. When people say things
like that, it feels good. [MUSIC PLAYING]
