BURIEN, Wash. — New surveillance video released on Friday shows the moments a van smashed through a busy Ross store in Burien on December 16.
In the video - you can see a mom, Rachelle Vannier, holding her nine-month-old baby boy when they both got hit. Her husband, Chris Lowe, was hit too.
>>RELATED: Van crashes into Ross store in Burien; several people injured
The crash hurt a total of 11 people. A two-year-old who was pinned under the van is still in the hospital.
Police say the suspect, Lee Skelly, was the getaway driver for his girlfriend who was attempting to shoplift.
In the video, you see Vannier in a red shirt standing by the door. Her husband is in a white shirt.
Then the unimaginable happens. The van smashes through the store, running people over and sending others flying.
“People were screaming, crying, yelling,” Vannier said.
When the van plowed through, Lowe got pushed off to the side. Vannier is immediately launched into the air.
>>RELATED:Victim in Burien Ross crash released; 2-year-old grandson remains in hospital
She said her instinct kicked in and all she knew was to protect her baby.
“I get him cradled in my arms and I just kind of did like a fetal position, just hunched over him and did the best I could to shield him from whatever was coming,” she said.
⚠️Graphic!⚠️
— Deedee Sun (@DeedeeKIRO7) January 11, 2020
Surveillance video released today shows you the horrifying moments a van crashed through the Ross in Burien, hurting 11 people.
I talked with Rachelle, the woman in the red shirt, & her husband today. She's holding their BABY in the video. @KIRO7Seattle 11p pic.twitter.com/GWcjtr7XTv
In the next frame, the jewelry counter looks like it's exploding -- then, you can't see Vannier or the baby anymore.
“It was scary, I couldn't find her, I couldn't walk around, it was really scary,” Lowe said.
Lowe is under some debris and managed to get up on his broken leg .
Vannier was also hurt, and still has this lesion from tissue separating. But incredibly, baby Kingsley was basically unharmed.
“Little scrape - other than that just a little bruise on his butt,” Vannier said.
The family says seeing the video actually makes them feel lucky.
“It’s truly amazing that we got out of it the way we did,” Vannier said.
Lowe works as a security guard and Vannier is in the restaurant industry, and both haven’t been able to work since the crash. A family member helped them set up a GoFundMe to help them out with medical bills.
The driver of the van, Skelly, appeared in court last week and pled not guilty to four counts of vehicular assault among other charges. He’s still in custody at the King County Jail with a $500,000 bond.
(Surveillance video is embedded below. Warning: Video may be disturbing for some.)
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