Mother is shot as she turns herself into a human shield to protect her two sons from Dallas snipers
A HEROIC mum became a human shield when she risked her own life to save her son - as bullets fired into a crowd of protesters in Dallas.
Mum-of-four Shetamia Taylor was shot in the calf as she jumped on top of the 15-year-old boy to protect him.
He escaped unharmed, but was drenched in his mother's blood.
Her sister Theresa Williams has spoken out about the terrifying ordeal that left five police officers dead and nine injured - including two civilians.
She told : "As the rally was ending and they turned to leave, they were one of the first crowds to leave, they heard the first gunshot. After that first gunshot she heard the second gunshot and after that it was just a lot of gunshots. She said they just came so fast and they wouldn't stop."
She added: "They all began to run, scatter and she said as she started to run she caught a bullet in the back of her right leg. She immediately jumped on top of one of her boys, the 15-year-old, she jumped on top to cover him on the ground as she pushed him in between two cars and the kerb.
"Her other three boys scattered and ran in opposite directions. So she lost three of her boys, didn't know where they were. She lay there, she said it was about five minutes before cops even got to her and pulled her from the area where she was because the shots were coming so fast."
Ms Taylor was taken to hospital and underwent surgery for her injuries.
Another bystander caught up in the horrifying attack was Lynn Mays.
He said his life had been saved by a brave officer who pushed him out of the way of bullets.
He told : "All of a sudden we started hearing gunshots just out of nowhere.
"At first we couldn't identify it because we weren't expecting it and then we started hearing more rapid fire and a police officer pushed me out of the way because it was coming in our direction.
"So when the officer pushed me out the way next thing you know we heard 'officer down' so when we hear 'officer down' more undercover officers as well as uniformed police officers start running around the corner, they froze and this shootout began."
Related Stories
Five police were killed after armour-clad snipers picked off 12 cops and two civilians in a murderous "ambush" at a protest against the shooting of two black men.
One of the suspects shot himself during a stand-off with SWAT teams after warning there were bombs "all over" Dallas while three more were arrested.
A radical black power group has this morning claimed responsibility for a murderous sniper attack.
The Black Power Political Organization threatened to carry out even more attacks in a chilling Facebook post uploaded this morning.
It read: “#BlackPower! #BlackKnights! Sniper Assassins Take Down Five Police Officers! And More Will Be Assassinated In The Coming Days! Do You Like The Work Of Our Assassins? Get Your Own Sniper Rifle And Join Our Thousands Of Sniper Assassins Worldwide In The Fight Against Oppression!”
A man who was part of the demonstration – Black Lives Matter – has described the scenes as gunfire broke out during the rally.
He said he was walking back to his car when he heard shots, and saw officers fall to the ground.
“All the cops were getting shot,” he told ITV news.
“I just saw cops bending over.
“There had to have been five or six cops, they were all just getting shot down.
“It was just after the rally, we were just walking back to the car then I heard the shots.
“We were running – they just kept shooting.”
Patrick Zamarripa and Brent Thompson have been named as two of the five police officers killed in the deadliest attack on police in US history.
While Misty McBride is one of the injured after she was shot in the arm and once in the stomach.
Her young daughter Hunter McBride has told of her relief that her mum is alive.
She told reporters outside Baylor Medical Center she had already spoken to her mum and told her she loved her.
She added: “I’m just glad she’s alive, really.”