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Teen who saved siblings in Mexico shooting says he thought killers followed him in ABC interview

Posted at 7:22 AM, Nov 11, 2019
and last updated 2019-11-11 13:14:35-05

A 13-year-old boy that walked more than a dozen miles to find help after his family was ambushed in Mexico described the terrifying ordeal in an interview with ABC News.

Devin Langford, 13, lost nine family members earlier this month, when their cars were shot at and burned as their family traveled in the Mexican mountains. Those killed were women and children.

"They just started hitting [the] car first, like with a bunch, a bunch of bullets. Just start shooting rapidly at us," Devin told ABC News with his father by his side. "The car didn't work. So she was just trying right there, starting the car as much as she could, but I'm pretty sure they shot something so the car wouldn't even start."

After the shooting, the attackers ordered the remaining children on the ground and left them for dead.

"Afterward, they got us out of the car, and they just got us on the floor and then they drove off," Devin said.

With a number of his siblings severely injured and bleeding, Devin knew that he needed to find help. After carrying his injured siblings as far as he could, he eventually hid them in the bushes and set off on his own to find help.

"We walked a little while until we couldn't carry them no more. And so we put them in the bushes so they wouldn't get hit or nothing. So I started walking," Devin said. "Every one of them were bleeding really bad. So I was trying to get in a rush to get there."

Watch the ABC News video in the player below.

Devin walked 14 miles before he was able to find help. He told ABC News that the entire time, he was wondering "if there was anybody else out there trying to shoot me or following me." He also told ABC that he thought about "my mom and my two brothers that died."

Authorities suspect that drug cartels are responsible for the murders.

Though the motive behind the attack isn't clear some family members suspect that the family was targeted for their activism against the cartels. Some authorities believe cartels members mistook the family for a rival cartel.