The father of a Maine shooting victim spoke out after learning his son died a hero, trying to save his colleagues and customers when a gunman opened fire on the bar-restaurant he managed.
Joseph Walker, 57, was the manager of Schemengees Bar and Grille, and according to police accounts, he ran toward the suspected shooter, Robert Card, as the rampage began Wednesday night.
Leroy Walker addressed his son's heroic actions and the legacy he left behind in the community during "FOX & Friends" on Friday.
"It has been a nightmare," Walker told Lawrence Jones. "Just listening to the officer, I knew my son would do something, if it was possible, that he wouldn't run away. I knew that. He would never run away from anything like this."
"People meant too much to him, and I'm sure there were others there that thought about doing it or wanted to do it, but my son tried and lost his life trying to help… his friends and his customers and… standing up and being the man that he felt he had to be," he continued.
Hundreds of FBI, ATF and Border Patrol officials and other agencies have teamed up with U.S. Marshals and local law enforcement to locate Card, who is a firearm instructor with previous military experience.
He has been on the run since the mass shooting after killing 18 people and injuring 13 more. Residents have described the town as quiet, not typically riddled with crime or notable national attention.
Maine State Rep. Amy Bradstreet Arata spoke with Jones surrounding the community-wide tragedy, noting that some of the victims, like Walker, died trying to shield the most vulnerable – the children.
"I can't imagine what they're going through," Arata said. "I know that there are… wives who are eight months pregnant, lost their husbands, little children who lost their fathers, daughters lost their fathers and their mothers... I just can't even can't even fathom what they're going through."
"I think that they can... have some hope in the fact that these people died as heroes," she continued. "The stories that are coming out are amazing, that these were people who were standing in front of children. They got shot because they were protecting children... That's how Mainers are… That's the type of Maine that I know, a Maine where people stand up for their children."
The gunman reportedly opened fire first at a local bowling alley called Just-In-Time Recreation, which was reportedly holding a youth night at the time.
Walker described his son as "loving" and said he was always trying to help others.
"[He was a] loving son," Walker responded. "Thought about doing more for other people than himself and his own. He was always, always trying to help people, always trying to get people to do even more than what they were capable of doing. My son never quit. Work was never anything that he was afraid of."
"Your son died a hero," Jones said.
"He did, and I'm proud of him," Walker responded. "I love him with all my heart…. and the community loved him... He'll be missed by many, many, many people."
"I had the greatest son in the world," Walker said. "That's a tough one. That's a tough one to lose."
FOX News' Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.
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