AG Member Shot Five Times in San Bernardino Attack Miraculously Survives

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Kevin Ortiz, 24, a member of Fontana (California) First Assembly of God and an employee of the San Bernardino County Division of Environmental Health Services, fell to the floor when the first bullet struck him in the back/shoulder during the department's Christmas party being held in the conference center at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.

Ortiz, who shared with his pastor, Gary Weik, that he at first thought they were doing some kind of drill with beanbag rounds, didn't fully realize the gravity of the situation until he was struck with a bullet and began to bleed. At that point, he dove under the table and played dead -- the attackers, identified as Ortiz's co-worker, Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his wife or fiancé, Tashfeen Malik, 27, would strike Ortiz with four more rounds in his exposed legs, and ultimately kill 14 people and wound 20 additional people.

Daniel Bielewicz, the Hispanic pastor for Fontana First AG, explains that at first even Ortiz didn't realize how many times he had been hit. However, he knew he was bleeding and was uncertain whether or not help would reach him in time before he bled out. After the attackers left, Ortiz would manage to call his father, wife, and a friend to let them know he had been shot.

Miraculously for Ortiz, help would arrive in time and his prognosis for complete recovery is good. "Not one bullet struck a vital organ, not one bone was broken, not one artery was hit," marvels Bielewicz. "Everyone is amazed that he survived."

Weik adds that doctors later discovered that the bullet to Ortiz's shoulder also struck a rib, with a fragment puncturing one of his lungs. However, doctors are still confident of a full recovery.

According to authorities, the attackers were heavily armed with assault-style weapons and handguns, were wearing military-style protective gear, attempted to detonate a large pipe bomb (but failed), and carried more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition on them and in their vehicle. Police estimate the pair fired 65 to 75 rounds in the attack, with many of the rounds finding a human victim. More than 300 police officers responded to the incident. Farook and Malik were later killed in a roadway shootout with police.

Ortiz recalls the painful memory of the attack, explaining to Weik that it seemed that those co-workers who fell to the ground, hid, or feigned death, had a better chance of survival; those who ran seemed to be targeted.

Bielewicz, who is also the senior pastor of Iglesia Celebración in San Bernardino, describes Ortiz as a brilliant and energetic young man, who heads up First Assembly's video department, works with the church's youth group, and just over two weeks ago, got married. Weik, who is equally impressed with Ortiz, says he was also the first young person to be elected by the church to serve as a junior board member (a young member being prepared for future church leadership).

Weik says surviving the attack is the second relatively recent major miracle in Ortiz's life. A few years ago, Ortiz was scheduled for open heart surgery due to a serious heart condition. However, after much prayer, the day he arrived for the surgery, the doctors would examine him again and be left dumbfounded, calling off the surgery and sending Ortiz home with a clean bill of health.

But both Weik and Bielewicz readily express concern for Ortiz and ask for prayers for the young man, explaining that as a result of the trauma of seeing his co-workers and friends being shot and falling wounded, dying, or already dead around him is a vision that continues to replay over and over in his mind.

Weik says that the church, which runs about 250 people in two services, stands ready to do whatever it can to help Ortiz and his family through this tragedy. However, the church isn't satisfied with just caring for its own; Weik says they are looking to help the families of other victims as well. "There was a man killed who had six children at home . . ." says Weik, pausing to fight back emotions. "What is that family going to do without that 'breadwinner' in the home? We want to be a part of the solution."

"We are still all in shock about this," Bielewicz shares. "But I believe God is going to do something great through this situation."

Source: PE News