University of Iowa student’s mom recalls terror as mass shooting erupted: ‘Run as fast as you can’

A mother who was visiting her daughter for the University of Iowa’s Moms Weekend recalled the horrifying moment gunfire erupted near campus early Sunday, sending them running for their lives.

Aly Davis, whose daughter is a freshman at the school, told KCCI that the pair and some friends were wrapping up a fun-filled night when “all of a sudden, we just heard a series of, ‘Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!’ ”

The mom said she initially dismissed the racket as fireworks — until she heard a second volley of gunshots. Her first instinct was to protect her daughter, Davis said.

“I turned to my daughter and said, ‘There’s a shooter. I want you to run as fast as you can, get safe, even if you have to hide,’” the distraught mother said.

Davis’ daughter and a group of friends, who were about 200 feet away from the gunfire, sprinted toward the residence halls on campus, which was about a block away.

Davis said she chose to stay behind, believing she would slow them down and hinder their escape.

She said she also thought she might have to confront the shooter to give her daughter and friends more time to get to flee.

“I know I don’t have the physical strength to overtake a person and definitely not a firearm,” Davis said. “But if I can cause some kind of a delay for her to get further and safer, that’s what I needed to do.”

The mom ducked into an alley and hid until her daughter eventually came back.

“She said, ‘I’m not leaving you. Come with me,’ ” Davis said.

The two ended up pleading with an Uber drive to take them away from the area.

Fellow mothers participating in Moms Weekend helped create a support system for each other afterward. At a final scheduled event Sunday, families embraced one another and checked in, she said.

Police were responding to a brawl at the Iowa City Pedestrian Mall, a popular college bar strip, around 1:45 a.m. involving as many as 100 people when the gunshots rang out.

Dramatic video of the melee shared on social media showed dozens of people crowded around a group of men throwing haymakers at each other.

Five people were wounded, including three students, with one victim in critical condition.

No arrests have been made. Police shared a photo of picture of five young men and are asking for the public’s help in identifying them.