A documentary about the San Ysidro McDonald’s Massacre, a mass shooting that happened on July 18, 1984, that took the lives of 21 people and injured another 20, premiered at The Front Gallery at Casa Familiar, on Thursday, September 22.

This film called “77 minutes” which refers to the time it took police to take down the shooter, gives a comprehensive look of what happened inside the fast food restaurant 32 years ago.

“This documentary is to honor the victims, to give them a voice because unfortunately with mass shootings today, the killer seems to get all the attention and we hardly know about all the stories of the innocent victims,” said 77 minutes producer, Charlie Minn. “There were some stories inside that restaurant that I think no one knows about like unknown heroes that were shielding their bodies so that others couldn’t get hit.”

The film was set to open on Friday, September 23, 2016 at Mission Valley Hazard Center in San Diego for a minimum of a one-week run, but ran four sneak previews on September 22^nd, and 23^rd, at The Front Gallery at Casa Familiar.

The non-profit based in San Ysidro, Casa Familiar helped funnel the money collected to help the victims of that day, 32 years ago, through a service that lasted two years.

“Casa Familiar was there because it was a unique necessity, and very important,” said Casa Familiar new CEO, Lisa Cuestas. “When there is a necessity, Casa Familiar responds on a way it cans.”

Cuestas mentioned that the decision to run the documentary at their facilities was to be able to see it within the community.

“The Front is an intimate space, residents can feel like they are with family,” Cuestas said. “Because Casa Familiar helped back then, I felt it was appropriate to balanced what people said about the documentary, and to be able to have a space here in San Ysidro to view it first, and be surrounded by people they know.”

The film included interviews from some of victims like Karla Felix, a four month-old baby who was shot at the massacre, and survived. And it also included interviews of first responders at the scene, and even the SWAT team sniper, Chuck Foster, who fatally shot the perpetrator.

“I used to go to that McDonald’s (where the massacre occurred) to eat, and I also had a friend who worked there, but he wasn’t working the day it happened,” said San Ysidro resident, Humberto Luna, who was at the documentary premiere. “I came because I was interested in the story.”

Other people that knew some of the victims were also present at the film opening.

“The victims were kids we knew, they were small children, I personally knew two of the children attacked, they were good behaved kids,” said San Ysidro resident, Irene Barajas. “San Ysidro back then didn’t had to many residents, and everybody knew each other.”