Adriana Wright and retired police captain Paul Ybarrando met at Southwestern Community College for a handshake that was 32 years in the making.
“I grew up knowing they were there to serve and protect,” said Wright. “In this case they did not serve and did not protect."
Wright was talking about the July 18, 1984 McDonald’s Massacre in San Ysidro in which four of her family members were killed and two others injured.
The memory brought Wright to tears.
“It’s been 32 years. I thought I'd healed," she said.
For the first time since that dire day Wright sat down with Ybarrando then a homicide lieutenant investigating the murders.
“The first officer arrived two minutes after the radio call,” Ybarrando explained.
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Their discussion is part of a soon to be released documentary called "77 Minutes," the often criticized time it took for SWAT to take down the shooter.
“It was like two to three inches of blood,” Wright told Ybarrando. “A red carpet of blood."
Wright remembered how survivors including her niece, Aurora Pena described the scene, telling her gunshot victims would have survived but bled out waiting to be rescued.
“The coroner’s office is the one who determines these things. They told us there were 13 deceased victims that would have died instantly.”
21 people were killed and 19 others were injured that fateful day - a day that, for a time, was the deadliest mass shooting in the United States.
Director Charlie Minn hopes to start a movement with his documentary, saying you won't see or hear the name of the shooter who may have suffered from mental health issues.
“I don't address cowards. All focus should be on victims," Minn said.
Adriana Wright was scarred by the loss of her pregnant sister Jackie and her eight-month-old nephew Carlos Reyes.
“I didn’t have time to feel her loss because everyone else was hurting. I had to fix everything. I had to prepare funerals," she said.
The documentary is scheduled to be released in September. The director says he plans to donate part of the proceeds to funds of murdered San Diego Police Officer Jonathan “JD” De Guzman and his wounded partner Wade Irwin.
