A father has praised a local homeless man for protecting his daughter and her three friends during the mass shooting in Sacramento on April 3. 

Tom Orosco’s journey to pick up his daughter and friends became a parent’s nightmare. He described to local news outlet Good Day Sacramento how he heard gunshots as he spoke to his daughter on the phone — then the line went silent.

Searching the terrifying scene, he couldn’t find his daughter, but not because they were in danger; they were being sheltered in a doorway by a man identified as Tim Langer by CBS Sacramento. 

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Langer, who is homeless, was asleep when the gunshots started. He told the site and came to see what he described as a “state of war” that left six people, whose ages ranged from 21 to 57,  dead.

He then saw Ororsco’s daughter, who had fallen, and he went to help her up. He then huddled her and her friends in the doorway where he slept and used his body to shield them as the bullet flew.

Police said more than 100 expended shell casings were found at the scene.

Orosco went back a few days later to thank Langer for saving his daughter and now plans to give him a phone, food, and other supplies to get him back on his feet.  

“It’s a reminder that there are good people out here, and he’s one of those good people,” Orosco told Good Day Sacramento.

Sacramento citizens are now banding together to raise support for Langer, local news reports. 

The Sacramento Police Department has arrested two brothers in connection with the shooting.