From their west-side window table, they could see a young man pump a shotgun, level it, fire, pump it again and run into the mall.

Barta stood and shouted, "There's a man with a gun and he's coming in to kill people."

As pub employees began shepherding people into the kitchen, the two, who are both nurses, followed. Barta, who is 52 and describes herself as a "believer," began praying.

Send help, send someone to stop him, send ministering angels to help, show me what to do next.

To her way of thinking, an answer came: A manager told patrons to leave through a side door and "run for your lives." The two began making their way to the mall's northeast parking lot.

Mason, 44, had just suggested they stick around to see if they could help when a woman called out that a young man had been shot and needed aid.

It was A.J. Walker, 16.

The two nurses - Mason works at San Francisco General Hospital and Barta works in intensive care at St. Mark's Hospital - went to the boy.

"He told me his name and said that he saw his dad go down," she said. A.J., who had a head wound and was going into shock, kept repeating that he hurt.

The two called out for a blanket and some water, and tended to him as best they could while waiting for police and fire crews to arrive.

All the while, they could hear gun blasts going off inside the mall. But they did not move.

"I was just focused on his care and praying for him," Barta said.

Adds Mason: "We couldn't just leave the kid. As much as you want to save your own life, you can't run when there is someone down, bleeding."

Ambulances arrived and another bystander helped carry A.J. to one truck.

It was empty so Barta and Mason went to work. They gave the teen oxygen and began cleaning his head, stepping aside once paramedics arrived.

"I've seen death and dying but the thing that breaks my heart more than anything is to see young people dying needlessly," said Barta. "I was just glad I was there to help."