A US Army private is being hailed as a hero for reportedly rescuing several children as a hate-filled shooter was spraying lead inside an El Paso Walmart.

Glendon Oakley, of Killeen, Texas, was shopping at a Footlocker in the Cielo Vista Mall Saturday when a kid ran up and shouted that someone had opened fire inside the Walmart next door on Saturday.

“The guy at the register and I sort of looked at each other. He’s a little kid … are you going to believe him?” Oakley, 22, told Task & Purpose.

But then he heard the gunshots.

“I walked out and I go to Foot Locker and all I hear is, ‘Bang’, ‘Bang,’ ” Oakley told local station KTSM.

The automated logistics specialist had recently obtained his license to carry a concealed pistol, and instinctively pulled out his Glock.

“We’re trained, when you hear gunshots, to pull out your weapon and think fast,” he said. “It’s a feeling that you can’t explain.”

Making his way out to the parking lot, Oakley saw “a whole bunch” of children without their parents — and sprung into action.

“So I pick up as many as possible and carry them with me and another guy does as well,” he said.

But when he emerged from the shopping center, Oakley said he was momentarily left staring down police guns.

“When I got out I guess one of the cops thought I was the shooter or something, so I had to show him my clip to show it was still full,” he said.

“I wasn’t focused on myself, and I wasn’t focused on my surroundings … I was just focused on those kids,” he said.

With Post Wires