Three children, ages 9, 3 and 1, were inside the vehicle. Their mother told police she went shopping for 15 minutes.

HILLSBORO, Ore. — Good Samaritans broke a car window to help get three kids out of an overheating car on Saturday afternoon in Hillsboro.

Hillsboro police said at around 3:30 p.m. several people took action in the Target parking lot, located at 11095 Northeast Evergreen Parkway.

Three children, ages 9, 3 and 1, were inside the vehicle. Their mother told police she went shopping for 15 minutes.

The car was left running but the air conditioning system stopped working and the kids couldn’t get out of the vehicle, police said. The car was overheating, and smoke was coming out from it, according to police. The outside temperature would have been in the 80s at the time.

Divya Pratap said when he saw there was trouble and kids in the car, he grabbed the headrest from his car and went to work on the windows. The kids inside were frantic.

"They were crying, super-panicked," he said. "Once I felt there is a kid in the car, I just go all in. The mom came running out. Even she couldn't open the doors with the key. We pretty much had to go all in and pull the kids out of the window."

Police said the kids were shaken, but physically OK.