A man seen in videos using his own body as a human shield to protect his girlfriend from gunfire during a mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio over the weekend has recalled the harrowing experience in an interview Thursday morning.

Camryn Crowder grabbed his girlfriend and fell to the floor on Sunday as a gunman shot up a popular area for nightlife in the Ohio city just yards away. He can be seen in video clips holding onto the woman as others attempt to flee from the scene.

“I saw people getting hit. I literally saw them fall,” Mr Crowder said. “I was certain that I was going to be next in line, really, at some point.”

Mr Crowder can be seen at one point moving his girlfriend towards a section of the sidewalk that appears to be partially walled off, while steadily checking to see if the shooter was still nearby.

He later helps his girlfriend up and the two quickly escape when the scene is clear.

Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Show all 21 1 /21 Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Several officers (top left and right) firing at Connor Betts (bottom left), who they identified as the gunman, seconds after he began killing people outside a bar in Dayton, Ohio Dayton Police Department/EPA Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Betts killed nine people including his sister, and injured 26 others. He was also shot dead at the scene by the responding officers Dayton Police Department/AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar The Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 rifle with a 100-round double drum magazine which Connor Betts used Dayton Police Department/EPA Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Surveillance footage of people beginning to flee from the sound of gunshots fired by Connor Betts Dayton Police Department/EPA Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Police officers move towards Connor Betts Dayton Police Department/EPA Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar The vehicle which Connor Betts traveled to the scene in Dayton Police Department/EPA Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Bodies are removed from the scene of a mass shooting in Dayton AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar The city's mayor, Nan Whaley, said the shooter was wearing body armour and used a ".223 high-capacity" gun during the assault. “In less than one minute, Dayton first responders neutralized the shooter.” AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar The FBI is assisting with the investigation Derek Myers/AFP/Getty Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar It was the second mass shooting in the US in less than 24 hours AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Witnesses comfort one another at the scene AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Police tape drapes over a chair near a pile of shoes. The shooting took place in the popular bar and nightlife area, Oregon district Dayton Daily News via AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Dayton police look for evidence Dayton Daily News via AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Shoes piled outside the scene AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Residents comfort each other as they await word on whether they know any of the victims AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Authorities retrieve evidence markers AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Evidence markers lay on the ground near a hotdog stand Reuters Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Evidence markers rest on the ground after a mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio, U.S. August 4, 2019. REUTERS/Bryan Woolston BRYAN WOOLSTON Reuters Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar People fill the streets during a vigil EPA Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Mourners gather to recognise the victims Getty Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Mourners leave flowers and candles at the entrance of Ned Peppers bar Getty

“I was pretty nervous,” he told CBS News. “It was really about me getting her out of the way … making sure that she was safe.”

Police said Connor Betts killed nine people when he unloaded his weapon on the Dayton street, before he was eventually shot and killed by responding officers.

“It was just a trail of bodies laying there,” Mr Crowder recalled. “I had seen about four people that had gotten hit. Laying on the sidewalk and in the middle of the street.”

Mr Crowder and his girlfriend both were unharmed during the mass shooting, which was just one of two back-to-back incidents nationwide over the weekend.

In another reportedly unconnected attack, a gunman opened fire at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas on Saturday after posting an anti-immigrant manifesto to the online messaging board 8chan.

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