SAN YSIDRO, Calif. (Border Report) — If you look closely at the west wall of the San Ysidro Post Office, you’ll notice small holes in the bricks that were made by stray bullets during the 1984 McDonald’s massacre in this border community.
The building is next door to where the restaurant used to be.
“No one has ever patched them up or fixed them up, I mean, they’ve been here 40 years,” said Raymond Robles, longtime San Ysidro resident. “The guy was shooting aimlessly,”
Robles was referring to James Huberty, who shot and killed 21 people and wounded another 19 inside and outside the San Ysidro McDonald’s in what became known as the “McDonald’s massacre,”
“This is probably our 9-11,” Robles said. “San Ysidro is a very small border community; that was very traumatic for a lot of us back in 1984. … Forty years ago, and I still remember it like it was a few weeks ago.”
Robles, who was 20 at the time of the tragedy, says he lost two friends who worked at the restaurant.
“We knew a few people that were killed here, and I always kept them in my heart, always kept them in my head, and I’ve never forgotten it,” he said. “I always remember July 18 and I always make an effort to come down here and pay my respects.”
Robles said he comes to the site at least once a year and is now bringing his grandchildren, too, so they can learn about the events of July 18, 1984.
“I would like to have my grandchildren be informed about where we are from, where we grew up, our culture and events like that,” he said. “They should know so they can be aware of not only the dangers but people that lost their lives.”
The site where the McDonald’s restaurant used to be is now a satellite campus for a community college where a small monument honoring the victims stands out front.
“There were two McDonald’s in San Ysidro, but this one was right in the center of our community, everybody came here,” said Robles. “You have to remember, those people were grandparents, parents, children, people who grew up in the community.”
It saddens Robles that many have forgotten or just don’t know anything about that day.
“At the time it was the biggest massacre in U.S. history, but as the years went by it seems everybody just forgot about it.”
While talking with Border Report, Robles recalled how the community came together, angry over plans to reopen the restaurant just days after the massacre had taken place.
“Nobody wanted that McDonald’s to open, it was already like taboo to even come here,” he said. “I remember everybody wanted it torn down, nobody wanted it here anymore.”
Demolition worker Doug Starr prepares to take a bulldozer bite out of the McDonald’s restaurant in San Ysidro where 21 people were killed by a lone gunman. (Photo by VCG Wilson/Bettmann Archive)
A few months later, the restaurant was demolished, and a new restaurant would open the following year about a quarter mile west along San Ysidro Boulevard.
Robles also remembers the city and elected officials wanting to quickly move on from the tragedy, something that angered many residents.
“They just wanted to brush it under the rug, and they gave us this little monument, I think they should’ve done a little more than that.”
On Thursday, the 40th anniversary of the massacre, a ceremony is planned at the monument to recognize the victims.
Robles plans on attending.
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