Family of youngest VTA victim says he saved others during massacre

GILROY, Calif. - For Juan Balleza, his younger brother Adrian will "always be my guardian angel" because he died a hero.

"His phone call saved my life. His bravery saved his friends, and I will forever be grateful to my brother," he said Tuesday from the family's home in Gilroy.

On the morning a gunman opened fire at the Guadulupe VTA light-rail yard in San Jose, Juan says he got a call from his brother. Both siblings work there. 

"He says, 'Don't come to the yard. Don't come to the yard.' I asked him why, and he says there's somebody shooting guns outside the building," Juan recalled.

Co-workers say they saw Adrian and another worker running into a hallway.

"Had they not run into the hallway, the gunman would have gone into that room and possibly killed everybody else there with them," Juan said.

During the phone call, Juan then heard gunshots. 

"What I hear is a painful groan. It was him. He was hit," Juan said. "I heard him take his last breaths."

The brothers have worked for VTA for about eight years. 

Adrian leaves behind his wife and their 2-year-old son.

"He was a very very genuine human being," Juan said. "He demonstrated true bravery, sacrificing himself for his co-workers - and myself."

Maria Sevillano said she believes her son saved at least six lives. 

"My son took that bullet to save others. He did not know he was not going to see his child," Sevillano said. "I want him to be remembered as a hero, as someone that cared about life, cared about people."

Juan said neither he nor his brother knew or had dealt with the gunman, who shot and killed Adrian and eight other VTA co-workers before taking his own life. Adrian, 29, was the youngest victim.