LENEXA, Kan. — A witness says he tried to alert Lenexa Costco staff when he saw the gunman just moments before the shooting Sunday — but a language barrier might have gotten in the way.

Juan Moncada said he saw 58-year-old Ronald Hunt in the Costco parking lot with a gun and tried to alert staff at the front of the Lenexa store to the danger.

But he only speaks Spanish and was using hand gestures, which he admits could have led to their confusion.

Speaking exclusively to Fox 4 through a translator, he said he had just left church Sunday morning for Costco.

He said his wife and son had a race to see who could get inside first, leaving him to walk in by himself. He found himself next to a man he quickly noticed was holding a gun.

“He saw me. He noticed me, and at that time I started praying to God because I thought he was going to kill me,” Moncada said.

Moncada nervously tried to say “hi” to the man with the gun, but he said he responded with what he understood to be directions not to look at or talk to him.

“I kept walking, and he was following me, insulting me with words I don’t understand,” Moncada said. “I waited for him to shoot me in the back.”

By the time Moncada made it to the front of the store, the gunman was talking angrily to someone else.

“I advised the Costco person at the door who reads the cards and told them there was someone with a gun outside, but all I could do is signal there was someone with a gun,” he said.

Moncada went to find his family and almost immediately started to see people running from the store.

Off-duty Kansas City Kansas Police Cpt. Michael Howell saw Hunt continuing to wave the gun around. Captain Howell told police Hunt engaged him in a gun battle before he shot and killed the 58-year-old trucker.

Moncada was back at church Monday night, saying he was thankful God protected over him, his family and all the other shoppers.