Katy, Texas:   Shoppers who thought they had no time to spare after noticing two kids in a hot jeep Monday afternoon took matters into their own hands.

Some of them tried to smash open the windows to try and free the small boy and girl.

“It was a crazy situation,” said Gabriel Del Valle, who used his cellphone to shoot video of the incident.

Del Valle said he stepped out of his nearby shop in the strip mall when he heard the children.

“The kids were in there crying,” said Del Valle. “I mean you would understand. It’s real hot.”

Del Valle said one man used a hammer to shatter a car window.

“And even then they could barely open the doors because there was a child lock on,” he said.

After several minutes, the kids were freed. The children’s mother apparently said she had left them there so that she could get a haircut.

But Del Valle said he thinks nothing justifies leaving the mother’s actions.

“Even a dog can die, so imagine a person,” he said.

No one called the police. In fact, Del Valle said the mom pleaded with everyone and said she had made a terrible mistake.

The children appeared unharmed.