Numerous children have shared their experiences following the incident in which a 14-year-old opened fire at Apalachee High School in Georgia.
One 14-year-old student described the harrowing experience and explained how close he was to the gunfire. In an interview with WPRI.com, he recounted how he had to jump behind a desk as soon as he heard the gunshots. “I ran to the back of the classroom, I dived behind the desk and my teacher got in front of me like he was guarding me,” the boy said. “The gunshots were so close to me, like my ears started ringing real bad. The whole classroom was smoking and everything.” He continued: “When [the shooter] finally got out of the classroom, my teacher started barricading the door with desks and bookshelves and all that. “And then I had got up, and when I had got up, I saw one of my classmates on the ground, bleeding so bad.”
RELATED: Apalachee High School Mass Shooting Victims Named
The boy added: “It just keeps replaying back in my head—I just thank God that I wasn’t the one that got hit, you know. “In the midst of all of it happening, I was just thanking God, because, you know, he had this hands around me. Because I could have been the one that got hit.”Â
Another boy shared that he was listening to music through his AirPods at full volume when the gunshots erupted.
He told FOX 5: “My friend pushed me to the ground, I thought it was fake until I heard more gunshots and screaming.”
The boy went on to describe how, once the shooting had ceased, he exited the room with his hands raised, following the police’s instructions.
“We walked past and there was a room and then there was a body and there was like a gun lying on the ground, with bullets and blood.”
During the tragic events on Wednesday, two 14-year-old students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, along with two teachers, Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie, lost their lives. Additionally, at least nine other individuals were hospitalized, all of whom are expected to recover.
The teenager suspected of being the shooter, Colt Gray, is currently in police custody and is facing charges of murder, with plans for him to be tried as an adult.
What kind of a parent gifts a 14 year old with an AR 15 for a Christmas present? A very stupid one is my answer. What could possibly go wrong?
My heartfelt condolences are for the 4 families who lost their loved ones and those injured. it doesn’t stop there. This will affect every child and teacher in that school, as well as the 1st responders, and the entire community. What a senseless tragedy that never would have occurred without the father’s choice to give his son an assault rifle. I pray the judicial system acts swiftly and outs them in prison for life.
Prayers for all those who lost so much yesterday from loved ones to having a sense of peace in their community.