Last Updated on 05/09/2024 by Arun jain
Brian Garcia heard what sounded like gunshots — boom, boom, boom, he said — coming from outside his math class at Apalachee High School. A lockdown alert flashed on the screen inside the room.
Following protocol, the students and teacher ran to the back of the class and huddled in the corner farthest from the door.
Brian looked at the door. It was open.
Almost immediately, Brian said, a classmate ran into the room and closed the door.
“He saved us,” Brian said.
Another student, Nahomi Likona, described a similar scene in her math class. As the students rushed to the back of the room, she said, one of them ran to close the door. They heard gunshots, then footsteps, then several screams, she said.
Nahomi, 15, said her family immigrated to the United States from Guatemala nine years ago. Walking alongside Naomi on Wednesday afternoon, her mother, Jacqueline, said that in her home country shootings happen on the streets, not in schools. Naomi said she immediately recognized the sound of gunshots.
“It’s normal there, but it’s still scary,” Naomi said. She added: “I never expected to hear this at school.”
Within minutes, Bryan said, school resource officers responded. Bryan said he heard a confrontation involving the shooter, who officials identified as a 14-year-old student at the school. Officers were engaging the suspect, Bryan said, asking him to put his hands up and surrender.
Naomi said she knew people were at least injured when she was evacuating the school. In one hallway, she said, she saw white powder used to absorb blood.
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