The mother of a student who survived the mass shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas said her daughter saw two of her classmates…
The mother of a student who survived the mass shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas said her daughter saw two of her classmates killed and one wounded as the gunman fired several rounds into a supply closet where they were hiding.
In an account posted Saturday on Facebook, parent Deedra Van Ness recounted in chilling detail her daughter Isabelle’s recollection of 30 minutes of terror the teen and her classmates experienced in Friday’s shooting that left 10 dead and 13 others injured.
Isabelle had just arrived for her first-period art class when the suspected gunman, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, opened fire on the classroom, Van Ness said. Pagourtzis, 17, who surrendered to police, has been charged with capital murder and aggravated assault on a peace officer.
“As she focused on the project, the first shot barely registers and she isn’t sure what she heard,” Van Ness wrote in the post titled The Longest Day of My Life . “Suddenly, the kids start screaming and running.
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„The gunman enters their room from the classroom next door and fires a shot that grazes one girl and hits a boy in the classroom,” the mom wrote.
Some of the kids ran toward a door at the back of the room but discovered it was locked, Van Ness said. Her daughter, seeing students were unable to get through the locked door, scrambled to find cover.
“She’s moving from item to item (for cover) as the gunman continues to fire into the classroom,” Van Ness wrote. “She is now covered in dust from the bullets hitting the walls around her. Kids are scrambling trying to hide / escape and she finds an area where he can’t see her, but she can see him.”
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Eventually, her daughter ran for a supply closet where she and seven other kids hid, Van Ness said. They managed to lock the door and moved heavy items in front of the door to better secure it when the gunman opened fire on them.
“The gunman hits 3 of the 8 kids in the closet… killing 2 of them instantly,” Van Ness wrote. “He leaves to chase other kids who ran out of the room, and they hear more gun shots.”
Isabelle then called police, whispering to them what was happening, and a dispatcher responded that help was on the way, Van Ness said. Isabelle heard the gunman in the next classroom yelling “Woo Hoo!” and firing more shots.
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Isabelle again called police and was told officers were entering the building. She was told to stay quiet and keep hiding.
The gunman than fired more bullets into the closet and tried to get in, Van Ness wrote. Isabelle called the police again, and dispatchers told her that officers were headed toward her classroom.
After another 5 to 10 minutes, the police arrived outside the classroom. Isabelle could hear the exchange between the gunman and police before the shooter finally surrendered.
“As the door to the closet opens, she is staring at guns pointed at her,” Van Ness wrote. “They are instructed to put their hands ups and slowly leave the closet.
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„As they are leaving the closet, they are walking past bodies in the classroom and hallways,“ according to Van Ness. „They are frisked and removed from the building where they are placed in police cars awaiting questioning.
„She and her friends had been in the same room with the gunman the ENTIRE TIME.”
Follow Aamer Madhani on Twitter: @AamerISmad
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