One of the teachers who helped protect students during the school shooting in Florida on Wednesday told the Today show, “I just did my job.”
While speaking to Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, Melissa Falkowski explained that she and 19 of her students hid in a small closet to stay out of sight and that some of them “were hysterical from moment one.”
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She added that she was just “trying to keep them calm” and tell them that “everything is going to be ok.”
Finally, Falkowski said she wasn’t thinking about herself but that it was her “job” to make sure her students knew they were going to be safe.
“That’s my job. I just did my job.” Florida teacher Melissa Falkowski describes hiding with students and trying to keep them calm during school shooting pic.twitter.com/N9RMshdcQl
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) February 15, 2018
Another hero of the tragic shooting was the schools coach, Aaron Feis, who shielded students from gunfire and ended up losing his life.
One student reportedly told Fox News, “He sprinted with everything he had towards it to make sure everybody was safe, and I heard that he got in front of a couple people and shielded them, and he actually took the bullets for them.”
Many people have taken to honoring the fallen hero with messages of support and sympathy.
Reports say Coach Aaron Feis has passed away from woulds he sustained while using his body to sheild students from the #ParklandShooting. I‘m praying for his family & friends. He showed true bravery & selflessness. There is no greater deed than sacrificing your life. 🙏🏻#HERO pic.twitter.com/3ROn355lg9
— DCBlueStar ⚡️ (@DCBlueStar) February 15, 2018
“Some heroes wear Gatorade towels over their shoulders. Aaron Feis sacrificed his body for his students in the Florida school shooting,” wrote one person.
Another user wrote that Feis “is the definition of an American Hero. We need more people in this crazy world like him.”
Football Coach Aaron Feis, 37-years-old, was a victim of gun violence yesterday when he jumped in front of his students to protect them from the shooter.
Rest In Peace. pic.twitter.com/gVl6nqJ6mU
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) February 15, 2018
Following the Florida high school shooting on Wednesday afternoon, authorities eventually released the identity of the shooter as Nikolas Cruz.
Cruz is reportedly a former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, according to The Miami Herald. According to posts on a since-deleted Instagram purportedly belonging to Cruz, he has a penchant for knives and guns.
Per reports prior to Cruz being identified, the shooter was described to CNN news affiliate, WSVN, as wearing a black hat, a maroon or burgundy colored shirt and black pants. He was last seen on the west side of a three-story building on campus.
The father of a student at the high school said the suspect pulled a fire alarm and opened fire as students left their classrooms and went into the hallway, WKBN reports.
A student at the school told reporters, “We all thought it was a fire drill because we had one previously today. And we thought it was, so no one was that nervous, but then word started going around that it was shots and not just, like, something else, everyone just started running towards the canal.”
