A student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School recalled the moments she and her classmates spent in hiding while a gunman sprayed bullets throughout the school on Wednesday.
Rebecca Bogart, a student at the school in Parkland, Florida, said that she, her teacher and classmates hid behind the teacher’s desk after they heard the fire alarms sound, followed by that of gunfire.
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Bogart said that fire alarms were not abnormal at the school, but teachers are normally made aware when a drill is set to occur. “[My teacher] looked concerned so we were all trying to stay calm and in hiding,” she told Fox News on Wednesday evening.
Student Rebecca Bogart describes hiding from FL high school shooter: “We knew it was real when we saw the bullets, the shots, go through the window and glass shattered everywhere.” #Tucker pic.twitter.com/jcNHkgemM5
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 15, 2018
“We knew it was real when we saw the bullets, the shots, go through the window and glass shattered everywhere,” Bogart recalled. She said students heard the shots ring out for “a while,” estimating that the fire went on for about 10 minutes.
“A couple kids in my class got hit,” the student continued. “I don’t know how bad — it was hard to see — but when I saw them leaving there was a lot of blood. They were pretty calm about it, but it was just traumatic to watch it.”
The Broward County Sheriff’s Department apprehended 19-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz as the suspected shooter at a residence near the school, roughly two hours after the event began. Law enforcement officials believe he was able to escape the campus because he blended in with the rest of the student body.
Cruz, who had been expelled last year for fighting and who had a history of menacing social media posts, returned to his former high school with a vengeance, opening fire on students who poured into hallways after he triggered fire alarms near the end of the school day.
According to two Instagram accounts believe to be owned by Cruz, he had a penchant for knives and guns. The leader of a white supremacist group also claimed Thursday that Cruz was a trained member of the organization.
Cruz’s suspected gunfire killed 17 people, and he has been booked at Broward County Jail on 17 counts of premeditated murder. He is being held without bond.
The former student’s case is a unique one, as the alleged gunman in most mass shooting do not leave the event alive.
