School shooting hits home
Updated: September 10, 2012
NORMAL -- A teacher is being called a hero after stopping a school shooting. It happened Friday morning at Normal Community High School.
Police say the student pulled out a gun and fire two shots into the ceiling before being tackled by the teacher. Nobody was hurt, but two students were arrested. Lisa Miller has more on how parents reacted to the shocking news.
In the pouring rain, parents watched as students filed out of Normal Community High School to Eastview Christian Church. Many say after being told of the shooting inside the school, all they wanted to see was their child and get a hug.
"Even though I know everyone was fine, I didn't get the relief completely until I saw him."
Many parents say they were first notified of the shooting via text from their children and didn't know what to think.
"Probably the worst. Probably the worst you think of Columbine first. You think of your daughter getting hit or getting shot at. You think about if she's hiding under a table, if she knows where to go. If she's in the bathroom stall. You hope these things come to their mind."
Just two weeks into the new school year, some students say this shooting has really shaken them up.
"I heard three gunshots and me and my friend didn't know what to do. We just stood there. Sometimes I'll shake about it when I think about it, right when it happened. It's not going to get out of my mind."
"I saw a hole crowd of people running down the hallway yelling, "gun," so I ran with them."
Students say teachers kept them locked inside classrooms in the building. Some were even in closets.
"He got everyone into the closet room where we're supposed to stay, and other than that, we didn't know what was going on."
Students and parents say they're thankful Unit 5 teachers and staff knew what to do in an emergency like this. They say it made a very scary situation much more manageable.
"Unit 5 did a fantastic job. They got kids out, practiced this before. You never think you have to use it."
"We see these kinds of things on the news at other places and you feel for that, but when it's at your house, it's a total different situation."
"The reality is someone could have gotten hurt, and it could have been my child. It could have been anyone's child."
Parents say they were happy with the way the school district handled the pick-up at the neighboring church. They say everything worked like it should have.
Police say the student pulled out a gun and fire two shots into the ceiling before being tackled by the teacher. Nobody was hurt, but two students were arrested. Lisa Miller has more on how parents reacted to the shocking news.
In the pouring rain, parents watched as students filed out of Normal Community High School to Eastview Christian Church. Many say after being told of the shooting inside the school, all they wanted to see was their child and get a hug.
"Even though I know everyone was fine, I didn't get the relief completely until I saw him."
Many parents say they were first notified of the shooting via text from their children and didn't know what to think.
"Probably the worst. Probably the worst you think of Columbine first. You think of your daughter getting hit or getting shot at. You think about if she's hiding under a table, if she knows where to go. If she's in the bathroom stall. You hope these things come to their mind."
Just two weeks into the new school year, some students say this shooting has really shaken them up.
"I heard three gunshots and me and my friend didn't know what to do. We just stood there. Sometimes I'll shake about it when I think about it, right when it happened. It's not going to get out of my mind."
"I saw a hole crowd of people running down the hallway yelling, "gun," so I ran with them."
Students say teachers kept them locked inside classrooms in the building. Some were even in closets.
"He got everyone into the closet room where we're supposed to stay, and other than that, we didn't know what was going on."
Students and parents say they're thankful Unit 5 teachers and staff knew what to do in an emergency like this. They say it made a very scary situation much more manageable.
"Unit 5 did a fantastic job. They got kids out, practiced this before. You never think you have to use it."
"We see these kinds of things on the news at other places and you feel for that, but when it's at your house, it's a total different situation."
"The reality is someone could have gotten hurt, and it could have been my child. It could have been anyone's child."
Parents say they were happy with the way the school district handled the pick-up at the neighboring church. They say everything worked like it should have.
