| Yesterday morning, when I woke up, I did what I normally do. I stayed in bed
until the last possible second, I took a shower, put some clothes on,
then hauled ass out the door because I heard the bus coming and I was
no where near the bus stop. My phone was charging and I was going to
leave it to charge while I was in class, but right as I was about to
leave my room, I had this sudden urge to grab it.
My class
started at 9:05 in Patton Hall. By 9:20, the sirens started. No big
deal at first. I've heard sirens before. But this time, they went on
for so long. I whispered to my friend "is this another freaking bomb
threat?" I was so annoyed by it ruining my lesson. My professor kept
teaching. All of a sudden, we heard cops screaming. It was hard to make
out what they were saying, but in time it became clearer. "GET DOWN!!!"
or "RUN!! HUSTLE!!" This was when I realized it wasn't just another
"freaking bomb threat." Then, our department head came in our room and
told us we needed to stop class and move. My professor looked at him
like it was a big joke. "I'm serious. There were gun shots in Norris."
We gathered our things and moved to the conference room.
They
told us not to, but the first thing we did was go to the window to see
what was going on. Police cars were everywhere. Students were running
to the other side of the drillfield with their arms in the air. I
called my dad right away to let him know the little that I knew. I told
him when he saw the news he shouldn't worry. I was safe in a room. We
kept looking out the window. The police were running all over the
place. Some were hiding behind trees with huge guns. At one point a
small group of students was running on the drillfield. One of them ran
to the cops right outside our window. He had his arm extended in front
of him. When he got close enough, we saw the blood on his shirt. He had
been shot in the arm. He was put in a car and they drove off.
Looking
into our hallway, we heard some of the professors were hauling a table
to the lobby of Patton. We later found out it was because the people
who were jumping out of the windows in Norris were running to our
building because of how close we were. The table was for a girl who
had hurt her back after she jumped.
We looked out the window
again. Stupid, I know. This time, someone said "Is that a pool of
blood?" It was. It was in front of Burrus. Suddenly, a student appeared
who had been shot in the leg. It was his blood. An ambulance came, he
was put in a stretcher, and they drove him off. His blood stayed there
and dried up. It's the blood on the sidewalk they keep showing in the
news.
At this point, we still thought only 2 people had died.
Even after seeing the wounded people, and the kids running, we still
were not sure of the severity. The news said 2 people died. 2 people? I
mean, that's serious, but who knew, right? At one point, we heard a
loud sound. We all just looked at each other. "Was that a gunshot?"
someone finally asked. I mean, we all knew it was, we were all thinking
it. It sounded like the gunshots from the camera phone footage.
At
another point, we saw a kid on the ground. Police were around him with
guns pointing at him. I thought he was the shooter. I eventually
learned, the kid was the Asian guy they keep showing on the news in one
of the photos. He's not the shooter. He just wanted to take pictures
for the CT.
After 2 hours, a cop screamed "We got him! You guys
will be home soon!" She seemed so happy. I was relieved. Then 5 minutes
later, all the sirens went on again. All the cops jumped in their car
and drove across the drillfield toward Cassel and the tennis courts. Up
until now, I don't know what happened there. Was it a false report?
In
time, we were released. I got a ride from a friend. My mom called and
told me the death toll was up to 22. I couldn't believe it. Who new the
number would rise by 10.
I received so many calls, ims, even
facebook wall posts and private messages. People I haven't heard from
in years contacted me. I had so many numbers on my incoming call list
that I had never seen before. I appreciated everyone making sure I was
ok, but I really wish they stopped focusing on me and more on the
people who weren't so lucky.
Dr. Loganathan died. He was my
professor at one point. I got an email from the CEE department. I
started crying and I just locked myself in my room. He was such a good
professor, you don't even understand. He was this quirky, nerdy guy.
Always smiling. He did this thing where he always had his hand in his
pocket when he wrote on the board, so by the end of class his pants
were smeared with chalk. I remember one class when he was holding a
sheet of paper. He got frustrated with it and said "I'm tired of this
sheet." The class laughed, then he laughed when he realized what it
sounded like. I wish I had thanked him.
I was one day off from
being in Norris. If it had happened Tuesday, instead of Monday, I would
have been in Norris taking a test. I'm sure the shooting happened in my
classroom, on the second floor. It's a popular one for classes. I keep
wondering what I would have done. I can only imagine what it was like.
I
kept telling my parents I was ok. The last conversation, I broke down
and cried. I think that's what scared them. They don't ever see or hear
me cry.
Today I'm going to attend the convocation and the
candlelight vigil. I feel so helpless. At this point, all we can do is
pray.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWD9tb9c6Ao
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