The Santa Fe School Shooting Tragedy
Santa Fe students were attending their first class on the morning of the shooting when they heard gunshots coming from the arts center. The first 9-1-1 call came in at 7:32 a.m.
Terror in the Classroom
Over the next 30 minutes, the gunman, armed with a shotgun and a .38-caliber handgun, terrorized students and teachers in four art classrooms. Students hiding in an art room closet say 17-year-old football player Chris Stone was shot while protecting them. Survivors said they prayed for Stone as he took his last breath. Trenton Beazeley, then 15, also hid in the closet with classmates. He said the accused gunman taunted them, asking them if they would pick up their ringing phones and then saying: “You can’t, you’re dead.” Other survivors said they heard the gunman yelling: “Surprise!” as he shot people.
A Brave Teacher’s Tale
“There was someone shooting in the hallway next to me,” student Grace Johnson said. “We were all hiding in a loft, maybe 50 feet away from where the unfortunate 10 people lost their lives.” Flo Rice, a substitute teacher in the boys basketball class that day, said she began directing students toward a nearby exit when the fire alarm went off. She walked directly into the shooter’s path and was shot six times. Rice later said she crawled outside, fearing the gunman would follow her. “I realized there was someone chasing me like an animal and they could be just a few feet away and they were going to come in through that door and shoot me again,” Rice said.
