Today the University of Texas was on lockdown for almost 4 hours. Although this was not such a serioius situation given the fact that there were no third person casualties, it was a surreal shock into the realization that "This could happen to us!". The shooter was a child - only 19 years old. I was in class when he ran down the street adjacent to our building firing shots into the air. He was carrying an AK-47 and wearing a ski mask which possibly marks his intention to do harm, however, he ended up on the 6th floor of the library and committed suicide. A man shot himself not a block away from where I was.
We first recieved alerts a little before 9am. Unsure of what to do, I foolishly walked to the stairwell and looked out the window. The campus was dead quiet except for the shouts of the police officers running back and forth signalling students back into buildings. By the time I went back to the classroom there were already alerts of a second suspect. "We should probably turn out the lights and lock the doors." was the general suggestion. There were two problems: we couldn't figure out how to get the doors locked, and although we shoved desks and chairs up against them, they opened outwards meaning anyone who came in would only be momentarily deterred by this. We sat against the wall in the dark classroom, knees pulled up to our chests waiting. At this point more alerts were coming in and we recieved messages saying that the second suspect was in the building next to ours - this building has a hallway that connects it to our building. I started shaking like a leaf, and texted my parents and brother repeatedly. We could hear the swat team taking over the building next door because we could hear the sound of dogs. Eric called me just a second later to ask how I was doing but the conversation was cut short as we heard noise out in the hall. Being cautious, I hung up the phone and we sat in dead silence with dread permeating the room. Suddenly we heard a man screaming: "Get on your knees! Get on your knees!" and realized that whoever it was, be it shooter or SWAT team, they were right outside our door. At that point I figured the best way of defending myself was to hold my backpack in front of my head so that if there was any shooting it might somewhat sheild me. When the door of our classroom flew open the first thing I saw out of the corner of my eye was the nozzle of a huge automatic rifle. I think in that moment everyone's heart dropped to their feet. For me my first thought was "It's the second shooter. I'm going to die.". The only reason why the majority of us (I later found out) made the same assumption that this was the shooter was b/c we assumed he would be carrying a similar weapon to that of the first suspect so we were on the look out for an AK-47. In this case it was two SWAT team members and they came in screaming "Put your hands on your face! Hands on your face! NOW!". I shoved my bag away and my hands went to my face. They closed themselves in with us and were checking through the windows to see if anyone was comeing. They were on high alert prepared for anything and they were shouting at us "Did you see anything? Did you see anyone?". I was frightened b/c I felt that maybe it was a sure thing that there was a second shooter. "No, no!" we told them. And then we begged them to lock us in b/c we couldn't get the doors locked. They left and made sure we were locked in the classroom. During this whole time we were listening to alarms and sirens going off, we had messages saying there were armored trucks on campus and helicopters were flying constantly overhead.
We sat on the floor for two and a half hours waiting. We had frequent reports about the second suspect but it was generally believed that they were being cautious and there was really only a single shooter. Finally, we were free to leave and the campus was evacuated. What a heartbreaking story for the young shooter. He was someone's son and he tragically took his own life. I think that given how the situation could have turned out, we were extremely lucky. I admit to being shaken up by this, even though I didn't witness any act of brutality. It was the sitting there, not knowing and not sure of what could really be going on that triggered this fear, in those moments you can't help but have thoughts about "What would happen if today is my last day?". My mom sent me text message after text message saying she loved me. I made sure I told my brother and parents that I loved them. I was probably never in any real danger, but I wanted to make sure I wouldn't leave any regrets at not having said it when it mattered.
So now tomorrow it's back to school for me. I may avoid the library for a while, and probably start sitting away from the doors of the classrooms, because if there is ever a next time I'm sure we won't be so lucky.
