A Georgia student is speaking out following the deadly mass shooting at a Georgia high school. She describes a chilling moment.
Lyela Sayarath, a junior at Apalachee High School, told CNN that the shooter tried to get back into the locked classroom. According to the Georgia student, she sat right next to suspected shooter Colt Gray in class.
The two had Algebra 1 class together. Around 9:45 a.m., the Georgia student said that Gray stood up and left the classroom. At the time, Sayarath didn't think much about it. She thought at first he was simply going to the bathroom. However, he didn't take the hall pass. So, she figured he may be ditching class instead.
Fast forward, and the Georgia student said someone got on the loudspeaker. It told teachers to check their emails immediately. A few moments later, Gray returned to the classroom. The shooter stood outside the door and tried to open it.
Georgia Student Has Close Call
Fortunately for the students inside, the classroom door automatically locks. At the time, they still didn't realize anything was wrong. A girl in the class went to the door to open for Gray. But she flinched back when she saw that Gray had a gun with him.
"I guess he saw we weren't going to let him in. And I guess the classroom next to me, their door was open so I think he just started shooting in the classroom," Lyela told CNN.
Quickly, the rest of the students began to hide behind their desks. They began to hear a rapid number of gunshots outside in the hall.
"When we heard it, most people just dropped to the floor and like kind of crawled in an area like piled on top of each other," she said. "The teacher turned off the lights, but we all just kind of piled together. And like I pushed desks in front of us."
According to the Georgia student, one of her friends was in the next door classroom. Her friend experienced the brunt of the situation.
"He was pretty shaken up. He saw somebody get shot," she said. The student was shellshocked. "He had blood on him." She also said, "He was kinda limping. He looked horrified."
