With what appears to be increasing regularity—it is all too often we hear about suicidal maniacs taking innocent lives. Many on the left want to use these tragedies to take guns from law-abiding citizens. But the larger issue is lunatics with weapons—whether it is crazy people using their cars as a weapon, or the lunatic that stabbed a random stranger to death in a Maine grocery store last week. It is a mental health problem—not a gun problem! But after the tragedy in Virginia on Wednesday with two reporters being murdered on live TV---everyone is talking about these insane people killing innocent victims.
With the Virginia killings fresh
on everyone’s mind--yesterday it was a lunatic on a college campus in
Starkville, Mississippi that garnered attention. A friend of mine has two children attending
school there, and one of her children was in the hall where the intruder, a gunman
on campus, was arrested. She wrote the
account below about her firsthand
terror on campus yesterday at Mississippi State—and how law-enforcement
agencies intervened at just the right time……
August 27, 2015
It
Was Never Going to Happen to Me
You
watch on the news of school shootings and think about how sad you are for that
town and those families, but it would probably never be something that happens
to you. But they resonate with you. Columbine, Sandy Hook, Virginia, etc.
Everyone can remember something about that event whether by word of mouth or by
watching it unfold live on a local TV channel. So then even yesterday, August
26, when the reporter and cameraman were killed because of a mentally unstable
man, it resonated with me. I’m going into a communication field in a few years.
It hit hard. But surely it was never going to happen to me.
My
high school wasn’t in the best area of Pensacola but I did learn a lot more
than school while I was there. I learned that economic status only mattered on
a tax form, not in friendships. I learned to be comfortable but aware of my
surroundings. And then one day in the spring, I learned something about life…to
cherish it. Because that thing that wasn’t going to happen to me, seemed like
it might happen. A person on a car chase ditches his car outside the school
while we were doing our routine fire drill and files in with us into the
building carrying a gun. We had no idea. It’s a school of 1500 students. The
police came in and knew, as they had been chasing him. We were on lock down for
about two hours but it seemed like all day. So although no shots were fired and
no one was injured, the fear was real. The threat was real. We could’ve been
the next big news story.
Fast
forward three years and it’s a normal Thursday in Starkville, Mississippi.
Normal in the routine, except the weather was a little cooler. I had Public
Relations writing at 8am and went across campus to the drill field in McCool
for Spanish 2 at 10am. We aren’t supposed to have our phones out during class.
But in a class of about 30 young adults, it’s inevitable someone would have
their phone nearby. I’ve never been so thankful someone disobeyed the teacher’s
rule. At 10:16 a campus wide emergency alert, a “Maroon Alert” was sent to
phones everywhere. A girl in my class who had her phone out exclaimed some
explicit phrase I won’t restate. The teacher of course was appauled at the
outburst. The student read aloud, “Starkville
Campus. Active shooter report at Carpenter Hall. Seek safety immediately.”
Suddenly the lecture on informal commands in the usted and ustedes form was
irrelevant. I pulled out my phone already trembling to see for myself.
Immediately screenshot it and sent it in my family group message, especially to
make sure my little brother, a freshman on campus, was out of harm’s way. He
was on his way back to his dorm at the time which was far from the incident.
But I was right across the way from Carpenter.
This was not supposed to happen to me.
10:19
alert: “Starkville Campus. Active shooter
last seen in vicinity of Lee Hall. Seek safety immediately.” The trembling
turns into tears as that is the building in between his original
location,
Carpenter, and where I was in McCool. My teacher, bless her, was so calm and
smart
throughout the situation. Pulling students from the hallways to join our
class huddle in the corner away from all windows and doors. Lights off. My
friend, Rachel, volunteered to pray for all of us during our time of fear.
Rumors
circulated about how many shooters there actually were and that people were
shot and so on. It was hard to ignore. Every rumor I was hearing I sent to my
parents as a sense of comfort and for them to stay updated. I can’t even imagine
their emotions during this. Having two children at a school with a shooter and
being 300 miles away from helping them. My normal Thursday routine is pretty
lack-luster. This was FAR from lack-luster. We could have sworn we heard a shot
fire.
10:26
alert: “Starkville Campus. Suspected
shooter in custody. Continue to seek safety immediately.” A little at ease, but still concerned since
rumors had said there were multiple shooters out there, we all took a deep
breathe. Still shaking in terror. The photo leaked of the “active shooter”
being taken into custody on Twitter which is how we saw it. Little did we know,
we could’ve looked out the window to see it all happen live. He was in our
building. He was apprehended in our building. That was hard to swallow at
first, then we realized he was in fact in custody so there’s not a reason to
worry about him any longer.
Around
10:40 or so, the SWAT team with rifles in hand bursts through the door. We had
been told by our teacher to hold everything that was ours in our laps while
they did their search for anything that might not belong to us. (AKA: something
that belongs to the suspected shooter). After they searched, one would stay
behind to guard the door while the rest moved on to the next room. After they
had swept the whole building, they began to release us floor by floor with
police escort.
As
soon as I get outside, I look around the drill field to people sprinting to
their cars, dorms, offices, etc. I was too shaken to run and from what I
understood, everything was all clear. That’s what the next Maroon Alert said
anyway. There wasn’t an inch of road that wasn’t covered by a police car. I
begin my walk to the Phi Mu house which is an approximate 0.6 mile walk, and
talk to my dad on the phone the entire way. I get about halfway there and
EVERYONE is sprinting and screaming. I ask my dad in the most broken, choked up
voice, “What do I do? There’s a teacher yelling to get inside the building, but
we are supposed to be all clear? Do I run too?” I asked all this while running
since everyone else was. I get in the nearest building: Thompson Hall. One of
the only buildings on campus with weaponry as it is the forestry and
agriculture building. We remain in there for about 15 minutes before being
released so I can make the other half of the walk back to Phi Mu.
Safely
in the Phi Mu house at 11 a.m., I learn that we have picked up national
attention. CBS began to broadcast live feed and we learn of a press conference
that will take place within the hour. As I begin to share stories with my
friends while waiting for the press conference, I learn a lot more about the
incident. I wasn’t the only one who thought they heard shots. Once we were
released, a group thought they heard another shot fire and screamed creating the
second wave of panic that sent me to Thompson Hall.
Then
the press conference began. President Keenum and the PR representative claiming
there were never any shots fired nor was anyone injured due to the suspect. The
suspect was taken into custody within 10 minutes of sending out the first
Maroon Alert (kudos to the police and other officers). We also learn that it
was a freshman from Madison, MS named Fhu-Qui “Bill” Nguyen who called a
suicide hotline in Jackson while on the drill field shortly after 10 a.m. The
suicide hotline called MSU police to warn them that he had mentioned suicide
and homicide. By 10:10 the drill field was swarmed with police, FBI, SWAT team,
sheriffs, and others. Everything was all clear, and classes would resume at 2
p.m.
While
no one was hurt from Bill’s actions, many were injured in the mass chaos of
exiting buildings by squeezing through narrow doorways and flying down concrete
stairs. The pictures are gruesome for those who are wondering. Maybe I should
restate this another way. While no one was PHYSICALLY hurt from Bill’s actions,
they were mentally and emotionally. Myself being one of them. Seeing my friends
crying and them seeing me crying was hard to bear. We were all shaken. This was
not going to happen to me. Certainly not twice.
I
am so proud of Mississippi State for coming together as a family during this
time. As unsafe as the situation was, I still somehow felt safe. This evening
there were many campus prayer sessions at the amphitheater and at the chapel.
That was important to me. This affected everyone, and everyone wanted to thank
God for keeping them and their peers safe.
It
is still unknown if there were ever shots fired. Many students believe it, but
official reports say otherwise. When something like this happens, you have two
choices: be upset that it happened, or be grateful you made it out. While I am
a little of both, I am thankful for many things on this day. I am thankful Ryan
was far away from the incident and that only one of us was nearby. I am thankful
to have my Spanish teacher throughout the situation. I am thankful to have my
parents and my best friend texting me every minute asking for updates and
calming me down. I am thankful for my friends and Phi Mu sisters who were
continuously checking on one another in our group messages. I am thankful for
the many Facebook comments, text messages, and prayers that were sent my way
today. I am thankful for the officers who risked their life for the sake of
mine. I am thankful for MSU’s crisis action team for knowing exactly how to
handle the situation. Finally, I am thankful God has his hand on Mississippi
State University today. There are many stories of various experiences of the
hour or so that changed a lot of lives today. This is just mine. I’m just glad
to be able to tell it. But it is a reality check for sure. Small town
Starkville, Mississippi is hardly a target for any kind of threat worthy of
national news. It wasn’t going to happen to me… but it did.
No comments:
Post a Comment