A student’s perspective on the experience of being in fear: Dr. Pattman tells her mom and daughter about the loss of a friend
It was hard for Dr. Pattman to accept that so many students have to live in fear when going to a high school in America. But she said that she and her daughter would find a way to soldier on. She spoke about her resolve on Wednesday, but it sounded like she was giving up.
Macey worried about her friend after she was shot. She told her mother she did not want to go back to school and get shot.
The mom and daughter finally got together about an hour later. A friend had picked Macey up from Apalachee and taken her to a convenience store, where her mother was waiting. They hugged each other and cried.
Then her own school went into hard lockdown mode. Students hid in a corner. Lights out. Quiet. They stayed that way all day.
She said that the majority of it came from not living in fear. “Not just in schools, but in grocery stores, in churches. I feel like no place is exempt.
She said that she was responsible for keeping her students safe while she was still the primary one communicating with her daughter.
An investigation of the shootings at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., in the worst school shooting history recorded in the state’s history
The killings at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., were the worst school shooting in the state’s history. At least nine others were injured.
The authorities identified the dead students as two 14-year-olds, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo. The educators killed were identified as Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie, officials said. Spellings of the names were not confirmed by the authorities.
“Those that are deceased are heroes in my book,” said Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. “Those that are in the hospital recovering right now are heroes in my book.”
Mason Schermerhorn was described by friends of his family as a lighthearted teenager who liked spending time with his family, reading, telling jokes, playing video games and visiting Walt Disney World. He had recently started at the school.
Doug Kilburn, a friend of the Schermerhorn family for a decade, said that he enjoyed life. “He always had an upbeat attitude about everything.”
After the shooting at the high school, Mr. Briscoe called the mother to see if everything was okay. She told him: “Mason’s gone.”
Officials said that the student who died at the school will be charged with murder. Students were barricaded in classrooms and heard gunfire.
David Phenix, a math special education teacher and the school’s golf coach, was injured during the shooting. Katie Phenix, his daughter, said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that he was shot in the foot and hip, shattering his hip bone.
