Some students who were in the building during the shooting at Apalachee High School on Wednesday described their experience to CNN.
Martinez added that when she got to a corner she witnessed some girls crying and that the teacher was shaking. “I was like, ‘No, it’s gonna be OK. ‘Because if you tell yourself, it’s gonna be OK, it’s gonna be OK.”
Eventually, she said that authorities came and took them out of the classroom and onto the field.
Another student, Alexandra Romero, said she could hear “the gunshots from afar.” As they got louder, the school announced it was on lockdown and she and her classmates remained in their room for about 10 minutes until they were evacuated by authorities.
Julie Sandoval said she heard five gunshots right next to her — a series of loud bangs, like heavy books falling several times in a row. She and some of her other classmates hid in the corner until police came into the room.
“I started shaking a lot and that’s when I started crying as well. I was trying to text a lot of my friends but unfortunately, everything was down,” Sandoval told CNN.
She said she was worried about her sister who also is a student at the school. Sandoval texted her parents to tell them she loved them.
CNN’s Elise Hammond contributed reporting to this post, which has been updated.