I had just gotten home from work, another teacher and I were just getting ready to take a walk on a beautiful day, I turned on the TV and we sat for hours.
I was in the hospital. I had just woken up and turned the TV. When I was flicking thourgh the channels, I stopped at CNN because I thought they were evacuating our local high school. They look a lot alike. I couldn't believe what I was hearing and seeing. I saw live coverage of them evacuating the students with their hands on their heads and fear in their eyes. It was just awful. I think I stayed awake for the next 24 hours watching the coverage.
Sorry to sound cold, but I just can't remember. There had been a rash of school shootings in that period of a couple of years (although this was the worst) and they all seemed to run together for me. Also, I guess because of that, I never really considered this the kind of thing I would look back on years later and rememeber what I was doing or where I was. Just me I guess
I was working for my aunt and uncle at the time. They had a TV on CNN and the story broke. All those reports from frantic people....kids running....it was scary. Then some kids who were holed up in empty classrooms started calling in....saying they were watching the coverage on the classroom TV. That bugged me. The news people interviewed them for a bit and THEN told them that maybe they should hang up. The shooters could be watching from somewhere else in the school and hunt them down.
I had just finished eating lunch in one of the Residence Halls I worked in at the University of Colorado in Boulder and walked by the TV in the lounge and the local news (Denver) was covering the Columbine tragedy. Many students were returning from class and going to lunch asking us what was on the TV. We had many Columbine graduates in our Residence Halls so obviously this was very personal for a lot of our residents.
I was just numb thinking this was all happening just 30 minutes from where I was. As everyone says at these tragic times, I couldn't believe it was happening where I lived (or close to where I lived). I was supposed to work late that night but I just wanted to get home and hug my kids who were 8 and 9 at the time.
I will never forget April 20, 1999 as long as I live.
Also, I guess because of that, I never really considered this the kind of thing I would look back on years later and rememeber what I was doing or where I was. Just me I guess
not just you. i don't recall being overly shocked. we had had one of the earliest shooter's trials going on in our town for a while, so we heard about school shootings on a daily basis for a looooooooong time before that.
I was in my last class of the day, Yearbook, in 7th grade. I walked into the room and my teacher somehow had heard about it, and turned on the TV. We watched most of the footage live; I don't remember it being very scary, mostly just sad.