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Oxford school shooting: Chilling videos show terrified students barricading themselves in class

Three students lost their lives in the tragedy while several others suffered injuries

OXFORD TOWNSHIP, MICHIGAN: Disturbing videos from Oxford High School during a shooting on Tuesday, November 30, show the terror students faced while inside the campus. One of the two videos surfacing on Twitter showed the moment when the suspect approached a group of students who had barricaded themselves in a classroom. The accused seemed to try to trick them into opening the door by claiming himself to be from the sheriff's office.

As per reports, the chilling video was taken by a student who shared it with his father before it made its way to the internet. The 52-second video showed horrified students sitting near each other after closing the doors as an unidentified voice says from the other side, “Sheriff's office. It’s safe to come out.” But a student replied, “We're not willing to take that risk right now.” To which the unknown person said, “I can't hear you.”

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Again when the student insisted that “we’re not taking that risk right now,” the person added: “Okay come to the door... bro,” which made the students hiding inside the classroom more suspicious about the person’s intentions. The video showed students talking to each other and showing their suspicion that the unknown person said “bro,” hinting at the fact that it’s very unlikely for a sheriff to talk like that. A student said: “He said ‘bro’ red flag.”

Moments later, someone whispered “window” and the students began evacuating the classroom by climbing out. They were seen running across a walkway towards another part of the building, where a sheriff opened the door for them and asked them to calm down. There is one more video on the internet, which is not clear like the first one, but it shows the chaos and the tension among the students as they fear for their lives while hiding from the suspect.

During a press conference, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said that the officials have been informed that the suspect may have acted to be a cop to get access to the classrooms that were barricaded. According to reports, students heard the first round of gunshots around 12.51 pm local time as they finished their lunch. A surveillance camera showed the suspect “came out of the bathroom with the weapon”. 

The Sheriff’s Office said: “At 12.51 pm, the first 9-1-1 call was placed about an active shooter at Oxford High School. Dispatch received over 100 9-1-1 calls during the incident.” Bouchard stated, “As they were coming down the hall, they saw him [the gunman]. He put his hands up, they took a gun and they took him into custody.”

The tragedy claimed the lives of three students — 16-year-old Tate Myre, Hana St Juliana, 14, and 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin — and injured several others, including a teacher. President Joe Biden took notice of the gruesome act and said, “My heart goes out to the families enduring the unimaginable grief of losing a loved one. You've gotta know that that whole community has to be in a state of shock right now.”

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel added: “My heart goes out to the parents who have lost their children and to the students, teachers, staff, and families reeling from the tragedy of a school shooting within their community. We must act to properly address gun violence in our schools and the ongoing threat of another unconscionable tragedy if we continue to only offer thoughts and prayers. Our kids deserve better.”

Meanwhile, the videos have gone viral on the internet, attracting a lot of attention. The first video has reportedly attracted over a million views while the second one has received over 200K views. A person commenting tweeted, “The first thing every parent should do is teach their kid to quickly call 911 - THEN SHUT OFF THEIR PHONE. In an active shooter situation a cell phone going off, or the light of a screen will be some of the first things that will draw attention. No video is worth a kid's life.” Another one commented, “That student who noticed he used the word ‘bro.’ ‘Big Red Flag.’ Impressive. I cannot imagine having that kind of maturity in that situation when I was in high school. What have we done to our kids.”

“This is so awful. Now our State is added to the list of needless killings, we cannot sit idle anymore. Whatever the reason for this act, our present gun laws and regulations do not WORK !!! They need to be changed/amended. People minds change over time, if they own a gun.......” a tweet added.