‘I see blood all over the floor’: Oxford school shooting survivors share HORRIFYING stories
OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN: Students at Oxford High School described the horror they witnessed at the school on Tuesday, November 30, when a gunman opened fire just after lunch. One such student, Catherine Tebben, who just had her food, recalled hearing sounds of gunshots inside her school as students started running. Tebben said before she understood what exactly happened, a friend of hers grabbed her hand and they also began running to save their lives.
The 17-year-old said outside the Meijer store in Oxford: “I see blood all over the floor. I run out to the parking lot, get into my truck and come here, shaking and start crying because I don't know where (my boyfriend) is or any of my friends.” Tebben’s boyfriend -- Josh Couch -- also witnessed the death very closely on Tuesday when cops said a 15-year-old sophomore started shooting with a semi-automatic pistol that took the lives of three kids -- Tate Myre, 16; Hana St Juliana, 14; and Madisyn Baldwin, 17 -- and injured multiple people.
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The 18-year-old senior, who plays on the football team, said: “Trying to find our captain running back and our captain linebacker now. I can't find them anywhere. Nobody can get a hold of them.” Another 17-year-old senior, Barrett Dolata, explained the chaos after the strange sound of gunshots was heard inside the school. Dolata described how a teacher immediately jumped into action and brought in two girls inside her classroom before activating a night lock system that does not let unwanted intruders come inside.
Dolata said, “I heard gunshots like for a minute or two ... it had to be at least 20 gunshots. At first, it doesn’t even sound or feel real. I was in complete shock,” before mentioning that he and others inside the classroom then began barricading doors with their oversized and heavy science desks. “We flipped them over and barricaded the doors. We sat and all called our parents and were texting. I could almost feel it it was so close to my class. ... I don’t know how to feel about the situation right now,” the teenager stated. He added: “There are three doors in the classroom, and we had to make sure they were all barricaded. It was scary. It was just terrifying”
Another student Aiden Page told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Tuesday, “We heard two gunshots and after that, my teacher ran into the room, locked it, we barricaded and then we covered the windows and hid. We grabbed calculators, we grabbed scissors just in case the shooter got in and we had to attack them. Some were crying, some were trying to support others. Others were trying to come up with ideas just in case.”
The senior at Oxford High School added: “The very first thing in my head was, 'Is this actually happening? I'm going to text my family, say I love them just in case, if I were to die.' Then when everything calmed down for a second, I was able to catch my breath and rationalize things. It's definitely going to be weird coming back, especially knowing people were injured and a couple of students died as well.”
According to reports, the shooting started just before 1 pm on Tuesday. At the time, students were about to go back to their classrooms after finishing their lunch. A surveillance camera showed the gunman coming “out of the bathroom with the weapon” before he began firing. Soon after the emergency calls were made, cops arrived at the scene. Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said, “As they were coming down the hall, they saw him [gunman]. He put his hands up, they took a gun and they took him into custody.”
In a statement, Prosecutor Karen D McDonald said: “I was both horrified and saddened to learn about the shootings at Oxford High School this afternoon. My office and I have been in constant communication with the Sheriff's Office, the Oakland County Juvenile Court and other governmental and law enforcement bodies. It is our intent to review it thoroughly and issue appropriate charges quickly.”