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6 SCHOOL LOCKDOWN HORROR STORIES ANIMATED · Martin Animations

0:06
Speaker 1: One day, I was in school for a seemingly average Thursday.
0:10
Speaker 1: I was a senior in high school and in my
0:12
Speaker 1: third hour history class. This was one of my favorite
0:15
Speaker 1: classes because the teacher was really cool. For the story,
0:18
Speaker 1: I'll just call him Mr.
0:19
Speaker 3: Smith.
0:21
Speaker 2: Mr.
0:21
Speaker 1: Smith was very laid back and would give us a
0:23
Speaker 1: lot of time to do homework in class. We would
0:26
Speaker 1: rarely have any actual homework because we could get it
0:28
Speaker 1: all done before we left. He would teach for a
0:31
Speaker 1: bit in the beginning, and then the end of class
0:33
Speaker 1: would pretty much be like study hall, We could talk
0:35
Speaker 1: and get work done. He would even let us go
0:37
Speaker 1: on our phones or listen to music as we worked.
0:41
Speaker 1: So on this day, it was a normal class period.
0:43
Speaker 1: I often had my headphones in as I studied, and
0:46
Speaker 1: I did on this day. We were working on our assignment,
0:49
Speaker 1: and I got done early. I would joke around with Mr.
0:52
Speaker 1: Smith sometimes, as did other students. I remember that I
0:56
Speaker 1: went up to him to turn in my assignment, and
0:58
Speaker 1: he asked me if I wanted to do him a favor.
1:00
Speaker 1: He said that he had to give back some iPads
1:02
Speaker 1: to another teacher. We had used them the previous day
1:05
Speaker 1: for a group assignment thing. There were about 10 iPads
1:08
Speaker 1: in this carrying case. I was happy to do this
1:11
Speaker 1: because it was something to do to get out of class.
1:14
Speaker 1: He wrote me a pass and I took the iPad case.
1:17
Speaker 1: It was supposed to go to a teacher's classroom that
1:19
Speaker 1: was a little ways away. I left the classroom with
1:23
Speaker 1: my headphones still in and I unpaused my music. Then
1:26
Speaker 1: I started walking through the empty hallways to the other
1:29
Speaker 1: teacher's classroom. At this point, There was probably about 15
1:33
Speaker 1: minutes left of class. Soon, I reached the classroom that
1:36
Speaker 1: I was supposed to go to. I tried opening the door,
1:39
Speaker 1: but it was locked. I could see in the window
1:42
Speaker 1: as well that all of the lights were off. I
1:44
Speaker 1: found this a bit odd, but quickly figured that the
1:46
Speaker 1: teacher wasn't there. She probably didn't teach a class during
1:50
Speaker 1: this hour or something. I turned around and started to
1:53
Speaker 1: head back to my classroom. I walked about halfway back
1:56
Speaker 1: when I saw something up ahead. There was a spot
1:59
Speaker 1: where two hallways intersected a ways up. I saw a
2:03
Speaker 1: man up ahead who I didn't recognize. He clearly wasn't
2:06
Speaker 1: a teacher, and I didn't think he worked at the
2:08
Speaker 1: school either. It struck me as suspicious right away. I
2:12
Speaker 1: only saw him for about a second or two, because
2:15
Speaker 1: he passed by one hallway and into the other. He
2:17
Speaker 1: didn't look in my direction at all. The problem was
2:21
Speaker 1: that he was walking in the direction that my classroom
2:23
Speaker 1: was in. I kept walking up ahead, and when I
2:26
Speaker 1: got to where the man had walked past... I stopped
2:29
Speaker 1: and looked down the hallway first. When I did, I
2:31
Speaker 1: saw the guy again. He was a long ways down,
2:34
Speaker 1: near where my classroom was. It appeared as though he
2:37
Speaker 1: was looking for something. I didn't want to go down there,
2:40
Speaker 1: and I started walking in the opposite direction. I took
2:43
Speaker 1: out my headphones at that point. Everything was silent. I
2:47
Speaker 1: didn't really know where I was going anymore, and I
2:50
Speaker 1: was trying to figure out what exactly was going on.
2:53
Speaker 1: After walking around the empty hallways for like five minutes,
2:56
Speaker 1: I thought maybe the man was gone by then, and
2:58
Speaker 1: I started heading back for my class. When I got
3:00
Speaker 1: back to the hallway where I had last seen him,
3:02
Speaker 1: he was gone. I was just glad to see this,
3:05
Speaker 1: and I started walking down the hallway for my class.
3:08
Speaker 1: Just a few steps later, though, I heard footsteps coming
3:11
Speaker 1: from behind me and around the corner. They were going
3:14
Speaker 1: towards me, and there were some bathrooms right there, so
3:16
Speaker 1: I just went inside. I didn't know who the person was,
3:20
Speaker 1: but I really didn't want them to see me. By now,
3:23
Speaker 1: I figured that they weren't supposed to be in the school.
3:26
Speaker 1: After going inside of the bathroom, at first, I just
3:28
Speaker 1: waited inside. But when the footsteps got closer, I moved
3:32
Speaker 1: into one of the stalls. The guy passed by and
3:34
Speaker 1: did not go inside. I waited a little while longer
3:37
Speaker 1: before looking out of the bathroom. When I did, I
3:41
Speaker 1: saw that the person was a ways down the hallway,
3:43
Speaker 1: once again, near where my class was. I left the
3:46
Speaker 1: bathroom and quickly tried to walk to the other hallway,
3:48
Speaker 1: away from this guy. I must have been loud or
3:51
Speaker 1: something when I did, because as I was walking, I
3:53
Speaker 1: heard movement behind me. I looked and saw the guy
3:56
Speaker 1: looking right at me. He turned and started walking in
3:59
Speaker 1: my direction. The guy was really far behind me, at
4:03
Speaker 1: least over 100 feet. I walked as quickly as possible
4:06
Speaker 1: out of that hallway and took another one. By this point,
4:10
Speaker 1: I just wanted to get out of the school or
4:12
Speaker 1: far away from the guy. I walked down that hallway
4:15
Speaker 1: for a while and then took a left to another one.
4:18
Speaker 1: I was going to the stairs to go down to
4:20
Speaker 1: the first floor. As I approached the stairs though, I
4:23
Speaker 1: heard somebody coming up the stairs. I stopped and didn't
4:26
Speaker 1: know who this person could be. When they came into view,
4:29
Speaker 1: I saw that it was a police officer. He asked
4:32
Speaker 1: me what I was doing, and I asked him what
4:33
Speaker 1: was going on. He told me that the school was
4:36
Speaker 1: under a lockdown, and they were searching for a suspicious man.
4:40
Speaker 1: I pointed him in the direction that I had last
4:41
Speaker 1: seen him. Then I went downstairs and saw several more officers.
4:46
Speaker 1: I showed them my student ID, and we found a
4:48
Speaker 1: nearby classroom, and I had to wait inside there until
4:50
Speaker 1: the lockdown was over. It lasted for probably about 15
4:54
Speaker 1: more minutes, and then it ended. We were let out,
4:57
Speaker 1: and by then, it was time for the next class period.
5:00
Speaker 1: I'm not sure who that guy was, or what he
5:02
Speaker 1: was even doing. I also don't know how he got
5:04
Speaker 1: into our school, either. I hadn't been able to hear
5:07
Speaker 1: that we were going into lockdown, though, because my headphones
5:09
Speaker 1: were in, and I couldn't hear anything. Looking back, if
5:12
Speaker 1: I would have known, I would have tried to go
5:14
Speaker 1: into any classroom. I don't know what would have happened
5:16
Speaker 1: to me if that guy caught up with me, either,
5:18
Speaker 1: but I'm glad I didn't have to find out. This
5:29
Speaker 1: happened when I was in high school. For some detail,
5:32
Speaker 1: I'm a female and was a junior at the time
5:34
Speaker 1: this took place. I used to walk to school and
5:37
Speaker 1: back every day because I lived pretty close to the school,
5:41
Speaker 1: so it would usually take me around 10 to 15
5:43
Speaker 1: minutes to walk there, and I would take sidewalks basically
5:45
Speaker 1: the entire way. One morning, I left when I usually
5:49
Speaker 1: did at about 7.30 a.m. because school started at 7.50.
5:54
Speaker 1: After walking out the front door and leaving my house
5:56
Speaker 1: with my backpack, I saw a car on the side
5:59
Speaker 1: of the street. It was right in front of the
6:01
Speaker 1: sidewalk where I would walk past. I had never seen
6:04
Speaker 1: it before, so I didn't know who it was. I
6:07
Speaker 1: planned to just go right past it, but when I did,
6:10
Speaker 1: I saw the passenger side window rolling down. Somebody said something,
6:14
Speaker 1: and I looked over. The car was an older dark
6:17
Speaker 1: gray BMW, and the driver was a young looking guy,
6:20
Speaker 1: but seemed to be a little bit older than me.
6:23
Speaker 1: He then asked me if I needed a ride to school.
6:26
Speaker 1: I had never seen this guy before and didn't think
6:28
Speaker 1: that he even went to my school. He told me
6:30
Speaker 1: his name was, I think, Ryan, but I can't remember exactly.
6:34
Speaker 1: He said which school he went to, which happened to
6:36
Speaker 1: be a school in the next city over. Then he
6:38
Speaker 1: said that he was good friends with Erica, who happened
6:40
Speaker 1: to be one of my best friends. Apparently, he was
6:44
Speaker 1: going to pick her up, and she asked him to
6:46
Speaker 1: pick me up as well and give us both rides
6:48
Speaker 1: to school. I said no thanks. I had never heard
6:51
Speaker 1: Erica talk about this guy before, and it just seemed
6:54
Speaker 1: really weird. The guy asked me why not, and I
6:57
Speaker 1: said maybe some other time. I wanted to confirm with
7:00
Speaker 1: Erica if she knew this guy at all. I figured
7:02
Speaker 1: there was a chance that she was friends with him,
7:05
Speaker 1: but she hadn't said anything to me about this. Obviously,
7:08
Speaker 1: it was a little bit suspicious. The guy seemed disappointed,
7:12
Speaker 1: but ultimately said okay. I kept walking down the street
7:15
Speaker 1: as he pulled away in his car and drove past me.
7:18
Speaker 1: But right when he got past me, he stopped his
7:20
Speaker 1: car on the road. He rolled down his window again
7:22
Speaker 1: and said, last chance. I said no again, and then
7:26
Speaker 1: he finally drove off. I walked the rest of the
7:29
Speaker 1: way to school and got there at basically my normal time.
7:32
Speaker 1: As I was walking, I texted Erica about it. In
7:35
Speaker 1: that semester of high school, my first hour class was English.
7:39
Speaker 1: By the time I got to class, I had gotten
7:41
Speaker 1: a response from Erica. I usually didn't get to see
7:44
Speaker 1: her before school because our first hour classes were on
7:47
Speaker 1: the opposite ends of the school from each other. She
7:49
Speaker 1: said that she didn't even know who I was talking about.
7:52
Speaker 1: I had a feeling that's what she was going to say.
7:55
Speaker 1: This was a mystery to me of who this guy
7:57
Speaker 1: really was and why he tried to pick me up
7:58
Speaker 1: in his car. He knew that I had a friend
8:01
Speaker 1: named Erica, and he also knew where I went to school,
8:04
Speaker 1: but I didn't know him at all. During that same
8:07
Speaker 1: first-hour English class, probably about 30 minutes in, the school
8:11
Speaker 1: went into a lockdown. I had no clue what it
8:14
Speaker 1: was for at the time. We had never had a
8:16
Speaker 1: lockdown before in my entire time at the school, just
8:19
Speaker 1: a few drills. We were all told to sit at
8:21
Speaker 1: the back of the class. The classroom lights were turned off,
8:24
Speaker 1: and the door was locked by our teacher. We all
8:27
Speaker 1: sat in mostly silence for what felt like a really
8:29
Speaker 1: long time. It didn't really last that long, though. It
8:32
Speaker 1: was probably about 20 minutes. Eventually, the lockdown was lifted.
8:37
Speaker 1: By that time, we were all very curious as to
8:39
Speaker 1: what was going on. By the end of the day,
8:41
Speaker 1: I had found out. A man apparently walked into the
8:44
Speaker 1: school after class had started and right past the receptionist.
8:48
Speaker 1: The only door that was open after class started was
8:50
Speaker 1: the front door. He was then spotted by a hall
8:53
Speaker 1: monitor who asked him for a pass. The guy walked
8:56
Speaker 1: past him without saying anything and went to the locker commons.
9:00
Speaker 1: Then he hid there, and the school was locked down. Unfortunately,
9:04
Speaker 1: the guy ran out from the locker commons to the
9:06
Speaker 1: nearest exit and was able to get out. The school
9:09
Speaker 1: and property was searched, but he had gotten away. It
9:12
Speaker 1: was good that he was gone, but it was also
9:14
Speaker 1: bad that he wasn't caught. Some of us were wondering
9:17
Speaker 1: where he went, but it could have been anywhere. There
9:20
Speaker 1: was large woods behind our schools. and I think they
9:22
Speaker 1: pretty much gave up on the search when they found
9:24
Speaker 1: out he wasn't on the school property anymore. Still, I
9:26
Speaker 1: had no clue who the guy was who had been
9:28
Speaker 1: inside the school. I didn't even connect the dots at all.
9:32
Speaker 1: After school that day, I walked home like I always did.
9:36
Speaker 1: I was less than halfway there when I once again
9:38
Speaker 1: saw the car that was at my house earlier. I
9:41
Speaker 1: got a bad feeling. This guy was not who he
9:44
Speaker 1: claimed to be, and I knew that. The car was
9:46
Speaker 1: parked on the side of the road again, on the
9:48
Speaker 1: side that I had to walk past. I sped up
9:51
Speaker 1: and started walking faster. But when I got even with
9:54
Speaker 1: the car, once again, I heard him say something. His
9:57
Speaker 1: window was already down, and the guy said hi. I
10:00
Speaker 1: looked over and said hi, all while continuing to walk.
10:03
Speaker 1: He then told me to stop. I didn't, and ignored him.
10:07
Speaker 1: Then he said, you know I was in your school earlier.
10:10
Speaker 1: I stopped and couldn't believe what I was hearing. He
10:13
Speaker 1: then started to laugh, and it was really creepy. He
10:16
Speaker 1: basically bragged about how they had locked the school down,
10:19
Speaker 1: and he managed to escape. As he was saying this,
10:22
Speaker 1: he opened his car door and got out. I walked
10:25
Speaker 1: even faster until the guy started to run. Then, at
10:28
Speaker 1: that point, I had to start running too. Unfortunately, it
10:31
Speaker 1: seemed as though he was a little bit faster than
10:33
Speaker 1: I was. I could tell that he was gaining on me.
10:36
Speaker 1: I left the sidewalk and ran out into the middle
10:39
Speaker 1: of the road. Then came possibly one of the luckiest
10:41
Speaker 1: moments of my entire life. A car started driving down
10:45
Speaker 1: that otherwise quiet road. I ran straight for the car,
10:48
Speaker 1: and when I got close, noticed that it was somebody
10:51
Speaker 1: that I actually knew. It was one of my classmates,
10:54
Speaker 1: a guy named Matt. He saw me and stopped his car.
10:57
Speaker 1: I ran for the passenger side, while the man chasing
11:00
Speaker 1: me continued to come after me and was about 20
11:02
Speaker 1: feet back. I got inside of Matt's car and told
11:05
Speaker 1: him to lock the doors. The guy chasing reached the
11:07
Speaker 1: car moments later. The doors locked, and the guy tried
11:11
Speaker 1: getting in and then began pounding on the door when
11:12
Speaker 1: he couldn't. Matt asked me who this guy was, and
11:15
Speaker 1: I told him to just get out of there. He
11:17
Speaker 1: drove away. with the guy standing in the street. I
11:20
Speaker 1: explained to Matt as I got out my phone to
11:22
Speaker 1: call the police. I told them everything, and Matt dropped
11:25
Speaker 1: me off at my house a short time later. The
11:28
Speaker 1: police came out and talked with me and my parents
11:31
Speaker 1: and said that they would look out for the car
11:32
Speaker 1: that I described. That same day, the man was located
11:35
Speaker 1: by the police. He had been stalking me for several
11:39
Speaker 1: days without me even knowing. I'm not sure exactly why
11:42
Speaker 1: he went into our school. Maybe he was waiting for
11:45
Speaker 1: me to get back to my locker. He could have
11:47
Speaker 1: honestly passed for a student because he looked young, but
11:50
Speaker 1: he was actually in his mid-twenties and not a student
11:52
Speaker 1: at all. This was years ago now, but I still
11:55
Speaker 1: remember it all the time. I'm really glad Matt was
11:58
Speaker 1: driving by when he did. I don't know what would
12:00
Speaker 1: have happened to me if not. I'm a teacher, and
12:11
Speaker 1: this is something that happened a couple of years ago.
12:14
Speaker 1: It was during my fourth year teaching at the high
12:16
Speaker 1: school that I still currently teach at. I teach math,
12:19
Speaker 1: and had four different classes throughout the day that semester.
12:22
Speaker 1: It kept me very busy between teaching, preparing lessons, and
12:25
Speaker 1: grading assignments. One day, about a month into the school year,
12:29
Speaker 1: I was teaching like any other. It was the first
12:32
Speaker 1: hour of the day, and I was in the middle
12:34
Speaker 1: of going through a problem on the whiteboard. That's when
12:37
Speaker 1: the phone rang in my classroom. I paused what I
12:40
Speaker 1: was doing and walked over to answer it. I was
12:43
Speaker 1: told the school was being locked down, but I wasn't
12:45
Speaker 1: told why. After that, the announcement came over the entire
12:48
Speaker 1: school intercom. Some of the kids in class started to
12:51
Speaker 1: talk and asked me what the cause of the lockdown was.
12:54
Speaker 1: I honestly didn't know, and I told them that. I
12:57
Speaker 1: did what I was supposed to do and turned out
12:59
Speaker 1: the lights and locked the doors. I instructed the students
13:02
Speaker 1: to the back of the classroom. There were 20 kids
13:05
Speaker 1: in my class, and they all did what I said,
13:08
Speaker 1: but still wanted to know why we were in a lockdown.
13:11
Speaker 1: I knew this was not a drill, and I was
13:13
Speaker 1: pretty curious myself. I went to my desk and sat
13:16
Speaker 1: down in the chair. Then we all just waited. Minutes
13:20
Speaker 1: went by, which felt like forever. After about ten minutes,
13:24
Speaker 1: my cell phone started vibrating. It was on top of
13:27
Speaker 1: my desk, and I picked it up to see who
13:28
Speaker 1: was calling me. It was a number that I didn't recognize.
13:32
Speaker 1: I was about to let it ring, but I thought
13:34
Speaker 1: it was possibly information about the lockdown. It may have
13:37
Speaker 1: been from another teacher, whose number I didn't have yet.
13:40
Speaker 1: It could have been from another staff member as well.
13:43
Speaker 1: That's what was going through my mind in the moment.
13:45
Speaker 1: At the last minute, I accepted the call. I held
13:48
Speaker 1: the phone up to my ear and listened as I
13:50
Speaker 1: heard a man start to speak. I didn't really recognize
13:53
Speaker 1: his voice. He spoke professionally and told me that I
13:56
Speaker 1: was needed in the principal's office immediately. I asked why
14:01
Speaker 1: and I was told that it would be discussed when
14:02
Speaker 1: I got there. I was very confused. I said I
14:06
Speaker 1: couldn't leave my class and I was told that I
14:08
Speaker 1: needed to go anyways. Then he hung up. I saw
14:12
Speaker 1: my students looking at me, no doubt wondering what I
14:14
Speaker 1: was told on the phone. Then one of them spoke
14:17
Speaker 1: up and asked. I told them the truth and said
14:20
Speaker 1: somebody asked me to the principals and I really didn't
14:22
Speaker 1: know why. I was debating whether I should go or not.
14:26
Speaker 1: I got up from my desk and walked over to
14:28
Speaker 1: the door. Then I looked out the window and into
14:30
Speaker 1: the hallway. It was very empty. But then I saw someone.
14:36
Speaker 1: It was sort of far to the left, just barely
14:38
Speaker 1: in my sight. There was a man standing there wearing
14:41
Speaker 1: all black, including a ski mask. I quickly moved back
14:45
Speaker 1: after seeing him. One of the students asked me if
14:47
Speaker 1: I was going to go, and I said no, I wasn't.
14:50
Speaker 1: I told everyone to stay at the back of the class,
14:52
Speaker 1: and I joined them. I had no clue who the
14:55
Speaker 1: person in the hallway was, but the fact that they
14:57
Speaker 1: were wearing a ski mask could not be good. They
15:00
Speaker 1: were likely the reason for the lockdown. I didn't want
15:03
Speaker 1: my students to know that the person was so close, though.
15:06
Speaker 1: Things were very silent for a few minutes. We couldn't
15:08
Speaker 1: hear anything from out in the hallways. It felt like forever,
15:12
Speaker 1: and the more time that went by, the more worried
15:14
Speaker 1: I became. I got another phone call on my phone
15:17
Speaker 1: from the same number, but I ignored it. They called
15:20
Speaker 1: back again, and at that point, I turned off my
15:22
Speaker 1: phone entirely. We all waited in the classroom for almost
15:26
Speaker 1: an hour. Finally, I got another call on my phone
15:29
Speaker 1: in the classroom. I walked over and picked it up.
15:32
Speaker 1: I was told that the lockdown was over. and then
15:34
Speaker 1: there was an announcement over the intercom letting us know.
15:37
Speaker 1: Class was over, and I let the students out. When
15:40
Speaker 1: I found out more details from the lockdown, I couldn't
15:43
Speaker 1: believe it. The person in the ski mask was a
15:46
Speaker 1: former student of our high school. He was also a
15:49
Speaker 1: former student of mine, who I had failed. He came
15:52
Speaker 1: back to the school, and he was the one who
15:54
Speaker 1: called me on my cell phone as well. I'm not
15:56
Speaker 1: sure how he got my number, but he did. He
15:59
Speaker 1: was trying to get me out of my classroom. I'm
16:02
Speaker 1: not sure what he was planning to do then, I
16:05
Speaker 1: don't want to think about that. Luckily, he was spotted
16:08
Speaker 1: by a faculty member, which sent the school into a lockdown. Eventually,
16:12
Speaker 1: the police came and were able to locate the suspect
16:15
Speaker 1: and catch him, although he was able to evade them
16:18
Speaker 1: for quite a while. I still can't believe it, even
16:21
Speaker 1: to this day. I can't imagine what would have happened
16:24
Speaker 1: had I left the classroom. It was too strange, though,
16:27
Speaker 1: and I never really seriously considered it. I could tell
16:30
Speaker 1: that something was really suspicious. Still, I will never forget
16:34
Speaker 1: seeing him in the hallway. It was one of the
16:36
Speaker 1: scariest sights of my life.
16:48
Speaker 2: I used to think that lockdown drills were pointless in
16:51
Speaker 2: my school because nothing ever happened in our tiny little town.
16:55
Speaker 2: I learned that I couldn't have been more wrong, though.
16:57
Speaker 2: and I'll forever be thankful for those drills because they're
17:00
Speaker 2: most likely the only reason that a lot of kids
17:02
Speaker 2: in my grade are still alive today. It all went
17:06
Speaker 2: down during our pre-prom assembly. We had all heard about
17:10
Speaker 2: the assembly from seniors that had to go through it
17:12
Speaker 2: the previous year, and according to them, it was super boring.
17:16
Speaker 2: It was pretty much an hour-long talk about why drinking
17:18
Speaker 2: and driving was bad, something that we were all well
17:21
Speaker 2: aware of, but it didn't even make it five minutes
17:23
Speaker 2: into the speech before all hell broke loose. It may
17:27
Speaker 2: have been four years ago, but I remember it like
17:30
Speaker 2: it was yesterday. Miss Belmont was walking across the stage
17:34
Speaker 2: as she prepared to show a video on the dangers
17:36
Speaker 2: of drinking and driving on prom night. Everyone in the
17:39
Speaker 2: auditorium was quietly talking amongst themselves as they pretended to
17:43
Speaker 2: listen to her talk, but within a matter of a second,
17:46
Speaker 2: silence came over the entire room. Around 200 high school
17:50
Speaker 2: juniors fell silent as the sound of gunshots rang out
17:54
Speaker 2: from the hallway. The way our school was laid out,
17:58
Speaker 2: our auditorium was placed right inside the main entrance, and
18:01
Speaker 2: from the sound of things, the shooting was coming from
18:03
Speaker 2: near the greeter's desk right on the other side of
18:06
Speaker 2: the auditorium doors. Two shots were fired, and everyone inside
18:11
Speaker 2: the auditorium quickly lowered themselves down into our seats as
18:14
Speaker 2: we listened in hopes that we had all misheard what
18:17
Speaker 2: was going on, but that clearly wasn't the case. Before
18:21
Speaker 2: anything else happened, I'll never forget how calm and collected Ms.
18:24
Speaker 2: Belmont was as she spoke over the microphone and told
18:27
Speaker 2: all of us to follow our typical lockdown protocols. All
18:31
Speaker 2: of us turned our attention away from the auditorium doors
18:34
Speaker 2: and looked at the teachers up on the stage as
18:36
Speaker 2: they all gestured for us to slowly come out of
18:38
Speaker 2: our seats and make our way up the stairs next
18:40
Speaker 2: to the stage. Surprisingly enough, we all did our best
18:44
Speaker 2: to stay calm and followed the teachers' directions as we
18:47
Speaker 2: formed multiple lines leading up the stairs to the auditorium stage.
18:51
Speaker 2: The room was beginning to fill with quiet muttering as
18:54
Speaker 2: we all worried about what was going to happen to us,
18:57
Speaker 2: and I remember looking around to see if I could
18:59
Speaker 2: find any of my friends. We all slowly made our
19:02
Speaker 2: way onto the stage, and then one of the teachers
19:04
Speaker 2: walked us over to an emergency exit that was located
19:07
Speaker 2: right on the other side of the curtain. He began
19:10
Speaker 2: ushering people through the door, which was what we were
19:12
Speaker 2: all taught to do since the auditorium doors didn't lock properly.
19:16
Speaker 2: After exiting the door, We were supposed to make our
19:18
Speaker 2: way into the hallway between the auditorium and the music classrooms,
19:22
Speaker 2: and from there, we were supposed to go right into
19:24
Speaker 2: those classrooms and lock the doors as we waited. I
19:28
Speaker 2: was toward the front of the line, and I remember
19:30
Speaker 2: feeling the teacher pull me forward to keep the line
19:32
Speaker 2: moving as we began walking out into the hallway. However,
19:36
Speaker 2: I didn't make it two steps out of the door
19:38
Speaker 2: before the few of us that made it out all stopped.
19:41
Speaker 2: We were stunned to see the gunman had made his
19:43
Speaker 2: way around the auditorium and was now looking down the
19:46
Speaker 2: hallway that we're all standing in. We quickly turned around.
19:50
Speaker 2: and began forcing our way back into the auditorium as
19:52
Speaker 2: we all yelled that the shooter was in the hallway
19:55
Speaker 2: we could hear shots being fired as bullets hit the
19:58
Speaker 2: walls near where we had all been standing thankfully we
20:02
Speaker 2: all managed to make it back into the auditorium and
20:04
Speaker 2: the teacher quickly closed the door behind us He grabbed
20:08
Speaker 2: a ladder that was right next to him and stuck
20:10
Speaker 2: one of its legs through the door handle and used
20:12
Speaker 2: the rest of the ladder to bar the door shut.
20:14
Speaker 2: It came just in time too, because as soon as
20:17
Speaker 2: it was secured, we could hear the man on the
20:19
Speaker 2: other side of the door trying to force it open.
20:22
Speaker 2: We all quickly stepped away from the door as another
20:25
Speaker 2: teacher made their way around and tried their best to
20:27
Speaker 2: secure all of the emergency exits in a similar fashion.
20:31
Speaker 2: As the next couple of minutes passed, we could periodically
20:34
Speaker 2: hear the sounds of shots being fired throughout the school.
20:38
Speaker 2: Each time it seemed like the gunman was getting farther
20:40
Speaker 2: and farther away but that didn't matter. Every second that
20:44
Speaker 2: passed we were all horrified that he would come back
20:46
Speaker 2: our way and try to get into the auditorium again.
20:50
Speaker 2: It took nine minutes for the police to arrive but
20:53
Speaker 2: when they finally got there they cleared out the school
20:55
Speaker 2: and managed to take down the shooter without having to
20:57
Speaker 2: fire a single shot at him. The shooter turned out
21:01
Speaker 2: to be a substitute teacher and although the two greeters
21:04
Speaker 2: along with the school security guard ended up getting shot,
21:07
Speaker 2: They all made full recoveries, and as far as I know,
21:10
Speaker 2: they still work at the school. That was hands down
21:13
Speaker 2: the most terrifying day of my life and the most
21:16
Speaker 2: memorable school assembly that I ever attended. It wasn't until
21:25
Speaker 2: my sophomore year of high school that I learned the
21:27
Speaker 2: importance of keeping at least one ear open when you're
21:30
Speaker 2: in public. And by that, I simply mean don't have
21:33
Speaker 2: both headphones on when you're out of the house. I
21:36
Speaker 2: learned this simply because I had both my soundproof headphones
21:39
Speaker 2: on during study hall one day and I kept them
21:42
Speaker 2: on when I ran to the bathroom between classes. Well,
21:45
Speaker 2: it was during that time that the lockdown bell rang
21:48
Speaker 2: and all of the students in the rest of the
21:49
Speaker 2: school were notified to get into the nearest classroom because
21:52
Speaker 2: there was an unknown adult on the premises. As I said,
21:55
Speaker 2: I had my headphones on and I couldn't hear anything.
21:59
Speaker 2: So when I walked out of the bathroom into a
22:00
Speaker 2: cleared out hallway, I just assumed that I missed the bell.
22:04
Speaker 2: I let out a sigh as I figured I was
22:06
Speaker 2: going to get in trouble for being late to class,
22:08
Speaker 2: and I started walking down the hall. As I made
22:11
Speaker 2: my way around a corner, I saw a man standing
22:13
Speaker 2: in the hallway looking around, and when he saw me,
22:16
Speaker 2: he immediately pointed in my direction. I thought I was
22:20
Speaker 2: going to get in trouble, so I took my headphones
22:22
Speaker 2: off and immediately apologized and told the man that I
22:24
Speaker 2: was on my way to class, I just got held
22:26
Speaker 2: up in the bathroom. He told me that it didn't
22:29
Speaker 2: matter what my excuse was, and that he needed to
22:31
Speaker 2: escort me to class so he could talk to the teacher.
22:34
Speaker 2: I rolled my eyes and said alright as we both
22:37
Speaker 2: started walking toward my class. Right away I started getting
22:40
Speaker 2: the weird feeling from this guy since he kept looking
22:42
Speaker 2: down at me but not saying anything. We made it
22:45
Speaker 2: to the base of the stairs that I normally took
22:47
Speaker 2: to get to my trigonometry class, which he would have
22:50
Speaker 2: known if he actually worked in the school. But instead
22:53
Speaker 2: of turning to go up the stairs, the man kept
22:55
Speaker 2: walking me down the hall that we were in. That
22:58
Speaker 2: was when I realized that, unlike the rest of the
23:00
Speaker 2: school staff, The man wasn't wearing any sort of school
23:04
Speaker 2: badge or name tag. My eyes widened as this stranger
23:08
Speaker 2: continued to guide me down the hallway, and I decided
23:10
Speaker 2: to ask him what class he taught. He responded by
23:13
Speaker 2: simply saying, Don't question me. And then he placed his
23:17
Speaker 2: hand on the back of my neck and continued to
23:19
Speaker 2: walk me down the hall. As we made our way
23:22
Speaker 2: around a corner, I could see one of the entrances
23:25
Speaker 2: to the school and knew in my gut that this
23:27
Speaker 2: guy was trying to get me to leave the building.
23:29
Speaker 2: I knew that I didn't have much time, and all
23:31
Speaker 2: I could do was try to run. I started walking
23:34
Speaker 2: a bit fast to try to get ahead of him
23:36
Speaker 2: so his hand wasn't touching me anymore. And the second
23:39
Speaker 2: I felt the slightest bit of distance between us, I
23:42
Speaker 2: quickly spun to the right and sprinted right past him,
23:45
Speaker 2: back down the hall that we came from. I made
23:48
Speaker 2: it to the base of the staircase and started running
23:50
Speaker 2: up it as I heard the footsteps of the man
23:52
Speaker 2: chasing me. As I made it to the top of
23:54
Speaker 2: the stairs, I could hear him getting closer and closer.
23:57
Speaker 2: But thankfully, as I stepped out of the staircase onto
23:59
Speaker 2: the second floor hallway, I saw two security guards who
24:02
Speaker 2: were looking for the intruder. I yelled to them that
24:05
Speaker 2: he was right behind me and they immediately started running
24:08
Speaker 2: toward me. I turned around and saw the man as
24:11
Speaker 2: he made his way back down the stairs and the
24:13
Speaker 2: school security guards pursued him. At that moment, I noticed
24:17
Speaker 2: one of the teachers across the hall from me gesturing
24:19
Speaker 2: for me to come into their classroom. So I did
24:22
Speaker 2: that as fast as I could and spent the rest
24:24
Speaker 2: of the lockdown waiting for them to tell us that
24:26
Speaker 2: the school was safe. My parents were called and I
24:29
Speaker 2: had to speak with the police after it was all over,
24:31
Speaker 2: and thankfully by the end of the day, they ended
24:33
Speaker 2: up arresting the guy after finding him trying to sneak
24:36
Speaker 2: through backyards in town. They believe he was trying to
24:39
Speaker 2: make it back to his house, which was also right
24:41
Speaker 2: in town. Ever since then, I will always pay attention
24:45
Speaker 2: to any announcement made when I'm out somewhere.
24:59
Speaker 3: To start, both my parents and I have grown up
25:01
Speaker 3: in a small southeastern town in Kentucky. The landscape is
25:05
Speaker 3: quite rural, and the actual city only has one stoplight
25:09
Speaker 3: in it, even in 2019. For the most part, the
25:13
Speaker 3: area is peaceful, and it feels as if everyone knows
25:16
Speaker 3: each other. While this story doesn't involve the paranormal, it
25:20
Speaker 3: is extremely terrifying. A real-life nightmare, if you will, the
25:25
Speaker 3: story begins on September 18th, 1989 in the county's only
25:29
Speaker 3: high school. Both of my parents were teachers at this
25:32
Speaker 3: said school. My mother happened to be in her planning
25:35
Speaker 3: period and was sitting in her teacher's lounge with a
25:38
Speaker 3: few other personnel. Their planning was cut short when a
25:43
Speaker 3: fellow female teacher ran screaming immediately into the teacher's round, stating,
25:47
Speaker 3: He's got a gun! He's got a gun! Understandably, The
25:52
Speaker 3: teacher was too distressed to explain in detail and immediately
25:55
Speaker 3: ran screaming out of the lounge. Everyone immediately scrambled to
25:59
Speaker 3: escape or hide from the gunmen. My mother, a fellow teacher,
26:03
Speaker 3: and teacher's aide, ran into a small closet and attempted
26:06
Speaker 3: to hide. The closet was tiny, and along with three
26:10
Speaker 3: small women currently occupying it, was also home to a
26:13
Speaker 3: fold-away bed. No matter how hard they tried to close
26:16
Speaker 3: the door, the bed kept getting in the way. They
26:20
Speaker 3: were afraid to open the door and shove the bed
26:22
Speaker 3: out as it would be a dead giveaway that someone
26:24
Speaker 3: was in the closet. After the initial shock, things began
26:28
Speaker 3: to quiet down in the school. They could hear a
26:31
Speaker 3: few shots fired, but had no idea how close the
26:34
Speaker 3: gunfire was in proximity to them. They literally crammed like
26:38
Speaker 3: sardines in a hot closet, unsure when or if the
26:42
Speaker 3: shooter would come for them. Though they tried to remain silent,
26:46
Speaker 3: my mother did make a plea for their salvation, as
26:49
Speaker 3: it was almost certain they wouldn't make it out of
26:51
Speaker 3: the school alive. The time ticked away slowly, and after
26:55
Speaker 3: an hour of being in the closet, they began to
26:57
Speaker 3: hear footsteps. The footsteps were slowly coming down the hallway
27:01
Speaker 3: toward the room they were in, soft sounds clicking as
27:05
Speaker 3: if someone was searching around the hallway. As they came closer,
27:09
Speaker 3: the footsteps stopped in the doorway of the teacher's lounge.
27:12
Speaker 3: It was almost as if they could feel a pair
27:14
Speaker 3: of eyes searching the room from top to bottom, looking
27:17
Speaker 3: for any sign of life. My mom and the other
27:20
Speaker 3: woman had their hands on the doorknob, trying to keep
27:22
Speaker 3: it closed as much as possible. They were almost certain
27:26
Speaker 3: this was the end. Suddenly, they heard the person walk
27:30
Speaker 3: away and enter a nearby bathroom. My father also had
27:33
Speaker 3: a free first block, so he was seated at his
27:36
Speaker 3: desk trying to catch up on grading student assignments. Suddenly,
27:40
Speaker 3: he heard a loud noise, which he said sounded like
27:42
Speaker 3: a large table falling over. He wondered at what the
27:46
Speaker 3: sound might be. but figured it was simply a table
27:49
Speaker 3: that had gotten knocked over or someone had dropped several textbooks.
27:53
Speaker 3: Unlike the teacher's lounge, my father's classroom was located upstairs
27:57
Speaker 3: in a smaller portion of the school. While he continued
28:00
Speaker 3: grading papers, he began to hear someone running down the hallway.
28:04
Speaker 3: It was a teacher that seemed to be searching through
28:05
Speaker 3: the classrooms. He stopped in the doorway and said, One
28:09
Speaker 3: of the kids brought a gun and has taken hostages.
28:12
Speaker 3: We need to evacuate the other classmates immediately. My dad
28:16
Speaker 3: quickly said, I'll take the right side of the hall
28:18
Speaker 3: and you take the left. They then set off running
28:20
Speaker 3: down the halls to notify teachers and students. However, most
28:24
Speaker 3: of the classrooms had already been emptied. They would find
28:27
Speaker 3: out later that many of the classrooms had heard the
28:29
Speaker 3: initial gunshots and realized instantly what the sound was. The
28:33
Speaker 3: first floor classrooms had tried to evacuate by either running
28:36
Speaker 3: to the far stairwell or jumping out the windows into
28:38
Speaker 3: the parking lot. The classroom doors had small windows in
28:42
Speaker 3: which you could see people passing outside. The classroom that
28:46
Speaker 3: was located across the gunfire had been too scared to
28:48
Speaker 3: exit into the hallway, at risk of being shot. The
28:52
Speaker 3: students were all jumping out of the windows and droves.
28:55
Speaker 3: The poor teacher was heavily pregnant, and the windows were
28:58
Speaker 3: quite narrow and only slanted slightly when they opened. It
29:02
Speaker 3: took a great deal of effort, but they got her
29:04
Speaker 3: out of the window. The students and teachers were scared
29:07
Speaker 3: for their life, not knowing if the shooter would suddenly
29:10
Speaker 3: barge into their room and begin shooting as they tried
29:12
Speaker 3: to exit. My dad eventually located a classroom that had
29:16
Speaker 3: not been evacuated. He ran over to the teacher and
29:19
Speaker 3: explained the situation. He then spoke to the students and
29:22
Speaker 3: told them, you need to exit the school right now.
29:25
Speaker 3: Don't take your belongings. Don't go to the bathroom. Don't
29:27
Speaker 3: talk to anyone. As quietly as you can, take the
29:31
Speaker 3: far stairwell and don't look behind you. Go now. My
29:35
Speaker 3: dad is likely one of the most laid-back individuals you
29:38
Speaker 3: could ever meet. The students knew this and listened closely,
29:41
Speaker 3: knowing the situation was dire. Everyone rushed to the far stairwell,
29:45
Speaker 3: away from the gunman, and exited to the bus garage.
29:49
Speaker 3: Dad said that the police arrived within minutes of them
29:52
Speaker 3: emptying the building and corralled everyone over to a funeral
29:55
Speaker 3: home that was across the road from the high school.
29:58
Speaker 3: Within 30 minutes, a SWAT team arrived and had set
30:00
Speaker 3: up a perimeter, both inside and outside of the school.
30:04
Speaker 3: A family member had found out about the situation and
30:06
Speaker 3: called my grandfather, my mother's father. He had rushed to
30:10
Speaker 3: the school to check on his daughter and son-in-law. As
30:13
Speaker 3: my dad was waiting with the students in the funeral
30:15
Speaker 3: home parking lot, he began to search for my mother.
30:19
Speaker 3: My father asked one of the teachers that had been
30:21
Speaker 3: in the lounge with my mom if he had seen her.
30:23
Speaker 3: He said he thought she was outside. Dad once again
30:26
Speaker 3: searched through the crowd asking if anyone had seen my mother.
30:30
Speaker 3: By this time my grandfather had arrived and asked my
30:32
Speaker 3: father where my mom was. He said that he couldn't
30:35
Speaker 3: find her. He again asked the teacher who had been
30:38
Speaker 3: in the lounge with her and he said, well come
30:40
Speaker 3: to think of it, I remember her saying that she
30:42
Speaker 3: might hide in the closet. Everyone was terrified of what
30:46
Speaker 3: might have happened to her since it had been close
30:48
Speaker 3: to three hours since the gunman had entered the building.
30:51
Speaker 3: My father and grandfather notified some of the Kentucky State
30:54
Speaker 3: Police that were on the scene Under the watchful eyes
30:57
Speaker 3: of snipers located in the parking lot and on the roof,
31:00
Speaker 3: the KSP officers entered the school and headed for the
31:03
Speaker 3: closet they thought my mother was in. My mother said
31:06
Speaker 3: that she and the other woman could hear someone outside,
31:09
Speaker 3: and they almost died of fright. Without announcement, the doorknob
31:13
Speaker 3: was suddenly ripped from their hands, and light flooded into
31:15
Speaker 3: the closet. Not hearing a cacophony of gunfire, my mom
31:19
Speaker 3: looked up and realized there were two armed state troopers
31:21
Speaker 3: standing outside of the closet. She said that it was
31:24
Speaker 3: probably the best sight in her entire life. There were
31:28
Speaker 3: no times for tears of joy, though. The officers told
31:31
Speaker 3: my mother and the other two women, you're going to
31:33
Speaker 3: be okay, but we need to get you out of
31:34
Speaker 3: the building ASAP. We need you to rush down the hallway,
31:38
Speaker 3: and when you come into the lobby to exit, you
31:39
Speaker 3: need to run. After a count, my mother was ushered
31:43
Speaker 3: from teacher's lounge toward the high school lobby. She said
31:47
Speaker 3: when she rounded the corner, There were multiple snipers set
31:50
Speaker 3: up in the hall along with a. 50 caliber machine
31:52
Speaker 3: gun pointed at the classroom where the shooter was. That
31:56
Speaker 3: day my mother had worn a dress and heels and
31:58
Speaker 3: she said she could remember trying to run across the
32:00
Speaker 3: grass in her heels getting stuck in the soil. She
32:03
Speaker 3: kept running through until she joined the others in the
32:05
Speaker 3: funeral home parking lot. The initial takeover had begun around 9.50 a.m.
32:10
Speaker 3: during the first block of classes. The shooter had entered
32:13
Speaker 3: the school with three guns, one shotgun, a. 357 pistol
32:18
Speaker 3: in a. 44 caliber Magnum, and walked into his first
32:21
Speaker 3: block class. Upon entering the classroom, he shot into the
32:24
Speaker 3: ceiling through the art classroom located above. Luckily, no one
32:28
Speaker 3: was hit by a bullet or debris of the initial shot.
32:31
Speaker 3: He released two rows of students and the teacher before
32:35
Speaker 3: settling in for a standoff. The woman that initially told
32:38
Speaker 3: everyone in the teacher's lounge about the shooting had been
32:41
Speaker 3: the teacher released from the classroom. Over the next few hours,
32:44
Speaker 3: students were released for small requests like cigarettes, soft drinks,
32:48
Speaker 3: and pizza. Multiple shots were fired throughout the ordeal, but
32:53
Speaker 3: thankfully no one was injured or killed. The shooter was
32:56
Speaker 3: later identified as a 17-year-old student at the high school,
33:00
Speaker 3: advised police that he would surrender if he could see
33:02
Speaker 3: his father. He told police that he hadn't seen his
33:05
Speaker 3: father since he was four years old. Around 5 p.m.
33:08
Speaker 3: that day, the last hostage was released. the Kentucky State
33:11
Speaker 3: Police eventually negotiated his surrender before his father could arrive
33:15
Speaker 3: from Florida. While most people never know the reason behind
33:18
Speaker 3: such an insane act of violence, upon questioning, the shooter
33:22
Speaker 3: referred to the Stephen King book Rage as his inspiration
33:25
Speaker 3: for the shooting. Crazy enough, my dad didn't think the
33:28
Speaker 3: student served any prison time. It was his belief that
33:32
Speaker 3: while the boy was initially taken to jail after surrendering,
33:35
Speaker 3: he was never tried and was instead released out of
33:37
Speaker 3: the county and told to never return. I guess 1989
33:41
Speaker 3: was a different time. My dad says that word had
33:46
Speaker 3: quickly spread after the takeover, and that many parents had
33:48
Speaker 3: arrived to the scene and were looking for their children.
33:52
Speaker 3: One of them asked my father where his son was,
33:54
Speaker 3: and my dad wasn't for sure, and that's what he
33:56
Speaker 3: told the parent. However, he had been too afraid to
33:59
Speaker 3: tell him that he thought he was currently being held hostage.
34:02
Speaker 3: It turns out he was. Many of the students held
34:04
Speaker 3: hostage suffered from PTSD and had to undergo counseling for
34:08
Speaker 3: many years. Fortunately, no one was physically harmed, though. Once
34:12
Speaker 3: my parents were finally released from the scene, they had
34:14
Speaker 3: driven straight to my babysitter's to pick me up. Being
34:17
Speaker 3: less than a year old, I was oblivious to the
34:19
Speaker 3: chaos that my parents had experienced that day. They say
34:23
Speaker 3: when they saw me, they picked me up and prayed
34:24
Speaker 3: that the little girl would never have to experience anything
34:27
Speaker 3: like that.