Two 17-year-old students have shared the terrifying moment they and their classmates witnessed their maths teacher's death , following gunshot wounds he sustained during a shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia.
Stephanie Reyna and Brayan Maldonado, both 17, told ABC News that they were in the classroom when their teacher, Richard 'Coach' Aspinwall , went to investigate a disturbance in the hallway, while frightened students took cover on the floor.
They described seeing their teacher "trying to crawl back to us ... we just think he was trying to get to us," according to Reyna. "A couple minutes passed by. He's taking his breaths. And then we hear his final breaths."
The names of four victims from the Georgia school shooting have been released, with the FBI revealing that the shooter had been on their radar for over a year.
A vigil has been held to remember the victims of the Georgia school shooting, as the devastated community mourns the loss of four lives.
Students from Apalachee High School who feared for their lives as the gunman opened fire sent distressing text messages to their parents while they barricaded themselves in classrooms.
The shooting, which occurred shortly after 9.30am on Wednesday, resulted in the deaths of two students and two teachers, with nine others injured. Police have confirmed that the suspect, 14-year-old Colt Gray, is in custody and will be tried as an adult.
The New York Times reports that the father of the suspected shooter, Colin Gray, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder this afternoon.
A group of students in a maths class recalled the horrifying moment that began with hearing 'banging on the lockers' in the hallway. Their teacher, Aspinwall, went to investigate the noise, and that's when the students started hearing 'popping' sounds.
Reyna and Maldano say they hid at this point. After a few minutes, they noticed their teacher lying motionless in the doorway.
"That's when we realized that our classroom door was still open. Then one of my classmates mustered the courage to stand up from his hiding spot" and pulled Aspinwall's body into the classroom, Maldonado told ABC reporters. "That encouraged me to stand up."
He said that was the moment he and his classmates sprang into action, shut the door, and began barricading it with cabinets, desks and chairs. "We were just putting anything we possibly could to ensure [the shooter] couldn't get in," Maldonado explained.
Reyna mentioned that some students were 'hyperventilating,' while others were crying. It took a while for help to arrive, as first responders cleared one classroom ahead of theirs before they were evacuated to the football field.
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