As shots rang out at Saugus High School early Thursday morning, one student athlete was able to get to safety and share his touching moments with his coach and fellow teammates in the midst of chaos.
Sean had just left his coach’s classroom when he heard shots ringing out at the school.
“I just walked out and then I heard shots,” he said. “I called my mom and she told me to go back. I just told my coach and all my teammates were in there, so we just went into lockdown.”
He told KTLA about the frightening moments where he thought the gunshots were coming from before he went back to his coach and teammates to tell them what he heard.
“I was walking towards the quad which is, I guess where it happened,” Sean said. “That’s where I normally hang out and I was going there and I heard the shots, so I ran back to the room.”
Sean made sure to let his parents know that he was okay for the time being and his teammates did the same.
“Our coach got a call that the gunman kind of left campus and that they were just trying to clear the buildings out and cleared our building out,” he said. “After that, I felt safe just knowing we were around all the cops.”
Sean’s mother, Mercedes, was still shaking even with her son by her side again.
“I just, I don’t know. I think it’s just, relief. Like I said earlier, there’s no real sense of knowing that your child is safe until you have your child in your arms,” she said.
Although he was in the midst of a school shooting, Sean was able to find comfort in the company of his teammates and coach.
“I don’t know what happened. I don’t know why these things happen, they just do. It was just the comfort of having my teammates and my coach around us. We ended up just, all joining hands and praying in the room with our coach. He led us in a prayer to just calm us down and let us have the comfort of knowing that we’re okay,” Sean said.
Sean was able to reunite with his mother after being evacuated from the school, unharmed.
“I felt happy, I felt relieved that I could be with my mom and I’m safe and I just, I love my mom so much. I didn’t know what to do. I was scared a little bit at first but just having the comfort of my teammates just calmed me down,” he said. “We went through it together.”
