(WINDER, Ga.) — Joshua Maloch thought his Georgia high school was holding an active shooter drill when an alarm went off Wednesday morning alerting a school lockdown.
“We all had to get into the corner of my class and duck down,” the 10th grader at Apalachee High School in Winder, told ABC News.
“I didn’t think it was real, because a lot of times I have drills,” he added.
It was when he heard multiple shots ring out that he said feared for his life and was scared his brother and sister might not make it out.
“Everybody was scared, and people were screaming, calling their moms, everything,” he said.
Two students and two teachers were killed and another nine victims were taken to hospitals with injuries in the shooting at Apalachee High School, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The suspect — a 14-year-old male student at the high school — is in custody, authorities said.
Alexandra Romero, a sophomore at Apalachee High School, told ABC News that students in her classroom began hugging each other while covering during the shooting.
“I was scared. I had so much fear, like I’m still shaking, like I was so scared. I didn’t know my like feelings were so heightened. I cried too,” she said.
She said that after they were able to leave the classroom, she saw a teacher on the floor and “blood everywhere.”
“I’m definitely scared to go back. I talked with my parents and stuff. I don’t feel safe going back there for a while,” she said. “It’s hard to get out of my head, like seeing that body right there.”
Senior Sergio Caldera, 17, said he was in chemistry class when he heard gunshots.
“My teacher goes and opens the door to see what’s going on. Another teacher comes running in and tells her to close the door because there’s an active shooter,” Caldera told ABC News.
He said his teacher locked the door and the students ran to the back of the room. Caldera said they heard screams from outside as they “huddled up.”
At some point, Caldera said someone pounded on his classroom door and shouted “Open up!” multiple times. When the knocking stopped, Caldera said he heard more gunshots and screams.
He said his class later evacuated to the football field.
Kyson Stancion said he was in class when he heard gunshots and “heard police scream, telling somebody, ‘There’s a shooting going on, get down, get back in the classroom.'”
“I was scared because I’ve never been in a school shooting,” he told ABC News.
“Everybody was crying. My teacher tried to keep everybody safe,” he added.
Sherley Martinez, a 12th grader at the school, said she was in a classroom when she heard gunshots ring out.
“Kids started crying, everyone was freaking out,” she told ABC News.
She said she was scared but tried to comfort her classmates.
“I tried to keep everybody comfortable,” she said. “I was telling everybody, ‘It’s going to be OK.'”
“In our small town, we’d never really would expect anything like this to happen,” she added.
ABC News’ Faith Abubey and Miles Cohen contributed to this report.
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