The Day My Community Faced a School Shooting: A Parent’s Perspective

On September 4, 2024, I was at home, just going through the usual routine—cleaning, doing laundry, and mopping the kitchen floor—when I got a text from my mom saying there was an active shooter at one of our local high schools. At the same time, we received an alert that our kids’ schools were going into lockdown. My husband and I were pretty rattled, so we decided to head over to the schools to pick up the kids once things settled down. But as we were driving there, things got even more intense. Police, firefighters, ambulances, and the GBI started speeding by us with lights and sirens blaring, racing around corners as if they were in a high-speed chase. It was really frightening to watch and made my anxiety go through the roof.


(One of many police cars around that day)


So, on what started as an ordinary day, my family and I found ourselves thrust into a nightmare that no parent ever expects to face. This school shooting that occurred in our community—though not at my child’s school, felt like an assault on our entire world. Our schools were now in a level 3 lockdown, a term I had never fully understood until that day. Police, fire trucks, ambulances, and the GBI continued to swarm the area, creating a chaotic scene that felt both surreal and terrifying.


Rumors spread like wildfire: there were reports of multiple shooters targeting various schools. We had no way of verifying what was true. We were left in the dark, anxiously waiting to find out if there was a shooter in our schools, too. Although we understood the need for silence from school officials, we were still feeling anxious and on edge.


As a parent, my mind raced with worry for my children. I was sitting outside the middle school where my daughter was locked down, while simultaneously trying to stay connected with her high school friend. I received frantic texts from him, his fear heart wrenching. He asked me to tell my daughter he loved her if he didn’t make it out alive. My heart ached as I tried to find any way to reassure him. While Johnnie stood outside the elementary school where our son was. 


(The Aftermath - of two students who had just been through a very scary event, I'm sure their minds were reeling, and their hearts were broken for the kids who didn't make it out of AHS)


To complicate matters, my daughter had recently received a new Android phone that wasn’t yet connected to any network. With no phone number or email address linked to the device, I was unable to reach her directly. Her TikTok account was also new, and we hadn’t connected on it yet. In a state of panicked desperation, I recorded a video message to let her know we were there, hoping she would see it and feel a sense of security. She had mentioned just days before that if I ever needed to contact her, TikTok would be the way to do it.


When I finally reunited with my daughter, I saw the terror and relief in her eyes. She and her friends had been using TikTok to try to piece together information, not realizing that their school was safe. The fear and confusion they had experienced is something that will stay with me forever. As soon as I wrapped my arms around her, she broke down again, the weight of the day’s events crashing down.


(Finally reunited with my daughter. <3)


This experience was a stark reminder of how vulnerable we are as parents and how quickly normalcy can be upended. The fear of not knowing whether your child is safe is a feeling I wouldn’t wish on anyone. In the aftermath, as we begin to process the trauma of that day, I am grateful for the safety of my children and the community's strength in facing such unimaginable circumstances. Our hearts go out to the families who lost loved ones. Our thoughts are with you 💔


For every parent who has lived through a similar ordeal, and for those who never want to, let us remember the importance of staying connected, supportive, and vigilant. Our children’s safety is our utmost priority, and we must come together to ensure that our schools and communities are equipped to protect them. Let us not remove our children's phones, leaving them unreachable in times like these. And let us open a dialogue that helps us get to the bottom of why this type of thing continues to happen in our Country - these kids need to feel heard, and protected and right now, we aren't doing that. But that's a whole other blog post, for another day. 


(Parents gathered around the front door of our school, waiting)


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