A student who was on campus during a March 30 shooting at Comal ISD’s Hill Country College Preparatory High School (HCCPHS) said they hid in a locked classroom after gunshots rang out, crying and worrying whether their teacher had locked the door correctly.
A 15-year-old student was upset about his grades when he allegedly used a .357 revolver to shoot his teacher in a second-story classroom before turning the gun on himself. He died at the scene. The teacher remains hospitalized.
Comal ISD has not released any further details about the incident, which occurred at 8:30 a.m., 25 minutes before the official start of the school day.
On Wednesday following the shooting, MyCanyonLake.com submitted a list of questions to parents and students who were on campus when the shooting occurred, asking them to share their stories.
This student responded to the email on condition of anonymity. Several details that would reveal their identity — including their arrival time on campus and specific location during the incident –were redacted at the student’s request:
“About 10 minutes after I arrived to the classroom, I heard what I thought was a desk falling and a teacher screaming. I assumed that the teacher was screaming as a joke. After the second time of ‘hearing a table fall,’ a teacher in the room with me said to close the door and hide in a corner. I then realized it was a school shooting happening.
“While hiding in the corner, I continued to hear more gunshots and screaming, and the teacher who was screaming made it into our area of the hallways and tried to find a place to hide, with them trying to open door handles. After this, it went silent, and we waited for about an hour before cops released us.
“Yes, I feel like the school handled it extremely well. The teachers in the room with me knew exactly what to do and were very professional with it. From what I’ve heard from other students who were in other areas, teachers were risking their lives to make sure kids had a place to hide or run to. The lockdown alarm went off relatively fast as well. I hid in a classroom until the cops unlocked the door and released it.
“It was little over an hour for me. I was one of the last ones to be released, so I was not on the first bus to be taken to Bulverde Middle School for reunification.
“Before the shooting it was a normal day; I was just doing some work before any shots rang out, and I was just doing my thing. During the shooting, I was scared because I was worried and stressing over the thought that the teacher with me might’ve not locked the door correctly.
“Since the shooting was extremely close to us, I was worried that the shooter might come into our room. In reality, I had nothing to worry about now (that I) know that the shooter killed himself immediately after, and our door was locked correctly. I was crying while hiding just because I was anxious on whether or not our door was actually locked.
“After the shooting, I was just happy to be out. I cried some more, but overall I was glad to have made it out and see my friends again.
“Now, I feel sort of a derealization about the events that happened, almost like I’ve kinda moved on already. Maybe I feel this way because I thought I was so close to death, and now I’m alive, safe and trying to move on from what happened because I don’t see it as beneficial to soak in the past. What happened, happened.
Comal ISD Supt. John Chapman released a video statement on March 31, reassuring parents and students that the community will heal together.
“I found it very comforting that he took the time out of his day to make the video, and I really liked what he said, especially the 99 sheep and one-lost-sheep part and the fact that he acknowledged students’ feelings as ‘being real.’ As to him never directly addressing the shooting, we all knew what happened and there had been multiple posts about it before.
“I felt very safe going to school before the shooting. I still feel safe going to school now as I believe this was an isolated incident because our school is not at all like this; we have absolutely no behavioral issues at all, no bullying, no skipping classes, no being disrespectful to others. We really are a Falcon Family, and I hope that the public realizes that we are not a bad school at all.
“For one person to change your perspective on a school is completely idiotic. Look at the whole picture.
“I think having school resource officers present, even though I do agree that our officer’s presence wouldn’t have made a difference, whenever students are at school is just a good general rule. Other than this, I think that the district should continue to encourage students to report any suspicious behavior that they might see or hear and to take everything seriously.
“They (the teacher wounded by her student) are one of my teachers, they are an amazing teacher. They are actually one of my favorite teachers, and they always go above and beyond for students, our learning and for us to have fun.
“I personally don’t like therapy/counseling because I don’t like talking to others about my feelings, so I won’t be receiving any. Yes, I feel safe returning to school.”