FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was a scene of confusion — was it a drill? Was it not a drill?
It was a scene of fear on Feb. 14, 2018, of students trying to predict and stay out of the line of fire. It was a scene of tragedy and loss.
Survivors of the Parkland shooting continued their at times dispassionate, at times emotional recounts of the day they were shot, or watched their classmates get killed, in testimony on the third day of the penalty trial for the confessed gunman.
But it was the Holocaust studies teacher who moved families and observers to tears in the courtroom on Wednesday as she very precisely detailed how her classroom was shot up, and how very mature and brave her students were.
“It started out great, because it was Valentine’s Day. It was a happy day; kids were bringing in candy and flowers,” said Ivy Schamis, who taught at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for about 20 years.
She described Nicholas Dworet’s excitement at knowing about the shoemaker for Jesse Owens in the 1936 Olympics, the subject of the day. Dworet was an athlete, she said, and shined in the discussion.
“The class was super-excited because he knew the answer,” Schamis testified. “It was at that very moment, that he had the 'aha' moment that he knew the answer, that we heard very loud shots going off in the hallway right outside the classroom door.
“It was like a second that we stayed frozen, but the students flew out of their seats trying to find cover in a room that had a wall full of windows,” Schamis said.
“A young lady named Kelly said she was thinking of her mom and what her mom would do,” the teacher testified. “It was really seconds later that the barrel of that AR-15 came right through the glass panel of the door.”
Annika Dworet, Nicholas’ mother, cried as she listened to the teacher explain what occurred in classroom 1214. His father, Mitch Dworet, wiped away tears as well and visibly tried to keep his composure.
“I kept thinking about these kids, that should not be experiencing this at all,” Schamis testified. “The door was locked. But it really didn’t matter, because the shooter — or the shooters at the time — could have put their hand through the panel of the door.”
The teacher described how the students remained quiet, nobody moving, as they all lay close to the ground, and hushed each other, fearful that the shooting would happen again.
“The students were quite mature,” Schamis said. “I was very proud. They were incredibly brave.”
Moments later in the courtroom, lead prosecutor Mike Satz walked up to the teacher, asking her to identify people in some photographs.
“That’s my girl, Helena. Helena Ramsay,” Schamis said, sobbing. “And that’s Nicholas Dworet. Handsome boy.”
Ramsay’s family was not present in the courtroom on Wednesday.
Earlier Wednesday, student Genesis Valentin described her afternoon in her English class with Dara Hass in room 1216 when she heard gunshots. At first, she said, she thought the sounds were just balloons.
“Everyone had balloons since it was Valentine’s Day,” Valentin testified.
It took several shots for her to realize the sounds of what she thought were popping balloons were actually sounds of gunfire.
“We knew this was getting bad,” she said.
Some of her classmates called police officers while they all stayed put, awaiting help.
“I got some shrapnel all over my left leg and a little over my right,” she said. Valentin was next to her teacher’s desk when she was injured. She watched as Alaina Petty and Alyssa Alhadeff, both 14-year-old freshmen, got shot in their classroom.
“Alyssa got shot in her stomach and Alaina was shot in her knee,” Valentin testified. “They were both instantly gone after being wounded.”
Teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas had been warned to expect a Code Red drill, teacher Juletta Matlock testified. As they heard the gunshots, she kept reassuring her students it was only a drill.
She moved toward the entrance to her classroom, and “when i was in front of the door, the glass fell on my feet,” she said. “Whoever’s conducting the drill should know someone could have been hurt with all this glass.”
She kept telling her students it was a drill, but after the glass shattered and she saw debris near a desk, she started wondering. “Is it a drill? It’s a drill. Is it a drill?” she testified.
The penalty trial of Nikolas Cruz, the 23-year-old confessed gunman who took the lives of 14 students, a teacher, a coach and an athletic director at the high school on Feb. 14, 2018, started at the Broward County Courthouse on Monday and is expected to last through October.
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