March 24th, 1998...I went to school like any other day. I was in choir when an announcement came over the intercom. It told the teachers to lock the doors, and make sure no students leave the room. The Westside High music building was between the high school campus and middle school campus, Separated by a baseball field.
When they said to lock the students in, naturally everyone was curious. Police cars started to pull into the driveway on the end on campus that connected the 2 campuses. They started putting on bullet proof vests, and pulling shotguns from their trunks. I just assumed it was a drug bust or whatever...After a few minutes of not knowing what the hell was going on, our teacher let us turn on the TV. KAIT was reporting of a shooting at Westside middle school. It was immediate panic in the classroom. How is it that the news was reporting it before the school told us? We had to hear it from the news first....Most of the students panicked because they had brothers or sisters in the middle school. About 30 minutes passed before a boy from the middle school ran over to the music building to give us an update....One of the students' in my classes sister had been shot, but it was unclear at that time what her condition was. Everybody's response was to comfort the classmate that just learned from a middle schooler that her sister had been shot. We didn't know at that time, that her sister would later pass away. She was one of 5 people that died that day. 4 students, and one very brave teacher.
I remember my dad picking me up from school, and driving me home. I was just kind of out of it. In shock over what had just happened. When we got home, my grandmother was there, washing outside windows...when I pulled up, she broke down and started crying. It was the first time I recall ever seeing her cry. It was then that I realized exactly how scary it must've been for my family to hear that on the news, and not know if I was OK.
I think we should take a moment and remember the victims of that day, and the families, that still suffer because of the events that took place.
The 5 fatalities that occurred that day....I want you to know that I still think about you.
| 1. Natalie Brooks, age 11, student |
| 2. Paige Ann Herring, age 12, student |
| 3. Stephanie Johnson, age 12, student |
| 4. Britthney Ryen Varner, age 11, student |
| 5. Shannon Wright, age 32, teacher |
Here is the wikipedia article for those who are unfamiliar with the events.
Westside Shooting Wiki
I remember that day and I was in the middle of testing at Staffmark. I immediately thought of you, Brandy, Brett, and Christene, and in my mind I thanked God that you were in High School, and therefore not in danger. I had NO IDEA you were so close to the middle school. I immediately panicked for the others, but you were safe, as far as I knew. I picked the girls up that day from school and they were freaked out because just the year before that was their school. All of their friends were there, and their Bubby...I called so they could hear you were OK. Brandy went out the opposite door of the shootings, so she didn't get hurt, but Christene was hurt, and so was Brett, not shot, just hurt. I was happy and felt very blessed. I remember you telling me years later about the effect it had on you, and remember thinking to myself...I thought it was good my family wasn't hurt, but in reality everyone who was there that day suffered more than anyone could imagine. I'm so sorry you had to witness that.
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