VIDEO: Students describe emotional moments during Georgia school shooting
Students at a Georgia high school say emotions were high during and after a mass shooting at their school.
The shooting Wednesday at Apalachee High School in Georgia left two students and two teachers dead and nine other people injured, according to officials who spoke during a news conference after 4 p.m. on Wednesday. The 14-year-old suspect, identified by police as Colt Gray, is in police custody and will be charged as an adult with murder.
Students who were inside the school, which is in the city of Winder — about 45 miles northeast of Atlanta, described what they saw and heard amid the shooting incident.
Related video above: GBI director says Georgia shooting victims included 2 students and 2 teachers
'This is not a drill'
A student, who did not give her name, told CNN affiliate WANF that she was in her second period class "when everything was happening."
"I can just remember the announcements going on, saying that this is a lockdown, and then police came in there with their guns telling us that this is not a drill," she said.
The student described what she could hear going on in the hallways.
"I heard like the policemen were chasing the person up and down the hallways. You can hear the shooting but from afar," she said, later adding, "Then, after sitting in the classroom for like 10 minutes straight, that's when we can evacuate and move out of the school."
Talking with CNN, the same student said she was scared as the events unfolded.
"I feel, I mean, I'm good that I'm safe now, but I did feel scared. I was definitely shaking and I was — emotions were high," she said.
'The noise kept getting louder'
Another student, whose name was not provided, told CNN she could hear shouting in the hallways, but at first, she wasn't sure what was happening.
"I heard screaming and everything," she said. "At first, I thought it was like someone just like playing around in the hallways or something. I thought it was like someone just yelling or something. So I didn't think much of it."
As the noises from the hallway got louder, it became clear to the student that a shooting incident was occurring.
"The noise kept getting louder and louder, and I was like, 'No, no guys' — like I told everybody 'Get down, get down,' because just like, you don't joke around with that, you know," she said.
She also described how she tried to comfort her classmates and a teacher.
'It was scary'
Another student, whose name wasn't provided, told WANF that he was in a classroom and could hear screaming. He told a reporter that eventually, police came into the classroom — bearing guns and flashlights — and escorted the people out of the building.
Asked by a reporter to describe what the experience was like, the student said his heart was racing and that he wanted to call his mom.
"Like, I don't know, it was just really, it was scary," he said. "Like, my heart was kind of racing. I didn't even have my phone or anything. So, like, I couldn't talk to my mom. I was just, I was just kind of scared."
He said he felt "lucky" to have made it out of the school uninjured and said he had been hearing gruesome stories from others who were in the school and witnessed the shooting.
'What is happening?'
Another student, whose name wasn't given, said she was "scared out of my mind" as the shooting event unfolded.
"I hear the gunshots, and then everyone ducks on dust, and the teacher is like flipping tables and stuff and barricading the door," the student said. "So, I was just scared out of my mind. I was like, what is happening?'"
The student said she reached out to her mom and others once she was able to do so.
"I was like, 'Whoa,' and then I pulled out my phone. I texted my mom first and then like a couple of my friends see if they're OK," the student said.
'I was scared I was going to die'
Another student told CNN it didn't take long for her to realize a school shooting incident was unfolding.
“I was scared I was going to die, to be honest. When I heard hard lockdown, I knew it wasn’t a drill," she said.
'I prayed'
Like other students, the girl, whose name wasn't given, used her phone to contact a parent.
"I immediately texted my dad and I was just like, 'I don’t know if this is a drill. I’m really scared,'" she said.
As she listened to the gunfire, the student did her best to stay calm, finding strength in prayer.
"I just kept my feet up and I prayed. I closed my eyes and tried to stay calm. I was shaking. I was worried they would hear me. When I heard gunshots, I was just – I knew," she said.
Senior student texts his mom, says 'I'm scared' and 'I love you'
Erin Clark was at work Wednesday morning when she got a series of text messages from her son, a senior, who was attending class at Apalachee High School.
“School shooting.”
“I’m scared,” he wrote.
“pls” “i’m not joking,” the flurry of messages said.
“I’m leaving work,” Clark replied. “I love you,” her son, Ethan Haney, 17, wrote back.
“Love you too baby,” his mom texted before racing to the high school.
Related video below: Students form prayer circle on football field after Georgia school shooting
Clark told CNN her son heard eight or nine gunshots before he closed his classroom door and, with the help of another classmate, moved chairs and tables to block the door.
Clark told CNN she was “absolutely terrified” when she read her son’s messages. “Just kept praying he’d stay safe,” she said. She said she was “in complete shock that this was actually happening.”
CNN contributed to this report.