Student shares her experience as she escaped from Monday’s deadly school shooting

By Shoshana Stahl

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    ST. LOUIS, Missouri (KMOV) — More stories of fear are emerging more than 24 hours after the school shooting at Central VPA.

Junior Giselle Vaughn says she was trying to leave her classroom to go to the bathroom moments before the shooting.

Her mom Shawntay says the fact Giselle wasn’t in the hallway during that time is a blessing.

“You never like never wanna hear your child say ‘I don’t wanna die’ like the thought that that’s even running through her head that that’s a possibility,” Shawntay says. “Not at her age. That’s not something that should be on her plate.”

Giselle tells News 4 she thought Monday’s alarm was just a drill. The only word she could use to describe it now is traumatizing.

Giselle says as she heard gunshots throughout the hall, classmates were hugging, holding hands and praying. At that moment, Giselle called her mom thinking it could be the last time they ever spoke.

“After the first gunshot, we were all kind of like ‘Oh no they’re just dropping books’ or ‘they’re just hitting something,’” Giselle says. “Then we heard boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. We were all sitting there and we were just like ‘what is going on.’ I called my mom and I was crying. I was really trying to stay calm and I called her and thank God she answered. I was like, ‘mom there’s a shooter in the school. I love you. I don’t know where he is.’”

Shwantay is thanking God she was near her phone when she got that devastating call. As she sped towards Central VPA Monday morning, Shawntay says she prayed.

“Moments later after I prayed that prayer, her classroom was evacuated,” Shawntay says. “I definitely thank god. I heard the gunshots on the phone with my baby. I heard the shooter trying to get into her classroom. I heard the other kids screaming in the classroom terrified. That’s not something you wanna hear.”

Central VPA’s staff and fellow students feel like family to Giselle. During this time, she’s leaning on her friends and peers.

“We are just kids,” Giselle says. “I literally just had a birthday on October 7 so seeing that somebody younger than me just lost their life to gun violence once again, that actually hit close to home. All I was thinking was that it could have been me. It could have been me.”

Giselle tells New 4 that coming back to Central VPA in the future will be a challenge. However, this is her school and where her friends are. Giselle says no matter how hard, she will return to Central VPA.

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