HYDERABAD: Realising in a split second that there was a shooter on campus, a 45-year-old teacher from Andhra Pradesh, showing presence of mind, rushed his students to safety in Tanglewood Middle School in South California, US, on March 31. A 12-year-old student, who had brought a weapon to the school, shot another student (12) dead, sending shock waves across the state.
"When I heard the sound, I knew I had to act promptly. This was not going to be a drill but something that was happening for real," teacher Koneru Sridhar told TOI over the phone. "I feel sorry for the boy's family," Sridhar said.
A native of Machilipatnam, Sridhar had gone to the US five years ago. For the past three years, he has been working at this school as a mathematics teacher. The 12-year-old, Jamari Cortez Bonaparte Jackson, who was killed in the shooting, was Sridhar's student but was not with him at the time of the attack.
It was during the changeover of classes that the shooting took place, reportedly around 12.30pm. The student who aimed his trigger at Jackson was also in the seventh grade but was not a student of Sridhar.
Quickly rushing more than 20 students into a classroom, Sridhar blocked the door with benches so that the assailant would not be able to get in. At the time of the shooting, everyone realised that a shot had been fired and came to know about the identities only later.
"We were taken aback when we heard that the shooting incident had taken place in the school where our friend was working. We got in touch with him to know about his safety," Pavan Kumar, a friend of Sridhar who lives in Hyderabad, said.
All the staff of the school regularly follow what is known as the "lockdown drill" to be able to react swiftly in case of an emergency situation like the one that happened on the school campus.
Like Sridhar, several other teachers also rushed more than 150 students into the classrooms from the hallway. They were all moved to safety after the police who arrived there assessed the situation.
On April 1, the school gave an optional holiday, but Sridhar decided to go to the school. "This is to show moral support to my school and the authorities," Sridhar said.
Greenville county sheriff's office said the shooter had been taken into custody. "While the motive for the shooting and how the suspect was able to get possession of a firearm is still under investigation, we can confirm that the victim and suspect were familiar with each other and we are confident the incident is an isolated one. No other students were injured in the incident," said Sheriff Lewis.
