A high school student watched her best friend die Wednesday afternoon when the Florida school shooter entered her classroom just moments after the young woman had given her a piece of advice which ultimately saved her life.
Samantha Grady had just pulled out her cell phone to show her best friend something during their Holocaust Class when they heard two shots ring out in the hallway in front of their classroom in Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
Within minutes the gunman, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, approached their classroom and shot her friend, who was one of at least 17 people killed in the high school massacre.
Grady, who is a junior, managed to escape the classroom with just minor wounds after she said her friend pressed on her back said ‘Sam’ in an urgent tone upon hearing the initial two shots, Grady said in an emotional interview on the Today Show Thursday morning.
Samantha Grady, a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, described Wednesday’s shooting on the Today Show. She said her best friend was fatally shot just after giving Grady advice which saved her life
She said after they heard the first two shots ring out, her best friend pushed her and said ‘Sam’ then later told her to hold up a book as she was running out of the school and away from the gunman, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz
This photo provided by the Broward County Jail shows Nikolas Cruz, the teen suspected of killing 17 and injuring more than a dozen in a school shooting on Wednesday in Florida
The teen credited her friend, who she didn’t identify, as helping her survive the ordeal.
She said that just after hearing the first shots her friend pushed Grady and said ‘Sam.’
‘There was a big bookshelf and we all kind of huddled there together,’ Grady told Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb.
‘We all clamped really close tightly together.’
As the class hid behind the bookshelf, a few reached out to push a cabinet in front of them to attempt to keep the shooter away and block some of the bullets.
But then, she said, Cruz ‘came for our classroom.’
She said the door was locked but he shot ‘quite a few bullets into the glass,’ hitting some of the people standing beside and behind her.
Grady said that, unfortunately, her best friend ‘didn’t make it’. She said as she was running out of the school she passed some of the bodies of the people who had been killed in the shooting
Once she was out of the school Grady said she ducked behind a truck and called her parents to assure them she was OK – noting that she didn’t ‘want them to go crazy.’ Pictured are two attendees at a vigil on Thursday, a day after the tragedy
Grady’s friend was just one of seventeen who have so far been confirmed dead. Of those, 14 are students and three are teachers. Pictured are two attendees at a vigil on Thursday, a day after the tragedy
Then, knowing he could get into the classroom, the students started running – but not before Samantha’s friend uttered the words that ultimately saved her best friend’s life.
‘Grab a book, grab a book,’ Grady said her friend told her.
‘It was a tiny book, but I took it and held it up.’
Grady was grazed by a few bullets as she sprinted out of the school, passing the bodies of two of the first people shot as she ran through the hallways.
‘The book kind of deterred some of the bullets, so they didn’t hit me so badly,’ she explained.
But as for her friend, ‘unfortunately, she didn’t make it,’ she said, struggling to contain her tears.
‘She was the one who gave me the idea. She helped me a lot,’ Grady said.
Once she was out of the school Grady said she ducked behind a truck and called her parents to assure them she was OK – noting that she didn’t ‘want them to go crazy.’
Then she walked over to an ambulance so she could be taken to the hospital for her wounds, where she eventually met her parents.
A cowering Nikolas Cruz (center, in orange) was ordered held without bond during his first court appearance on Thursday, where he was officially charges with 17 counts of premeditated murder.
Cruz was dressed in a hospital uniform as he was seen leaving the Broward County Sheriff’s Office early Thursday morning
The gunman, Cruz, appeared in court for the first time at 2pm to be arraigned on 17 counts of premeditated murder – charges that carry the possibility of the death penalty.
He wore an orange jumpsuit, and had both his hands and ankles shackled. As he took the podium to speak to the judge over livestream video from the Broward County jail, a handful of sheriff’s deputies and prison officials gathered around.
Standing next to him was his female attorney, who comforted him by putting a hand around his shoulder.
Prosecutors asked that Cruz be held without bond, and Cruz’s attorney did not fight them on it. It’s unclear when his next hearing will be, but he has been assigned a judge.
A Broward government official has told DailyMail.com that Cruz is on suicide watch after threatening to kill himself.
PICTURED: Eleven students, geography teacher, coach and athletic director shot dead in Florida high school massacre
Jaime Guttenberg, 14, (left) was described by relatives as a ‘kind-hearted, sweet’ girl. She attended the school with her younger brother who survived and rushed home afterwards. Senior Nicholas Dworet (right) was a gifted swimmer who had his sights set on 2020 Tokyo Olympics success. His devastated college student girlfriend is among those grieving his death. Friends said he was not just a talented athlete, but a ‘good guy’ who will be missed
Martin Duque, 14, (left) was missing for hours on Wednesday and his frantic family desperately appealed for him to get in touch on social media. On Thursday, his older brother Miguel confirmed his death. Martin was a freshman. Meadow Pollack, 18, (right) was preparing for college. Her father was at the school on Wednesday and showed her photograph around in the hope that she would be found alive
Cara Loughran (left) was missing on Wednesday afternoon. Her mother Denise and her father rushed to the designated hotel where parents were told to go to be reunited with their children in the hope that she would be found alive. Her grieving neighbor confirmed her death on Thursday. Alyssa Alhadeff, 15, (right) was eulogized by her mother who said she was a talented soccer player and creative mind. ‘All she had to offer the world was love… I just sent her to school and she was shot and killed,’ she said
Luke Hoyer, 15, (left) was described as a ‘precious’ child by his grandparents who confirmed his death. They found out about the shooting on television. They said he was a ‘good kid’ who ‘never got in trouble’. Joaquin Oliver, 17, (right) was also killed. Joaquin was a Venezuelan immigrant who came to the US with his family for a ‘better future’, they said on Thursday
Gina Montalto, 15, (left) was described as a ‘light and joy’. She and Jaime, another victim, volunteered at a local project called The Friendship Initiative where they acted as buddies for children with special needs. Gina’s mother Jennifer shared pleas to find her on social media on Wednesday. Alaina Petty, 14, (right) was also killed. Her Mormon church confirmed her death, saying she was a ‘valiant’ member
Carmen Schentrup, 16, was also killed in the shooting. Carmen was a gifted student who last year was named as a semifinalist in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program. It includes students who score above average in their SATs or National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test
Geography Scott Beigel, 35, (left) was shot dead as he tried to lock the door of his classroom again after letting a group of fleeing students in to hide. They were running away from the gunman. Aaron Feis, 37, (right) died acting as a human shield. The track coach had thrown himself on top of the kids to stop the bullets from hitting him. He was a former student and was also a security guard at the school where he had worked for eight years
thletic director Chris Hixon, 49, (right) was also killed shielding students