A 17-year-old Florida high school student has retold his heroic actions after covering as many as 70 fellow pupils with Kevlar sheets during Wednesday’s shooting.
After hearing seven shots, Colton Haab used his Reserve Officers’ Training Corps skills, a program to train college students to become officers in the U.S. armed forces, to ensure the loss of life stayed at a minimum.
When he had managed to get the student from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School into a Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) room, he realised the Kevlar sheets used in the marksmanship program could be put to good use.
Recalling the fateful event, Haab said his first thoughts were: ‘Where is my brother? What’s going on and how do I get as many people as safe as possible as quickly as possible?’
Colton Haab used his Reserve Officers’ Training Corps skills, a program to train college students to become officers in the U.S. armed forces, to ensure the loss of life stayed at a minimum
He said: ‘We took those sheets, and we put them in front of everybody so they weren’t seen, because they were behind a solid object and the Kevlar would slow the bullet down.
‘I didn’t think it was going to stop it, but it would definitely slow it down to make it from a catastrophic to a lifesaving thing.’
Haab said he was able to get in contact with his brother, who was also in the school, and learned he was safe. He then called a retired police officer friend who coached him through the ordeal.
They rolled out several Kevlar sheets, which are made from a similar material to bulletproof vests, and waited.
Thankfully the gunman did not enter the room, although Haab and his friend said they had a plan to attack him after they armed themselves with a fire extinguisher and a two by four should he do so.
Haab told CNN: ‘I was a little scared. I was more worried about getting home safe, making sure everybody got home safe.
‘God forbid, if he did come into the classroom. I didn’t want that to happen, but if it did, I would try to stop him with another friend of mine that was with us.’
Despite his heroics, Haab said he wishes he was able to do more after he revealed a friend’s sister, Alaina Petty, 41, was killed in the shooting.
He said: ‘Honestly, I wish I could have saved more people. I wish we could have gotten more people in the classroom.’
Despite his heroics, Haab said he wishes he was able to do more after he revealed a friend’s sister, Alaina Petty, 41, was killed in the shooting. Habb (left) speaking to ABC News