Nine-year-old Odai Shanah was one of dozens of children who witnessed the deadly gunfire at the school. San Diego Islamic Center Monday in the United States. He recalled hearing a series of gunshots coming from outside the complex, which also houses an Islamic day school.
Shana told the news agency Reuters During the interview, he and his classmates were quickly directed into their huddled classroom. They were shaking with fear as 12 to 16 more shots were fired. After the shooting stopped, SWAT team Walk outside the classroom and yell “OK, open the door” and they open the door.
The nine-year-old was escorted out of the building along with his classmates, however, he witnessed a horrifying sight along the way. “We saw a bunch of bad stuff, people lying down, yeah, bad stuff,” Shaner said, appearing to refer to the victims’ bodies.
“My legs were shaking and my hands and head hurt so bad. I felt like a stone,” said Shana, whose mother immigrated from war-torn Gaza and settled in Israel. Southern California decades ago.
He also recalled seeing police force open the door to an adjacent classroom after the shooting stopped while a SWAT team cleared the building room by room.
“They told us to put our hands up and get in a long line,” the nine-year-old said as he watched another group of younger students line up before class to be evacuated first. Officials said the gunman did not enter the mosque and all Bright Horizons students were safe.
Police confirmed that the three men killed in the shooting were connected to the Islamic center, including a security guard who authorities believe helped prevent a more deadly attack. The three victims were shot outside the mosque by two teenage suspects, who later committed suicide a few blocks from the scene.
The shooting is a major blow to Shana’s mother, who fled Gaza for the United States in 2006 as the region witnessed months of fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants. Her father immigrated to the United States from Jordan in 2015.
(With information from Reuters)
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