Massachusetts

Two Mass. College Workers Witness Florida School Shooting

Two workers from Nichols College are back at the Dudley, MA campus just a day after they were at the site of yesterday's deadly school shooting in Florida.

"All of a sudden across the loud speaker you hear ‘code red, code red!’" said Nichols College Dean of Admissions Paul Brower.

Locked down inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, two Massachusetts college recruiters quickly knew something was very wrong.

"One of the students we were meeting with said, 'it sounded like they’re really concerned, I don’t think this is a drill,'"said Brown

It wasn’t a drill.

A former student had opened fire inside the Parkland, Florida school where Nichols College Dean of Admissions Paul Brower and assistant football coach St. Clair Ryan were meeting with potential football recruits.

Nichols College President Susan Engelkemeyer said, "It’s scary and it's devastating to think that there are plenty of families in terrible grief today but we could have lost one of our own."

Back in Dudley, Engelkemeyer wiped away tears, thinking of what could have happened.

Engelkmeyer was in a meeting when Brower texted a co-worker.

"'I’m in Florida in a lockdown situation,' at that time he didn’t know much more than that," said Engelkmeyer.

Nichols students who know Brower well were stunned.

Sophomore Maxell Karger who plays for Brower on the tennis team said, "I texted him after, like I hope you’re okay, like thank God you’re okay, that is so scary."

Senior Nick Quadrato, who has known Brower since he got to Nichols, said, "I know that the football coach lost his life so the fact that they probably were interacting that same day, is extremely sad."

As Brower’s cell phone video shows, an FBI agent led him and Ryan to safety.

But he's still haunted by the fact that they believe they saw the shooter just outside the classroom window where they were hiding.

Brower said, "He was just trying to blend in and you could tell he was moving to get in a crowd and trying to get out of there with some of the students who were fleeing."

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