Students and parents at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School describe a harrowing morning, as children feared for their lives and parents feared for the lives of their children.
"I saw some shots, windows breaking, and I heard, 'All of you are gonna die,'" CVPA student Je’Rya Luster tells the RFT. "He sounded so angry, so aggressive."
Student Jerese Luster says that banging noises and the sounds of windows breaking could be heard throughout the building. Luster and other students say they saw students jumping out of second-floor windows.
"We were terrified for our life," one student said.
"You hear about these school shootings around the world, but you never think it's going to happen here," said Dedra Freeman, a parent of a student.
One CVPA parent with two children enrolled at the school says she looked at her phone to see a text from her son. "My son said, 'Mom I'm about to die, I swear to God.'
Then my other son, his twin brother said, 'Mom, there's an intruder in the school you got to come get us now."
One teacher who asked the RFT not to print their name said that students and teachers knew there was a shooting in progress when they heard "Miles Davis in the building."
"Miles Davis in the building," is code for a school shooting, according to the teacher.
The teacher says students took shelter in their room for approximately 40 minutes.
"Police had to burst into my room because I refused to open the door unless I knew it wasn't the shooter," the teacher said.
Law enforcement has set up a reunification center at nearby Gateway High School.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department has stated that at least seven people were injured in the morning's shooting.