CORAL SPRINGS, FLA. (WSVN) - First responders in Coral Springs described their experiences when they responded to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.
At a press conference on Friday morning, Coral Springs Police and Fire Rescue remembered the mass shooting on Feb. 14.
Coral Springs Sgt. Jeff Heinrich has family who attend Stoneman Douglas High and was at the school when shots were fired.
“Luckily, my family is at school,” said Heinrich. “My wife and son go to that school. My wife’s a teacher there. She’s an assistant athletic director.”
Heinrich, after stepping away from the podium for a moment, added: “My son was out on a bathroom pass, and my wife was in [teacher’s] planning inside the girl’s locker room. They both heard the fire alarm and just decided to evacuate. By the grace of God, when they walked into the hallway, they found each other.”
Heinrich was one of the first officers to respond to the school. He was watering the field in a T-shirt and basketball shorts and responded immediately when he heard the gunshots.
“Obviously, I dropped the hose that I was using to water the field and ran towards the parking lot which is where the kids were,” he said.
Coral Springs officer Tim Burton also responded immediately when he got the call.
“I went into rescue mode when things started to settle down,” said Burton. “I rescued a few victims who were shot and could not walk to Pine Island Drive, along with my fellow officers. As you can see, this one’s – you can’t get rid of this one. This one will be with me forever.”
Coral Springs Fire Rescue Lt. Rohan Neita said he transported victims from the scene.
“I actually transported multiple patients in my truck,” said Neita. “We go by the more severely injured, life-threatening injuries go first. We just grab and go.”
Even dispatchers struggled with their response during the shooting. One dispatcher, Julie Vidaud, said she told a student not to perform CPR on another student out of fear the shooter may see her trying to save her friend.
“Was there something I should have done, could have done? That’s normal, I think, but it’s sad. It’s sad because these were kids just like mine,” she said.
Some of the first responders said they have been having trouble sleeping at night. However, they said, Coral Springs Police are holding a debriefing session where they can talk about what happened.
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