HOW CAN THIS BE REAL?
City teenager describes horrors he and his friends endured during mass shooting at Florida school
I have friends who have been killed, I have friends who have been shot. This is a school I go to. Lewis Mizen
A COVENTRY teenager was among those caught up in the horrifying school shooting in Florida.
Lewis Mizen described the horrors that he and his schoolmates endured as gunman Nikolas Cruz entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing 17 people.
Lewis, a former pupil of Heart of England school in Balsall Common, moved from Coventry to Florida three years ago, and the 17-yearold was forced to hide in a cupboard to remain safe from the shooter.
Speaking to BBC Midlands, Lewis described his ordeal. He said: “I have friends who have been killed, I have friends who have been shot, how can this be real? This is a school I go to.
“I’m watching video footage and it is my friends going out with their hands up.
“When you’re getting all these different reports, we’re were getting varying reports that a couple of shots were being fired in the air to 50 injured with five shooters. “You don’t know what you can believe, you don’t know what rumours are true.” Details of the victims killed during the horror spree are slowly emerging, with stories of teachers dying in order to protect their pupils. Assistant American football coach Aaron Feis was fatally injured as he used his body to shield pupils from gunfire. It is believed that the students that were fatally injured were aged between 14-18. The deadliest US school shooting since 2012, 19-yearold Nikolas Cruz entered the building on Valentine’s Day, and opened fire with an AR-15 automatic rifle. Around an hour after the terrifying ordeal, police and swat teams captured Cruz – who is believed to have been a former pupil, several miles away. He has since appeared in court charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder, and according to US court documents, the teenager confessed to entering the building, and shooting at those he saw in the hallways and on school grounds.