UNC Charlotte student on surviving school shooting that killed 2: 'Everyone started sprinting'
A student who survived the shooting that killed two at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte says an "automatic, instinctual, flight" kicked in when gunfire rang out in his classroom.
Jack Seigel, a sophomore computer science major, was in anthropology class on Tuesday when "I heard the shots" and "everyone started sprinting."
"I fell in the doorway and got trampled along with some other people but I was able to pick myself up and get out," he told ABC News. "The people on the other side of the room were not so lucky."
A 19-year-old and a 21-year-old were killed in the shooting. Four more were hurt. School Chancellor Philip Dubois called it "the worst day in the history of UNC Charlotte."
The suspected shooter, 22-year-old Trystan Andrew Terrell, is in custody. Dubois said the suspect is a former student.
Seigel said there were two exits in that classroom and he happened to be sitting by the door furthest from the gunman. Seigel said he "would be dead" if the shooter had been closer to him.
"It's kind of a second chance at life," he said.
"It is very lucky that so few" people were killed, said Seigel, who attributed that to the circumstances and the quick police response.
Seigel stressed that school shootings have "become normal in this country, and for the sake of myself and my peers, I don't want to politicize this, but there's a problem... this is messed up."
