Amid all of the tragic news, there are heroes. Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School math teacher Shanthi Viswanathan told her students to hide in a corner during the February 14 shooting.
She covered the classroom window with paper and locked the door.
According to a parent of one of her students, she refused to let even the SWAT team in, saying "Knock it down or open it with a key. I'm not opening the door."
Her heroic actions saved her students' lives.
Shanthi Viswanathan knew something was wrong when the second fire alarm of the day went off.
A math teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School known as "Mrs. V," she was teaching Algebra II when a gunman entered the school and began firing on February 14 in an attack that killed 17 people and injured 15.
But a parent of one of Viswanathan's students told The Sun Sentinel that she did everything she could to make sure that her classroom remained safe. She told the students to hide in a corner, locked the door, and covered the window with paper so that the shooter couldn't see in.
"She was quick on her feet. She used her knowledge. She saved a lot of kids," Dawn Jarboe, whose son Brian was in her class, told The Sentinel.
When a SWAT team arrived to clear the room, she still wasn't taking any chances.
"She said, 'Knock it down or open it with a key. I'm not opening the door,'" Jarboe said.
"Mrs. V" is among many heroes who saved lives during the shooting. Others include Scott Beigel, a geography teacher who was killed while protecting students, and Colton Haab, a 17-year-old student who saved up to 70 lives by ushering people into a classroom and using bulletproof Kevlar sheets to secure their hiding place.
WhovianMomma21 on February 17th, 2018 at 04:08 UTC »
When my high school was undergoing a security overhaul in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting every teacher had to go over a safety plan with their classes. The only one I remember was the one from my band director which went something like this: "If a shooter is ever here the first thing you all should do is get into the uniform closet or my office and lock the door. NEVER open the door for ANYONE, I don't care who they say they are, I don't even care if they slide a badge under the door, do not open the door. If they are really law enforcement they will be able to get access to the keys to open the doors themselves. Stay safe. (Assistant band director) and I will do ANYTHING to keep you guys safe, even if it means running naked down the hallway to lead someone away from you guys." (That last part was obviously met with some laughter from 8th-12th graders)
MyDogLikesTottenham on February 17th, 2018 at 02:17 UTC »
First I've heard of this, they have kevlar just lying around classrooms these days?
LennonForPresident on February 17th, 2018 at 02:03 UTC »
This whole thing is unbearably tragic, I can’t even imagine what it would be like to go through something like that. Glad they are safe. So sad.