A Florida State University student used chewing gum to stick paper on classroom windows during a mass shooting on Thursday, helping hide students from the gunman.
Jeffrey LaFray, one of the students present during the attack, shared the terrifying experience with Good Morning America, explaining that as gunshots rang out nearby, he and his classmates worked quickly to shield themselves inside the classroom.
LaFray said their teacher suggested covering the windows to block the shooter’s view, but there was no tape available. That’s when the students started chewing gum and used it as adhesive to stick the paper on the windows.
Recalling the moment, LaFray said, “The teacher was asking if any of us had tape to tape up some paper. And no one had tape, and so some of us, we just got out our gum and started chewing so we could stick some paper to the windows.”
The shooting took place near the university’s campus and was allegedly carried out by 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, who is the stepson of a local deputy sheriff. Ikner reportedly used his stepmother’s former service weapon in the attack.
A student pretended to be dead to survive
Another student, Madison Askins, a 23-year-old FSU graduate, described how she survived by pretending to be dead. She was walking with a friend near a union building when she was shot in the buttocks.
“I fell to the ground, kept my eyes shut, and played dead. I released all the muscles in my body, closed my eyes, and held my breath. And I would take short breaths in between when I needed to,” she told ABC News.
Askins said her hope was to avoid further attention from the shooter. “I know for certain if I was moving, he would’ve shot me again,” she said. She added that many students scattered in different directions when the gunman paused to reload, shouting, “Keep running.”
Casualties and aftermath
Two people were killed and five others injured in the mass shooting. The suspect, Ikner, is currently hospitalized after being shot by police during the incident.
