People hear about school shootings all the time but when it happens at a school just a couple of miles away from their school’s campus, it tends to hit a little harder. On October 6th, 2021 MISD was hit hard.  Something like this not only affects the staff and parents of Timberview high school, but also the entire community around them. Freshman, Hannah Kuthe, was concerned for her friends at Timberview while everything was happening.

“I have friends at Timberview and I was worried for them and just all the people there because I can’t even imagine what they were going through”, said Kuthe.

Ben Barber students who were supposed to go to their afternoon session stayed in the cafeteria and were held there until the end of the day. Meanwhile the first session of classes were still going. Parents first saw information on the shooting through the news, social media, their kids, and the updates that MISD sent out, which led some parents to pick up their kids. Ben Barber student, junior, Zainab Odunewu, thinks of this incident as a tragic and unforgettable event.

“It’s hardly ever you hear about something so scary like this especially so close to home, I know for me this is something I will tell my future kids and family so I will always remember this”, said Odunewu.

Hearing about a horrific thing like a shooting in a school that’s in your district is scary and with kids being new to the school or even new to the country this can be a very hard incident to cope with. Junior and foreign exchange student, Davide D’antoni was shocked because he didn’t think something like this could happen.

“I was so confused because that was the first time so I didn’t know that it was possible that happen something like this, so I was so scared because so many people thought that the person who has done the shooting could come in our school”, said D’antoni

Many rumors went around that day about the wifi, the shooter traveling school to school, and how many people had been hurt at Timberview. Many students at school feel as if they weren’t safe during the time everything was going on because Lake Ridge was never put on lock down. Senior, Jaliyah Ford, didn’t feel comfortable staying in class not knowing what was going on because her wifi was not connected. 

“I left early because I didn’t feel safe and I wasn’t about to stick around, wait for something bad to happen, thankfully nothing did,” said Ford.

The Mansfield ISD community is friendly and welcoming, but when an event like this takes place it can really switch people’s opinions on the area. Although MISD did make counselors available for students, Sophomore, Dallys Paige, feels more could have been done. 

“I mean, I feel like they kind of just bypassed it and like everything went back to normal,” said Paige.

Although that day left everybody feeling surreal, everyone is thankful that everybody at Timberview is okay and everything has proceeded back to normal. Sophomore, Ana Pacheco, feels for the Timberview students and staff but is mostly thankful that everyone is safe.

“My heart goes out to all the staff members and students at Timberview because I don’t know what I would’ve done if I was in their shoes. That was such a shocking moment but more importantly I’m glad that everyone is safe and okay.”