PARKLAND, Fla. (NEWS CENTER Maine) - A man from Maine was at the school in Parkland when the shootings happened.
Evan Beals of Wells spends a lot of time in Florida recruiting high school students for the University of New Hampshire. Yesterday his job took him to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Beals was in a gymnasium building at a far end of the school when the shootings happened. He was locked down inside with several other college recruiters.
“You can’t help but just be slightly terrified at that point,” he said.
Beals, like many other people in Broward County, tried to carry on as normally as possible today, but it’s been difficult.
“Walking into a high school this morning, there’s a little extra police presence as you’re driving in and checking in at the high school and you still get the chills, like it’s actually happening,” he said.
When first locked down in the gym, he and the others did not know what was happening. But soon they got information about the shootings over their phones.
“When reality hits and your first instinct is just to leave, just get out, do whatever it is you need to do,” he said.
Instead, Beals says he relied on lockdown training he received in high school and remained in place until told he could move. It was training he never expected he’d have to use.
“It’s always, that's not going to be able to happen to me, it’s too far removed from anyone, any individual situation. But reality set in yesterday afternoon,” he said.
Beals says he never felt he was in any danger and was spared any horrible images by leaving the campus far away from the shooting scene.
“But there are students who have to return to school next week or the week after, walking through those hallways. I think the perspective piece is really big,” he said.
Beals says he’s very grateful for all the support he’s received from family, friends, and co-workers who’ve reached out to check on his well-being. He’s flying home Saturday and says he’s looking forward to hugging family members.