One student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. said Saturday that if willing teachers were allowed to have firearms on campus, it could increase students' safety and help counter potential attacks like the one that left 17 dead last week.
Colton Haab of the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) told the hosts of "Fox and Friends Saturday" that assistant football coach and security guard Aaron Feis could have fired back when he responded to the shooting. But he did not have his gun, so his bravery in running toward the gunfire to help students also made him defenseless, and he died shielding students with his body.
"If Coach Feis had had his firearm in school that day, I believe that he could’ve most likely stopped the threat," Haab said.
Haab noted that he’s not necessarily against all gun control, but he emphasized that the use of firearms by trained teachers would improve schools’ safety.
"I believe that if we did bring firearms on campus—to teachers that are willing to carry their firearm on school campus, if they got their correct training for it—I think that would be a big beneficial factor into school safety," he said.
Haab described how Feis drove in the direction of the shooting to try to help students who were in danger.
"As I was listening to the gunshots fired, I looked to my left to see if I could see the shooter possibly, and I did see Coach Feis on his golf cart heading towards the freshman building," he said.
Haab was one of many JROTC students who holed up in a classroom behind a Kevlar sheet and tables. He went on to describe how the students attempted to arm themselves and prepared to face the shooter in the event he found them.
"Once we had the kevlar sheets in place, we grabbed the two-by-fours and the fire extinguisher," he said, describing how he and other JROTC students planned to spray the shooter and strike him if he entered.
The shooter did not end up attacking that classroom, as investigators believe he dropped his gun and left the school after shooting 32 people and killing 17.