Nikolas Cruz allegedly had a face-to-face encounter with a freshman before he unleashed his terror at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday. Chris McKenna says he was spared in the shooting suspect’s deadly rampage when he went to use the bathroom. It was there he saw Cruz loading his gun before anyone knew what was about to happen.
McKenna told the Sun-Sentinel that Nikolas Cruz actually warned him about getting out of harm’s way. In his words, the troubled student gave him a chance to get out before things got “messy.” His encounter with Cruz happened on the second floor of the Florida high school before any alarms were pulled or shots were fired.
“You’d better get out of here,” Cruz said, according to McKenna. “Things are gonna start getting messy.”
The freshman said he froze for a moment before fleeing. Chris McKenna said he ran straight to assistant football coach Aaron Feis, who was unlocking a gate for dismissal. The 15-year-old told Feis that he saw a gun and Feis acted swiftly, telling Chris he was going to “check it out.” McKenna shared that he was still with Feis when he heard the fire alarm go off. Feis drove him to the football field, dropped him off, and went back to the school.
“That’s the last I saw of him,” McKenna said.
Later on, McKenna would find out Feis was one of the 17 killed by the alleged shooter. Three of the student’s classmates were killed and a fourth wounded in the high school shooting.
“I’m in shock,” he said. “That’s the only thing I can feel right now.”
Aaron Feis has been hailed a hero for his bravery in protecting the lives of students during the tragic shooting. Surviving students have detailed his heroic actions with several media outlets, saying he shielded them so they wouldn’t be struck.
Assistant football coach Aaron Feis was killed in the Florida school shooting, according to the school’s football program
He threw himself in front of children who were being shot at by the suspect, acting as a human shield, a communications director said https://t.co/DikP1TDgUj pic.twitter.com/99in9Hud70
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) February 15, 2018
Nikolas Cruz legally purchased the AR-15 rifle used in the massacre, law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.
The orphaned 19-year-old participated in paramilitary drills with a white nationalist group, investigators said. https://t.co/yBpU7q1NBj
— KVIA ABC-7 News (@abc7breaking) February 15, 2018
ABC News reports the various accounts from students who raved about the kind of person he was. He pushed students in a gentle nature to be their best, and as a coach, he was known to talk privately with someone about how they could improve instead of yelling at them if they messed up. In countless ways, he was already a highly respected individual. As one student said, Feis didn’t have to get shot to be a hero because everyone looked up to him.
Nikolas Cruz has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder and is held without bond.
