What happened on the morning of October 24th, 2014 was a terrible tragedy, and makes everyone think of the four victims who lost their lives on that horrible day, along with the numerous people at Marysville Pilchuck whose lives had been changed forever.

Not only did that day affect the Marysville community, but it had a lasting effect on the EvCC community.

EvCC freshman Sam Alling attended MPHS, last year as a senior and was at the school during the tragic shooting. She described the morning as routine and that everything seemed normal as usual.

Alling went to 5th period to start working on a project, when the fire alarm started to ring throughout  the school. Alling and her friend looked at each other with confused looks, because they knew that the school did not plan a fire drill. So, they both started walking out of the classroom and down the hall.

When the teachers started frantically telling all students in the hallway to get back into their rooms, they knew it was not a fire drill. Without knowing what was going on, the teachers kept harboring students who were running into their classrooms with horrified looks on their faces. All of a sudden, a girl ran into the room crying and screaming, “he shot her and now she is dead.”

That was the moment when everything started to hit home and made other students start to worry. Police began to show up and started to calmly exit students with their hands up. Buses were at the back of MPHS where students were loaded on and taken down the road to a church, which Alling described as “chaotic.” The scene at the church was covered by local and national news agencies as it housed bus loads of students from MPHS.

Alling was never more relieved than the sight of her friend, at the church. “I got the most incredible hug from my friend that I have never had before.” Sam also had a sister that attended MPHS that day and was glad to learn the rest of her family was fine.

Kirsten Lindblom, 17, is a full-time Running Start student at EvCC, she was also an MPHS student and was at the school on the day of the shooting. Like Alling, Lindblom wasn’t in the cafeteria at the time of the event. Lindblom was in the ROTC room about to go get lunch with friends, when students started running into rooms and fire alarms were triggered.

Lindblom found out about the shooting while locked in a room. “You see these types of things on the news, but it doesn’t hit you until a shooting happens at your school,” she said.

Everyone was loaded up on buses, and someone had to check the students out before they could leave. Lindblom was picked up by her grandma, who was very emotional at the time. Lindblom said her dad was very calm about the whole process, and let the rest of the family know she was fine. By the end of the day Lindblom said “I just wanted to get out of there.”

Something that resonated with Lindblom was that there are seven different schools in the Marysville district, and all of them banded together in support. “The rivalries between schools were set aside, and everyone came together as a community.” Many people tied red ribbons all over Marysville in support of the victims who lost their lives.

There were visits from Montel Williams, a TV personality, who traveled to the school to show his sympathy and support. The Seattle Seahawks visited MPHS and honored the school during a game between the Seahawks and Raiders by wearing red ribbons on their helmets throughout the game.

We are called to move on from this event, and while many people have started to, Alling will never forget the innocent lives affected that day at MPHS. “It will never leave my mind, I will always remember that day.”