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'We all thought it was a drill,' Students talk about what they heard during the Mount Tabor High shooting

“I thought today I could have been gone,” freshman Jabray Couthen said.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Students at Mount Tabor High School are recounting the events that unfolded at their school Wednesday afternoon.

“Most of my friends and I kind of looked at each other and thought it was a drill,” said senior Matthew Maynard.

Except it wasn’t, it was real and only the second week of school.

RELATED: "I haven't cried in a long time. I cried today," Forsyth Sheriff Kimbrough asks for prayers for Mount Tabor student’s family after teen shot to death

On Wednesday afternoon, a student opened fire at Mount Tabor High School, shooting and killing William Chavis Renard Miller Jr. It also caused several other area schools to go on lockdown and prompted a several hours-long search for the suspected shooter who was later arrested.

“I heard banging on, like, my classroom door and I was shaking a little bit,” said freshman Jabry Couthen.

Students in one classroom were escorted by law enforcement to the media center at the school where they stayed for the next six hours.

RELATED: Community reacts to Mount Tabor High lockdown after one student shot and killed, accused shooter in custody, officials say

“I’m just sad and amazed that this happened at Tabor, at my school, you never really think that something like this is going to happen at your own school and it does,” Maynard said. “There’s just no words to describe it.”

“I thought today I could have been gone,” said freshman Jabray Couthen.

RELATED: Accused Mount Tabor High School shooter caught after hours-long search, 1 student killed

The suspect was taken into custody and police are still trying to figure out a possible motive for the shooting.  

Mount Tabor High School is going to be closed Thursday. There will be counselors and the WS/FCS Crisis Team will be available at an offsite location for parents, students and staff.

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