As a deadly shooting took place on Brown University’s campus on Saturday, leaving two people dead and nine injured, the incident was unnervingly reminiscent for at least two students.
In 2018, Zoe Weissman was a student at Westglades Middle School in Parkland, Florida, across the street from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 people were killed in a mass shooting on Valentine’s Day and 18 were injured.
On Saturday, Weissman, 20, was in her dormitory room when a friend called her to tell her about the shooting.
“I was first panicked, because fight or flight, I just want to make sure I was physically safe and then I messaged all my friends. They messaged me. We all made sure that we were all okay,” she told ABC News’ “Good Morning America Weekend.”
“And then I just kind of felt the same cycle of emotions I felt when I was 12 in Parkland … just the numbness and I’m sure the sadness will come once we figure out who we lost as a community,” she added.
Weissman said she is upset that she is facing a second school shooting.
“I’m just very angry. I think I’m angry that I’ve had to go through this more than once, that now my classmates and my friends also have this experience in common with me,” she said.
Weissman said she has post-traumatic stress disorder following the Parkland school shooting, and many of her friends have reached out to make sure she is okay.
She added that she was already in therapy when the Parkland shooting happened, so she was able to get the resources she needed to help her cope.
“This time around, it will be a little different in the sense that not only am I eight years older and more mature, but also I know how to cope with the emotions and trauma that I’m going to be feeling,” Weissman said. “But, at the same time, I also think there’s going to be a lot of anger in the sense that I have to go through this all over again.”
Mia Tretta has also survived a previous school shooting. She was a freshman when she was shot in the abdomen in 2019 during a mass shooting at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California. Two students were killed and Tretta was one of three injured.
“Never in my mind would it occur that there was actually a shooting until hundreds of texts started rolling in from everyone,” Tretta, now a junior at Brown University, told local ABC News affiliate WMUR about the incident on Saturday.
Tretta told WMUR she still struggles with physical problems after the 2019 shooting.
However, she noted that the gunman in 2019 was identified immediately, compared to the shooter at Brown University.
According to police, the Brown University gunman fled the campus. A person of interest was detained and then released by police on Sunday.
No charges have been filed yet in the case, and police have not commented on a possible motive.
“When I was shot at my school, they knew exactly where the shooter was within the hour,” Tretta said. “I didn’t have to deal with this fear for hours on end, of where this person is, could they be doing it again?”
The tragedy began unfolding around 4:05 p.m. ET when police received a call from Brown University about an active shooter incident near the engineering building. The university alerted students and faculty to shelter in place shortly after.
Brown University President Christina H. Paxson released a letter after the shooting, saying, “This is a deeply tragic day for Brown, our families and our local community.”
“There are truly no words that can express the deep sorrow we are feeling for the victims of the shooting that took place today at the Barus & Holley engineering and physics building.”
