British teenager locked in cupboard during Florida school shooting
The teenager said 20 pupils were kept in a closet during the massacre.
A British teenager who was caught up in the Florida high school shooting which claimed the lives of 17 fellow pupils has spoken of how he was locked in a cupboard during the rampage.
Lewis Mizen, 17, is originally from Coventry and now studies at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where Wednesday’s shooting took place.
Suspect Nikolas Cruz, described as a troubled teenager by investigators, opened fire with an AR-15 rifle after setting off a fire alarm.
“We all thought it was a drill … when we first got back into the classroom, we all hid under the desks and were checking out phones and texting our friends asking them what was going on because it seemed strange to have two drills in one day.
“Then when we got confirmation that there was a situation, our teacher moved us into the closet. There was maybe 20 of us crammed in a closet and we were in there for one-and-a-half hours before the Army Reserves came to get us out.”
“Seventeen people have lost their live, 17 bright futures, but it’s his name that is in the papers, it’s his name everyone is talking about and that’s the saddest part because he doesn’t deserve any of it.”
He added: “I think our confusion here – which I think is shared by the majority of Americans is that ok, if they need a handgun to protect whatever, then ok, if that’s in their constitution, I understand.
“But nobody would agree that someone buying an assault weapon, a weapon of war, let alone a disturbed 19-year-old… no-one can explain to me how that makes sense at all.”
