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GREAT MILLS, Md. - The 911 calls made from inside Great Mills High School during a shooting that left one student dead and another injured describes the chaotic scene after one of the wounded victims took shelter in a classroom following the gunfire.
One of the three 911 calls released by the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office starts off with 14-year-old Desmond Barnes telling the 911 operator, “I was just shot at my school.” A teacher then gets on the line saying that shots were fired inside the school and she and four other students were hiding inside her classroom, which was identified as E01.
As the call was taking place, a staff member can be overheard on the school's PA system urging all students to get into a classroom.
(Listen to the full audio of the 911 calls in the video player above)
After asking how many people were in her classroom, the 911 operator told the teacher to stay inside and lock her classroom. He would end up telling her stay inside multiple times during the call.
The teacher told the dispatcher that Barnes was shot in the leg and bleeding inside her classroom.
“He’s lying on the floor, he’s in pain,” the teacher described.
More than eight minutes into the call, the teacher puts Barnes on the line with the 911 operator.
911 operator: “Desmond?”
Barnes: “Yes sir.”
911 operator: “I need you stay calm. We have help coming to you, okay?”
Barnes: “Yes sir.”
911 operator: “Where is your injury?”
Barnes: “In the back of my thigh.”
911 operator: “In the back of your thigh? Which side? Right or left?
Barnes: "Right."
Barnes said his leg is burning and later told the operator, “My knee hurts so bad.” The operator responded by saying, “We’re getting help to you Desmond, okay? You need to stay strong with me buddy.”
The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office said 17-year-old Austin Rollins shot Barnes and 16-year-old Jaelynn Willey in a school hallway on the morning of March 20.
Another 911 caller told a dispatcher, "There are shots in the hallway. I don't know if there is a gun, but there is a girl outside the door bleeding on the ground."
Willey, who was shot in the head, died after being taken off life support two days following the tragic shooting.
Barnes was released from the hospital a day after the shooting after suffering non-life-threatening injuries.
Officials said on Monday that Rollins fatally shot himself in the head after being confronted by the school resource officer, Deputy Blaine Gaskill. At the same time when Rollins fired the self-inflicted gunshot, Gaskill fired a shot that struck the gun that was in Rolllins' hand.