The Downlow

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austin, texas, United States
aspiring writer, English and journalism student, hails from Texas. likes include writing, coffee, books, whisky and people.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

by loving you more.

This morning there was shooting at the biggest library on campus, right down the street from my dorm.
I woke up late for my 8 am, so I decided to go to the newsroom instead because I had work. I figured I would be late to class either way but I could make it to my job on time so I might as well. I was at the bus stop right by the library waiting to catch one to the communications building when a guy ran up and started waving his arms at me, so I took my ear phones out. All he said was that there was a shooter in PCL and I had to move. Me and this asian kid backed up about ten feet and stared at the building for like three minutes, and all I could say was, ohmygod, is he shitting us? Until a lady came out and told us someone was shooting off a gun and to move. Then I figured he wasn't shitting us.
I was in the newsroom all morning watching things unfold. There were a hundred things no one could confirm, and several that could be confirmed but were, in fact, not true. In the end it turned out the shooter was a nineteen year old math major with an AK 47. He killed himself, and no one else was hurt, thank God. 


Today was weird. Police cars, helicopters, news vans and swat tanks lined the streets I walk to class on every day. The school was on lockdown, campus was closed, classes were canceled, I had to basically walk around the whole perimeter to get back to my dorm and when I got there I crashed and took a six and a half hour nap. The thing is that the whole time, while everything was going down, I just kept thinking about how if I had woken up on time and gone to my 8 am, I would've been in the building adjacent to PCL, the library where the shootings occurred. Kids who were late to the lecture heard the gunshots, and there were rumors that the gunman spent some time right outside the door. Why did I oversleep this morning? It's only happened once before.
I guess it's just a little strange, or maybe unsettling is a better word. Last night, before the campus settled down to sleep, no one could have known. I'm just glad everyone is okay.

1 comment:

  1. I know exactly what you mean. On Tuesday I decided to sleep later, and head to my 9:00 appointment around 8:30 instead of leaving at 8:20. Also, I would have headed to the PCL to drop off two letters in the drop box. I would have been there, outside the PCL at 8:25ish. I really don't like sleeping in, but I had a strange urge to get a few more minutes of sleep.

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