Rigby teacher talks about school shooting
RIGBY, Idaho (ABC News) - The hero teacher who disarmed a sixth-grader after firing a gun in an Idaho school earlier this month is breaking her silence.
Krista Gneiting spoke with ABC News on Tuesday and aired on Good Morning America Wednesday morning.
“It was a little girl and my brain couldn't quite grasp that. And so I looked at her and I just quietly said, Are you the shooter? And she just watched me,” said Krista Gneiting. “And I just walked up to her and I put my hand over her hands. I just slowly pulled the gun out of her hand and she allowed me to, she didn’t fight, she didn't give it to me, but she didn't fight. And then after I got the gun, I just pulled her into a hug because I thought, this little girl has a mom somewhere that doesn't realize she's having a breakdown and she's hurting people.
Krista Gneiting, a middle school math teacher was preparing her students for their final exams when she heard a gunshot from down the hall.
“I got up and I walked to my door and I just looked out and I just saw one person in the hallway one way down, and it was our janitor. And I shut the door and I came back in and then I heard two more shots,” said Krista. “And so I just told my students, we are going to leave, we're going to run to the high school, you're going to run hard. You're not going to look back and know now is the time to get up and go.
Authorities say a sixth grade girl pulled a handgun out of her backpack and started shooting inside Rigby Middle School, she then moved outside where she continued to fire.
“We heard a one gunshot, and then right after we heard another, and we heard multiple kids screaming,” said Lucy, a 6th grade student at Rigby Middle School on the morning of the shooting. “My friends and I were freaking out and we were hiding in the corner of our classroom.”
Three people were injured - two students and a custodian were rushed to the hospital.
“One of the boys just started talking about ‘Ouch I'm shot’ And I just looked at him and I said, Are you shot? And he said, yes,” said Gneiting.
Moments after trying to help the boy, Gneiting looked up and saw a gun.
“I just knew that when I saw that gun and I have to get the gun,” Gneiting said.
Gneiting hugged the girl as she called 911 with her cell phone. While waiting and embracing until police arrived.
“After a while the girl started talking to me and I could tell she was very unhappy. I just kept hugging her and loving her and trying to let her know that we're going to get through this together,” said Gneiting. “I looked at her and I just said, he needs to put you in handcuffs. And she didn't respond. She just let him. And he was very gentle and very kind. And he just went ahead and took her and put her in the police car.”
The girl was going through an apparent crisis, but Gneiting calms her down when she and the students in her school needed it most.
“I do believe that my being there helped her because she calmed down and she was able to just watch me and to stay calm and to let me approach her. So I do know that my calmness. Definitely must have affected her,” said Gneiting.
The Prosecutors office tells ABC News the girl is "still in custody and has been charged."
Gneiting hopes people can forgive her for what she has done.
“She's just barely starting in life and she just needs some help. I mean. Everybody makes mistakes,” said Gneiting. “I think we need to make sure we get her help and get her back into where she loves herself so that she can function in society.”
