RIGBY, Idaho — A math teacher’s compassion is being credited with saving the lives of students and staff during a school shooting in Idaho.
Krista Gneiting first got kids to a safe spot, then checked on a wounded victim, then disarmed and hugged the girl who had opened fire during the May 6 shooting at Rigby Middle School, The Associated Press reported.
Gneiting sat down with ABC News and spoke about that day.
She said she was working on preparing her math students for their finals when she heard gunshots. When she looked from her classroom, she saw the school’s custodian on the ground and then heard two more shots.
“So I just told my students, ‘We are going to leave. We are going to run to the high school. You’re going to run hard. You’re not going to look back and now is the time to get up and go,’” Gneiting told ABC news.
Then Gneiting went to help a wounded student and saw the sixth grader, who was still armed.
She told the student, whose name has not been released, to stay still, then she got closer.
“It was a little girl and my brain couldn’t quite grasp that. I just knew when I saw that gun, I had to get the gun,” Gneiting told ABC News.
The educator pulled the gun from the girl’s hand then held her in a hug.
“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,” Gneiting told ABC News.
They stayed that way until the police arrived.
The girl knew she would have to be put into handcuffs. Gneiting said the officer was gentle and kind with the girl when they arrested her.
Gneiting said the girl just needs help, ABC News reported.
The girl has been charged, but due to Idaho laws, details have not been released because of her age.
Gneiting’s brother-in-law, Layne Gneiting, shared what happened on Facebook, the AP reported. He called her a guardian angel.