Vigil for shooting victim ‘just us staying strong, supporting the family’

The tight-knit West-Liberty Salem community came out tonight to support each other and the victim of this morning’s school shooting.

"It's just us staying strong, supporting the family," said eighth-grader Montgomery Leach, who was among those who attended the prayer vigil at Quest Community Church on South Street in West Liberty.

The vigil was for 16-year-old Logan Cole, who was in critical but stable condition at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus after authorities said he was shot multiple times by a fellow student with a shotgun.

A 17-year-old student also was hit by part of a shot that discharged from the weapon, but that student’s injury was not serious, officials said.

Leach said he was in a different wing of West Liberty-Salem High School as events unfolded.

"We were about two minutes into class and we hear over the (public address) system that there is an active shooter," he said. "We thought it was a drill ... then we heard a few gunshots."

He said his teacher broke out the windows and they got out and ran from the building.

"It was like a movie. It happened so quickly," Leach said.

Some students were screaming, others crying. He was relieved to find out his sister, a senior, was OK.

Parent Bryan Floyd was at work at Honda when he got a call from his wife. She was crying so hard he couldn't understand her at first when she said there was a school shooting.

"Three of our kids are currently going to West Liberty-Salem High School," he said. "I didn't think twice, I informed by bosses I had to leave."

On the way to school he learned his three children -- a senior, sophomore and middle school student -- were safe and accounted for, but initially he feared "absolutely the worst." He came to tonight's vigil to support the community and Cole, who played soccer with his son and is known by his children. "What had happened to the victim could have very well been one of my kids."

Floyd said he heard the school staff did an excellent job to keep students safe, and that the community is sharing details that a school janitor was the first to tackle the shooter.

"More of the staff followed after that and they were able to take him down before the police could arrive, just because everything happened so quickly,” he said.

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