BOISE, ID — Since the Columbine tragedy in 1999, we as a society have become very familiar with the dangers of school shootings. The most recent happened Monday at the University of North Carolina. The same University that former Boise High School student Shiva Rojbhandari just started his freshman year.
Rojbhandari ran Idaho News 6 through his point of view of the tragedy. The student said “I heard sirens, and I thought it was an ambulance just driving by. I saw all these people running up a hill into this building. A friend came over to us and said there was a school shooting and to get inside.”
Rojbhandari explained that he and his classmates were directed into a large stairwell with hundreds of other students. He and his friends started searching their phones for any information or updates on where the shooting occurred. Turns out it was about 600 feet from where the students were sheltering.
That's when, Rojbhandari said, the whole situation became real for him.
They were sheltered in a boiler room for about two hours before a police sergeant guided the students into a lecture hall for another hour. In that time Rojbhandari said, several rumors started swirling about the details of the incident.
Rojbandari wants to urge voters across the country and in Idaho to contact their local government officials to pass gun reform laws to help minimize these types of situations.
Idaho News 6 reached out to senators James Risch and Mike Crapo for their response to Rojbandari's calls for reform.
Since Monday's tragedy, Rojbhandari has helped orchestrate a vigil for the victims as well as a protest to call for gun reform in America.
