WINDER, Ga. — Countless students have told their frightening first-hand accounts of the terrifying moments an active shooter opened fire inside Apalachee High School, which is located outside of Winder.
But one student said she sat directly next to the suspected gunman in algebra class, 14-year-old Colt Gray, a student at the high school.
Lila, who is 16 years old, said she was elbow-to-elbow with Gray before shots rang out inside the hallways of the school. In an interview with CNN's Isabel Rosales, she described the moments her classmate allegedly began shooting, which killed two students and two teachers and left nine injured at the hospital.
"I just remember the moment it happened; he (Gray) was at the door," the student said. "I knew they were looking for him already, but he was at the door, and they almost let him in until they backed up and he turned away, and that's when you hear the first rounds of fire."
The 16-year-old student said that she believed Gray wanted to come into her classroom first, where he was a student, but the doors were locked because they lock automatically when they close.
A student went to open that door for Gray, but Lila said that she stopped -- a decision that very well could have saved many lives.
"She backed away. I think she saw him, or maybe somebody said something, but I'm pretty sure she saw that he had a gun, and she backed away," she said.
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Photos | Mass shooting scene at Apalachee High School
After they realized the student had a gun, Lila said that's when the frightening sounds of gunshots started.
"He turns to the classroom of what would've been my right, and he just starts to shoot," she said. "And you hear like 10 to 15 rounds back-to-back. As soon as they didn't let him in . . . and you hear the gunshots, you kind of, like, know."
Lila said she never saw the gun from the student but described the scary moments when she sprang into action when the gunfire went off.
"When we heard it, most of the people dropped to the floor and kind of crawled in an area and piled on top of each other . . . the teacher turned off the lights, but we all just kind of piled together," she said. "I pushed desks in front of us. I was just telling people, 'Push desks in front of you. Block in front of you. Get low.'"
Lila said that if she could ask the accused shooter one question, it would be to ask him why.