ATLANTA — The mood on Clark Atlanta University's campus on Saturday was different from the chaotic scene on Tuesday night where students ran for their lives after shots were fired.
"Everything is kind of dying down now, I don't necessarily hear a lot about it," Derrick Daniels said. "Everybody's kind of joking with me now like, 'Oh, you're the hero. Let me see your shirt.' Just being silly. Just making light of a negative situation and making it into a positive."
Daniels is a sophomore early childhood education major at Clark Atlanta. He's also the young man recognized in a later from the university for saving the life of another student, Maia Williams-McClaren.
"She was a trooper, though," he said. "She wasn't overreacting like I probably would have."
Derrick said he was at the block party Tuesday night and left to check on his friends but came back.
"People were shot and I saw one of the young ladies that had been shot," he said. "I mean, I did what I had to do. I felt bad that she had been shot, so I took off my shirt and compressed it to her leg."
In light of the shooting, the school announced changes in security. Now, public safety employees will work 12-hour shifts to make sure the campus is covered around the clock.
Members of the executive team along with the chief of police will also be reviewing precautionary measures. The campus is also hosting a series of "conversations with the president" for freshmen to discuss safety and security issues.
There was already a larger police presence on the campus when 11Alive interviewed Derrick.
"Sometimes it's not in our control," he said. "I mean, there were a lot of people out there. There was a police presence and there was campus security presence. but it's just a lot of people."
"You don't think these things would necessarily happen at a school," he added.