OTTAWA HILLS, Ohio — Friday morning at the Ottawa Hills school district quickly turned into a terrifying situation for students, staff and parents as the high school and elementary school were placed on lockdown after a swatting call to 911 reported a person inside of the high school with a gun.
Brother and sister Ali and Zara Sedique, students at Ottawa Hills High School, were completely unaware of why it was happening. But they were quickly enveloped in the fear of the situation.
"There was an announcement that said to just go into a class," Zara, a 10th-grade student, said. "We just thought it was a joke or a drill, but then a teacher started screaming at us to go into class."
As the siblings were rushed into different classrooms, the scene continued to escalate around them.
"Our teacher saw cops with guns outside and told us to get in the corner, turned the lights off and we just waited there," Ali, an 11th-grade student, said.
As they sat in the darkness of their respective classrooms, unsure of what was going on outside, Zara couldn't stop thinking about her family.
"I was just trying to get a hold of my brother the entire time," she said. "I had no idea what going on, I was just texting my mom and my dad."
Minutes that felt like hours passed by before someone finally came to the door and said it was time to go. Then, Ali and Zara were part of a group of students who were moved to the football stadium, then the elementary school gym, as the chaos continued around them.
"A very organized procedure to get us out, but a lot of confusion though," Ali said. "You see a swat team and cops with big guns, you don't know what was going on."
As they walked together, students whispered rumors and theories about what was going on, but Ali said it was frustrating not having any definitive answers.
"We don't really know the real story. It was a lot of confusion, a lot of chaos," he said.
When the siblings were later picked up by their parents, they felt they could breathe again.
"It was so reassuring and such a relief just knowing we were safe now," Zara said.
Both Ali and Zara said they are hesitant to return to school on Tuesday.
"I'll be a little nervous, obviously, and I think a lot of people will be nervous," Ali said. "But I trust our school will take the precautions to enhance the number of cops and security that's there. So I think we can be a little less worried and reassured that when we're going back, there will be enhanced precautions and we'll be more safely protected going back."