Former Fort Gibson students remember 1999 school shooting

FORT GIBSON, Okla. (KTUL) -- It's a day no one in school expects, the day someone walks in with a gun and starts shooting, but it is a day we've seen too many times. Fort Gibson Middle School was a victim of a school shooting nearly 20 years ago.

"All of a sudden, I started hearing what sounded like firecrackers," former student Zach Reynolds said.

It happened outside of the middle school on December 6, 1999.

"Our coach started yelling at us to get inside," Reynolds said.

It is a vivid memory for Reynolds. He was in eighth grade at the time of the shooting.

"We didn't think it would happen here in Fort Gibson but it did," Reynolds said.

Reynolds didn't see his younger classmate, Seth Trickey firing his gun, but the chaos surrounding sent him running.

"We knew something was wrong and by the look on everyone's faces running we could tell something happened," Reynolds said.

"I remember being scared," former student Lauren Lambeth said. "I remember having nightmares."

In fifth grade at the time, Lambeth showed up for school only to be shoved back into the car.

"A teacher ran up, and he was like smashing my foot trying to close the door and saying, 'Get out of here, get out of here,'" Lambeth said.

It is a nightmare Lambeth still lives with today.

"We need more security in schools," Lambeth said. "Especially being a mom now, he's only a year-and-a-half and I am terrified to send my kid to school already." She wants action.

"I think that if we have teachers that have proper training, I definitely think they should be able to carry at school in case this happens," Lambeth said.

Trickey was released from the juvenile center many years ago, but the terror of that day and so many other days like it, live on forever.

"Every time this happens, I go back to being in eighth grade and getting a feeling in my stomach," Reynolds said.

Former classmates of Fort Gibson say they are praying for all of the families in Florida who are suffering.

Their hope is that one day, this will be a memory and not a recurring nightmare.