MONROE, La. (KNOE) – A routine lunch break at Prien Lake Mall on Saturday turned into a traumatic experience for 15 Ouachita Parish High School students after a shooting in the parking lot led to a mall-wide quarantine. The students, members of the school’s band, were in Lake Charles for a festival and had stopped for a break at the mall when gunshots rang out and they were trapped inside for more than 30 minutes.

One of the students shared their experience with our sister station KPLC, explaining how their decision to take photos may have saved them from being outside during the shooting.

“Luckily we stopped to take photos because if we hadn’t we would have been here at the time of the incident,” the student said.

The group became separated during the chaos but immediately sought refuge in nearby stores and hid until it was safe to leave.

As the news of the armed attack spread, parents of the students became aware, and this caused anxiety and fear in many people. Sandra May, whose daughter and grandson were among those at the mall, shared her emotional reaction.

“I started crying because I didn’t know,” May said. “You hear about active shooters in schools, malls, movie theaters and different places that aren’t close to here, but it’s different when it’s your child.”

Ouachita High School Principal Charles Wright acknowledged shock and horror about the incident. Although the school’s current safety protocols focus primarily on on-campus emergencies, Wright said they are considering implementing off-campus safety training to be prepared for unexpected situations like the one at Prien Lake Mall.

“There’s no doubt that this is a lesson for everyone because most of our training is geared towards on-campus events. We’ll probably be looking at putting some procedures in place that we’ll follow,” Wright said during a phone interview.

Principal Wright said he will present a plan to Ouachita Parish School Board officials for an off-campus safety training in the coming weeks.

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