‘It’s crazy.’ Student survived Isla Vista rampage, and now UCLA violence
UCLA students evacuate the campus after a shooting Wednesday.
The routine seemed all too familiar to Jeremy Peschard. The alerts rolled in about an active shooter; buildings were quickly locked to protect the students inside; officers swarmed the campus.
He had seen it all before just two years ago during the shooting rampage in Isla Vista near UCSB.
Peschard, 22, a geography student, was locked in one of the geography offices at UCLA Wednesday morning, where the school was in lockdown after a murder-suicide.
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“It was really tense,” he said. “The difference between here and UCSB is that the mood is really, really tense and there’s more confusion.”
Group text messages filled with rumors didn’t help clear things up, Peschard said. Eventually, everyone in the room watched CNN to get updates instead of waiting on information from friends.
“It’s crazy to go through this again,” he said.
Hiding in the office gave him flashbacks of the Isla vista attack, he added.
“It’s sad that it’s normalized at this point,” he said. “It’s like I almost know the drill.”
Twitter: @sarahparvini
MORE ON THE UCLA SHOOTING
News of UCLA shooting arrives as L.A. City Council discusses gun violence
How students coped during UCLA lockdown
‘Barricade it with a chair,’ father texts son at UCLA. Response: ‘Already did’
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