By María Luisa Paúl
St Louis - In the span of a couple minutes, Debbie Monterrey's cellphone screen flared up three times. The St Louis-based radio anchor with KMOX was interviewing a March of Dimes representative for a segment on keeping babies safe when her teenage daughter started sending frantic, all-caps texts.
"OMG THERE'S AN INTRUDER IN THE BUILDING," read the first message from 17-year-old Caeli, a senior at the Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience in St Louis.
A seasoned journalist, Monterrey's first instinct was not to panic. Let's not jump to conclusions, she thought. I'm sure it's fine - probably a false alarm. But then came more texts.
"OMG IT'S NOT A DRILL"
"OMG THE ALARMS ARE GOING OFF"
Monterrey replied to Caeli, who described a flurry of bangs and yelling. Police were everywhere, and the teen told her mom she was scared. Meanwhile, there was dead air in the studio, and the guest was staring at Monterrey - it was her turn to ask a question.
My daughter's school is Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience, which shares the building with CVPA (Central Visual and Performing Arts). We shouldn't have to live this way. Props to CSMB & CVPA for their leadership at to @SLMPD for quick/decisive action.
"By this point, I'm like just trying to hold it together," Monterrey told The Washington Post. "Nobody knows what's happening but me. And then I looked up at the TV in the studio, and our local Fox affiliate was doing an aerial [shot] of police surrounding this building and saying there's an active shooter."
Around 9 a.m. Monday, police say a 19-year-old former student armed with an AR-style rifle and some 600 rounds of ammunition entered the building that houses the Central Visual and Performing Arts High School and the Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience. He allegedly screamed "You are all going to die!" before unleashing a barrage of bullets that killed 10th-grader Alexandria Bell, 15, and physical education teacher Jean Kuczka, 61. Police said seven other students were injured in the shooting - at least the 34th to take place in a school this year, according to The Post's tracker.
The shooter, identified as Orlando Harris, was killed after a gunfight with police. He left behind a letter saying, "I've been an isolated loner my entire life. This was the perfect storm for a mass shooter," St Louis Police Commissioner Michael Sack said in a news conference Tuesday.
Monterrey said there was nothing she wanted to do more than rush out and make sure Caeli was safe. But as a reporter, she had a job to do - and that was covering the shooting in her own daughter's school. She wrapped up the March of Dimes segment and allowed herself to cry for 30 seconds during a commercial break, sobbing as her colleague hugged her. Then she went into "news mode," Monterrey said.
"What was running through my head at the time was, 'I've got to explain this, and as long as I stay in reporter mode, I'm going to be able to keep it together because no one wants a blubbering, crying news anchor,' " she said.
During the segment, a calm and composed Monterrey relayed updates on the situation. Caeli kept texting her, telling her she was hunkered with classmates. When the show hit the top of the hour at 10 a.m., Monterrey quickly dashed out to pick up her daughter.
Once home, Monterrey and Caeli spent the next three hours holding each other while listening to news coverage of the shooting. All day, they responded to the outpouring of messages from people checking up on them. Monterrey called it an early night.
Despite covering crime and gun violence throughout her 19 years as a "Total Information AM" anchor, the shock of Monday's shooting has not yet worn off.
"I never lose sight of how horrible and painful it has to be for families in school shootings," Monterrey said. "But to be in that position of it being my kid and worrying about my kid and knowing all of the other students that she goes to school with and worrying about them, it's so personal, it is even harder."
How she managed to keep it together is something she still can't figure out. The roller coaster of emotions is just starting to set in. And Monterrey is already thinking about the next school shooting she'll have to cover, which she said is not a question of if, but when and where.
"I don't know if I ever really thought, 'Is this ever going to happen to me?' But you do always think to yourself, 'Oh my God, what would I do in that situation?' " she said. "And then yesterday was my turn to see what I would do in that situation."
Monterrey is one of hundreds of thousands of parents whose child has experienced gun violence at school.
Now, she wonders how many more parents will receive the same panicked texts she did.
The Washington Post