AN Irish woman has told of the "panic" she felt when she learned that her daughter's school in the US had been targeted by a lone gunman who went on to kill 17 people.
Mother-of-two Olga Hurley, who moved from Clontarf in Dublin to Parkland in Florida six months ago with her husband and two children, told how her 16-year-old daughter Adelina was forced to run for her life when gunman, Nikolas Cruz, opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday.
The 19-year-old, who is a former student at the school but had been expelled, has since been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder - charges that carry the death penalty in Florida. He is being held without bail.
Speaking yesterday Mrs Hurley said she and her family had moved to Florida last year to be closer to her parents.
Having bought a house near Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, her daughter, Adelina enrolled there.
After visiting her parents on Wednesday Mrs Hurley said she went to pick up Adelina and saw the commotion at the school.
"All of a sudden, they [the police] appeared from all directions. They were driving from opposite directions," she said.
She revealed that the fire alarm had been set off at the school and it was only when her daughter and her class checked online they realised there was a gunman on the site.
Adelina told her mother that her teacher had led the students out of the school along a secret route to a local shopping centre.
Adelina called her mother and said: "Mom, I'm running, there is some shooting".
Mrs Hurley, who was born in Russia but lived in Ireland for 18 years before relocating to Florida, said she was relieved to hear her daughter's voice.
"Once I heard her voice, I knew she would be okay. The panic … I didn't know what to think. I just kept telling her 'Keep running, keeping running... don't [be] alone]'."
Mrs Hurley was reunited with her daughter 40 minutes later at a nearby shopping centre.
The mother-of-two said the family later learned that one of her daughter's classmates was killed in the attack.
"That feeling of horror only sinks in your head later on … after everything was already finished," she said.
