Trip home kept Springfield woman away from Texas school on day of deadly shooting

Lisa Truitt says May 18, 2018 is a day that’s burned into her mind.

Her husband woke her up to tell her that the school she’d been a substitute at for the last three months had been the site of the country’s latest mass shooting.

Truitt, a Springfield native and graduate of Northeastern High School, just recently moved to Bayou Vista, Texas, with her her husband and youngest daughter.

She had been a teacher at South Vienna Middle School for 16 years before the move. In Texas, she’d served as a substitute teacher — teaching everything from trigonometry to agriculture — and a long-term substitute receptionist at Santa Fe High School.

But on the day of the shooting, she was in Ohio. She’d come back to watch her youngest son graduate from Northeastern High School.

Otherwise, she’d have seen the nightmare in first person.

RELATED: Teen died trying to shield class from Santa Fe High School shooter

Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, opened fire at Santa Fe High School, killing 10 people and injuring a number of others. He faces capital murder charges.

“Had I not come back to Ohio for the spring — I’d have been in that building,” Truitt said. “I would have been there, and I don’t take that lightly.”

Even in a school of 1,400 students, she knew many of the victims who lost their lives.

“The two substitute teachers were my friends. I had lunch with them every day,” she said.

She also had many of the students who died in classes — she even knew the shooter.

“I didn’t see that in his eyes,” Truitt said. “I didn’t see that he would be capable of that.”

Pagourtzis used two weapons in the attack, a shotgun and .38-revolver, which belonged to his father, according to police reports.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also confirmed a Molotov cocktail and “various other types of explosive devices” were found at the school and two other locations.

“I would want to dig deep into his heart and wonder where that pain is coming from,” Truitt said.

She said one job a teacher has — is to protect their students.

“I would’ve jumped in front of kids and taken a bullet,” Truitt said.

RELATED: Accused Santa Fe shooter won’t get death penalty and could be paroled someday

One of Santa Fe’s school resource officers is being called a hero after chasing down the shooter.

John Barnes sustained a gunshot wound the arm.

“It did not surprise me one bit when I heard (Barnes was) the officer that ran toward the shooting,” she said. “That was him — day in and day out.”

Since Truitt has been back in Springfield, she’s continued substitute teaching for several Clark County districts.

She said small schools aren’t immune to shootings — it could happen anywhere.

“There are still those kids who sit alone at lunch and feel rejected,” Truitt said. “And unfortunately, it’s everywhere — no matter what the size of the school is.”

Truitt will head back to Texas next month, but she doesn’t flinch at the thought of being in the classroom again.

“It is in the back of my mind every day — but if it’s my time, it’s my time,” she said. “I can’t stop what I’m doing and be afraid to continue being there for kids because I’m afraid something’s going to happen.”

If she could say something to the shooter, she said it would be this.

“I would just want him to know that he’s valued and worthy,” Truitt said. “As teachers, that’s our job — to make sure kids know they’re valued and they’re loved so they don’t feel like they need to do something like this.”

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