'We were all shaking': Marjory Stoneman Douglas graduate describes surviving FSU shooting

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Aiden Weinrich, a senior at Florida State University and a Marjory Stoneman Douglas graduate, recounted his experience during Thursday's fatal shooting at the college campus.

"It felt ... kind of surreal, like, is this actually happening?” Weinrich told WPTV investigative reporter Kate Hussey.

WATCH BELOW: Stoneman Douglas grad describes tense moments during FSU shooting

Two people were killed and at least six other people were injured after a gunman opened fire at the school, FSU Police Chief Jason Trumbower said during an afternoon news conference.

Sheriff Walter McNeil identified the gunman as Phoenix Ikner, 20, the son of a Leon County Sheriff's Office deputy.

In the wake of the shooting, a memorial at the Student Union keeps growing. Tearful students laid flowers just beyond the caution tape still wrapped around the scene, and Hussey described the weight on campus as "palpable."

Students described being scared, shaken and grief-stricken.

For Weinrich, it’s a chilling déjà vu — another campus, another shooting.

"It's almost no words to describe it because it’s something that happened again," Weinrich said.

Weinrich said he was in his financial accounting class right next to the student union when he heard a bunch of sirens and then what sounded like a fire drill.

Soon after, he got an active shooter message on his phone, alerting the campus to lock down.

"Our professor stayed very calm. We got up, closed the blinds. He checked that the door was locked, which automatically locks shut," Weinrich recounted. "We just sat in the corner for a while. We were all shaking. There were people crying, obviously everywhere. There was a whole mess."

Weinrich described the fear he and his classmates felt as they heard footsteps down the hallways, not knowing if they belonged to the police or the shooter.

"It was straight to nervousness, like, OK, what's next? Are they in this building? Can we leave? Is it a good idea to stay?" Weinrich said. "I'm like, OK, I'm in the building that's closest, right next door to [the student union]. Hopefully, the doors are locked and they don't try and break the glass and come in, because if they do, it's the closest place to go to, and that's where their second place would be."

Weinrich said eventually police knocked on the door, identifying themselves as Tallahassee police, and led the students out to safety.

"We have to leave all our belongings, which are still there, and they're all there with their rifles and pistols facing around, which at least made us feel safer," Weinrich said. "I'm typically calm in these types of situations. When you hear people screaming and crying around you, it makes you a lot more nervous."

Weinrich described seeing police collect bullet casings from the ground, and some students received treatment near the union.

"There's a couple of people kind of just hurt on the side, but more like, I think, from running away, they kind of just got sore, whatever, from all the nervousness of it," Weinrich said.

During the ordeal, Weinrich was texting his mother, who told Hussey it was the scariest day of her life.

"She was very nervous. She obviously saw it on all different Facebook groups, so she's reading it, and when we walked through the hallway, it was like a 10 minute span where we had to keep her hands up to make sure we didn't have anything on us, which was good, but she didn't hear from me for 10 minutes, so she was very nervous as well," Weinrich said.

Weinrich said none of his friends were injured and is thankful to be alive.

"Extremely thankful ... just being right there so close is it's crazy," Weinrich said.

Though he wasn't there for the 2018 Parkland tragedy, he's carried the weight of that day ever since, living in fear of what came to pass right on his own campus.

"I think it will be, and it's something that FSU as a whole, even in 20 years, everyone will remember, because it's just crazy," Weinrich said.