Katie Holt's decision to have a gunshot wound kit in her classroom wasn't just a sobering reminder of America's mass shooting reality. On Thursday, it likely saved a life.
Holt, a choir teacher Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California, used that kit to wrap the wounds of a student who ran into her room after she'd been shot. The student survived — but in this case, that single kit was barely enough, NBC News reports.
Two students were killed and three more were hurt when a 16-year-old fellow student opened fire over a 16-second period as school began Thursday morning. Those injured included the freshman girl Holt treated, who was among 30 to 40 who rushed into Holt's room. "The rookie teacher, who started in January, quickly wheeled a grand piano in front of the door and ushered dozens of her students into an office, locking the door behind them," The New York Times writes.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But after confirming the girl had been shot twice, Holt left the office and got her gunshot wound kit — she "only had one," she said. Holt wrapped the girl's wounds on her shoulder and torso while a "really brave freshman" helped apply pressure, she tells NBC News. And all around her, students were muffling their crying while one called the police and another "grabbed a fire extinguisher — just in case the gunman made it inside," the Times continued.
The alleged shooter was found after more than an hourlong search in the surrounding neighborhood and as schools in the district were locked down. The suspect was taken to a hospital for treatment of presumably self-inflicted gunshot wounds in the head and is still alive.
-
Icarus programme – the ‘internet of animals’The Explainer Researchers aim to monitor 100,000 animals worldwide with GPS trackers, using data to understand climate change and help predict disasters and pandemics
-
Experience Tanzania’s untamed wilderness from Lemala’s luxury lodgesThe Week Recommends The vast protected landscapes are transformed into a verdant paradise during ‘emerald season’
-
Codeword: October 9, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
4 dead in shooting, arson attack in Michigan churchSpeed Read A gunman drove a pickup truck into a Mormon church where he shot at congregants and then set the building on fire
-
2 kids killed in shooting at Catholic school massSpeed Read 17 others were wounded during a morning mass at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murdersspeed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
-
Combs convicted on 2 of 5 charges, denied bailSpeed Read Sean 'Diddy' Combs was acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambushSpeed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrialSpeed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside homespeed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confessionspeed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
