Student: 'It changes the way you look at things'

Andy Pruski, a senior English major from Lindenhurst, was reading at the neighboring Reavis Hall at the time of the shooting.

Students learned through word of mouth that something had happened but there were few details. University staffers began moving students into classrooms.

"They didn't want people just walking around the building," he said. "They weren't telling us specifics."

As time passed and with no indication of when they might be able to leave, the mood of the 15 people in the room with Pruski began to change, he said.

"At first people didn't grasp the seriousness of the situation," he said. "As time went on, it was more of an unnerving feeling."

They were in the room about 45 minutes, he estimated.

Once outside, students encountered another problem. They could receive incoming messages on their cell phones but couldn't call out.

"The hardest part was none of the cell phone calls were going through. All the circuits were busy," he said.

"All these people are worried about you and there was no way of letting them know you were OK."

Pruski, who lives off-campus, said he wasn't worried after the fact because of the heavy police presence.

The incident has given him pause, however, and a shaken Pruski wonders what the mood will be like among students when classes resume. Reavis is among several neighboring classroom buildings and is a hub of activity.

"It hits. That's the place I go every day. That's where I have my classes," he said.

"You can't really prepare for something like this. It just changes the way you look at things."