'We were panicked': Sanderson HS students, parents react after shooting at nearby softball field

Raleigh police said a male was shot in the leg around 10:35 a.m. Friday on a softball field next to Optimist Pool.

“We had a school lockdown," senior student K'naj Reed said. "Everybody gets into a room, so they can be safe, just in case somebody comes into the school and tries to do anything.”

Raleigh police continued to investigate the shooting and said and no one was in custody. Police did not say whether students were involved in the shooting, but said there is no direct impact to the public.

Reed said students, teachers and staff stayed away from doors and windows while the lockdown was in place.

Jose Ojeda's younger sister, Alexandra, is a freshman student at Sanderson High School.

"We were panicked," Jose Ojeda said. "We really did not know what was going on."

Raleigh police plan to have two additional officers on school property for the remainder of the day.

"With more shootings in schools ... they should put more patrols in there," Jose Ojeda said.

A message from the Wake County Public School System stated the school was in a code red lockdown, which means no one was allowed to enter or exit the building until police provided an all-clear announcement.

Alexandra Ojeda was in in the cafeteria when the lockdown happened. She said a teacher rushed the students to lockdown.

"Just telling us like, 'Move and go back to the kitchen,'" Alexandra Ojeda said.

Friday's shooting came after last month's deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 students and two adults. The shooting at Robb Elementary School was on top of students' and parents' minds.

"People come here to school to feel safe and now we can't feel safe at school because people come to ruin other people," Alexandra Ojeda said.

The Sanderson High School students are scheduled to take their final exams next week.

"Next week, we have exams, and I am not sure if I am going to be able to feel safe at school," Alexandra Ojeda said.

WRAL News spoke with parents Joseph D'Cruze and Carson Monteith about their reactions.

"My daughter studies in this school," D'Cruze said. "I am really upset."

D'Cruze said he believes people who don't secure their guns should be punished, and called directly on President Joe Biden to pass stricter gun laws to prevent shootings.

Monteith has a son at Sanderson High School.

"I was scared, but I was relieved," Monteith said. "It is scary. I wish they would change gun laws."