When they were at a loss, the neighbors set up a table with Goldfish crackers and two types of blue Gatorade.
Chris Comfort heard the sirens blaring toward Apalachee High School and the middle school and preschool next door after 10 a.m. local time. Then the news started trickling out — via text message chains, local news, CNN — about shootings at the high school and children being trapped. Soon, helicopters were circling overhead.
By midday, cars, trucks and SUVs were already lining up on Haymon Morris Road, the main thoroughfare to and from campus. But they were moving slowly, their brake lights flashing red.
Some turned onto Comfort’s side street and parked two cars in a row. Others, not willing to put up with the traffic, continued on foot – trudging a mile, often more, under the scorching sun in the hope that their worst fears would prove unfounded.
By the afternoon, neighbors had been “bringing water and snacks for hours.”
There was water, sports drinks, granola bars, applesauce packets, cheese and peanut butter crackers, gummy bears and cold watermelon cubes.
They worked in shifts to distribute it primarily to pedestrians, but also to motorists passing by on the street.
A neighbor identified only as Chris was there with her 15-year-old daughter, Geaux, a 10th grader who is home-schooled and hangs out with many neighborhood kids, sports and church, who go to Apalachee High.
Some of these children walked back past the snack table with their parents.
“It’s afternoon and they haven’t eaten since breakfast,” Chris said of many.
“Some children had not eaten since last night because they did not have time for breakfast this morning. They were on their way to school,” Geaux said.
“It’s hot,” the teenager added. “And it’s scary.”
