An Idaho teacher who disarmed a sixth grader after she opened fire at school earlier this month is breaking her silence for the first time.
Krista Gneiting, a math teacher at Rigby Middle School in the small town of Rigby, about 15 miles northeast of Idaho Falls, was preparing her students for their final exams on the morning of May 6 when she said she heard a gunshot from down the hall.
A sixth grade student at the school had taken a handgun from her backpack and opened fire just before 9 a.m. local time, wounding two students and one adult, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. The girl shot two of the victims in the hallway before moving outside and shooting the third victim, the sheriff’s office said. All three victims were expected to survive.
Gneiting told ABC News she was helping one of the students who had been shot when she saw a girl holding a gun.
Gneiting said she looked at the girl and quietly asked, “Are you the shooter?”
“I just walked up to her and I put my hand over her hand, I just slowly pulled the gun out of her hand and she allowed me to,” she said. “She didn’t give it to me but she didn’t fight. And then after I got the gun, I just pulled her into a hug because I thought, this little girl has a mom somewhere that doesn’t realize she’s having a breakdown and she’s hurting people.”
Gneiting said she called 911 from her cellphone as she embraced the girl, holding her until police arrived.
The Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office told ABC News Tuesday that the girl is “still in custody and has been charged.” It was unclear what the charges are at this time.