Eagle Scout reacts with calm

from Washington Post coverage of the Virginia Tech massacre. One of the students in the first classroom where the shootings occurred was concerned about the gunman coming back.

Whispering and trying to compose himself, [Trey] Perkins, [20, of Yorktown, Va., a sophomore studying mechanical engineering, and] an Eagle Scout, said he told Derek and the female student to keep their feet on the door in case the gunman returned.

Perkins said he went around the room, tending to the wounded students. A student named Garrett was shot in both legs. Perkins wrapped his gray pullover sweater around Garrett’s right leg.

Perkins used Garrett’s tank top to wrap the other leg. Perkins saw a sweat shirt on a desk and covered the girl with the mouth wound.

“He knew exactly what he was doing,” Perkins said of the gunman. “I have no idea why he did what he decided to do. I just can’t say how lucky I am to have made it.”

MSNBC Video with Trey Perkins on the phone

Jeffrey L Cohen

Jeffrey L Cohen