PAWTUCKET, R.I. (WHDH) - High school sophomore Olin Lawrence was on the ice when a gunman opened fire during a youth hockey game inside an ice rink in Pawtucket, Rhode Island Monday afternoon. He spoke to reporters after the scene was secured, recounting running for cover and barricading himself inside the locker room with his teammates.
“It was mid-play I heard a couple gun shots go off, I thought it was balloons at first. It was loud and it kept going off,” said Lawrence, a 16-year-old hockey goaltender. “After the gunshots, me and my teammates ran right to the locker room and just bunkered up, and we pressed against the door and just tried to stay safe in there.”
Lawrence said he did not see who was shot or where it happened, but remembers hearing a lot of shots.
“It was very frantic, everyone started running out of the building,” he said. “It was very scary. We were very nervous.”
Some of the hockey players, parents, and other spectators watching the game found shelter at a nearby convenience store. Surveillance video from inside the store captured members of the hockey team embracing each other as they tried to hide from the shooter.
Lawrence said his parents and girlfriend were at the game, and he was grateful to be reunited with them after the shooting.
“It was very relieving, I was very happy to see them,” he said.
The 16-year-old said he and his team are still processing the day’s events.
“I’m overwhelmed but I’m just trying to stay calm,” said Lawrence. “You don’t know what it feels like until you’re actually in it. It’s very scary.”
Lawrence’s mother told 7NEWS she is overwhelmed with emotion, but is grateful her family is safe.
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