PARKLAND, FLA. (WSVN) – An 18-year-old Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting survivor shared heartbreaking text messages to his little brother, not knowing if he had survived.
Student Sam Zeif became emotional when he told 7News the heart-wrenching story.
“The scariest part of everything was knowing that my little brother was right above me,” he said, “and not knowing if I was ever gonna see him again.”
Zeif said he would never forget that feeling. He and his 14-year-old brother Matthew Zeif were a floor apart when bullets rang out inside their high school Wednesday.
In the middle of the chaos, the brothers managed to text one another.
In one text, Zeif asked his brother if he was OK. “Hopefully. Just know I love you,” his brother replied.
As an older brother, Zeif tried to comfort Matthew. “We’re going to get out of here. I promise,” he texted.
Geography teacher Scott Beigel saved the lives of his students, including Matthew. The 35-year-old was shot outside his classroom.
“He waited for all the kids to get back in the classroom,” Zeif said. “He held the door, he hurried them in, and my little brother was the last person that he scurried in. Mr. Beigel was in the doorway. As, I can’t even say his name, as that terrible person walked by, probably didn’t even look. Just saw a person there and pointed.”
7News spoke with Beigel’s mother Linda Beigel Schulman, who said he was everything she wanted in a son.
“Scott was the son everybody would want to have,” Schulman said, “and he was mine.”
Beigel was laid to rest at a Boca Raton temple, Sunday.
Schulman said her son loved what he did, and his responsibility to others always came first.
“I see his picture on the TV, and I’m so proud of him, but I know that that’s all I’m going to be able to do, just look at pictures,” she said, “’cause I’m never going to be able to hug my son again. I need those hugs. I need those calls when ‘I’m on my way home from school.’ I need to know that Scott’s OK.”
Beigel called his mother every day when he was leaving the school, Schulman said, just to check on her.
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