PONTIAC, Mich. – An Oxford High School teacher who was shot and injured during the school shooting testified during a mandatory Miller hearing.
The mandatory pre-sentencing hearing for the Oxford shooter began Thursday. Last October, the shooter pleaded guilty to dozens of felony charges in connection with the November 2021 mass shooting that left four people dead and seven others injured.
Oxford High School teacher Molly Darnell took the stand and testified during the hearing on Thursday. She shared what happened to her that day and the impact the traumatic event has continued to have on her life.
“Do you know how hard it is to heal from something like this? I avoid everything I can to heal,” she said.
Darnell was one of the seven people who were injured in the shooting. She was shot in the arm.
“I heard three very loud (gunshots) -- they were physically loud -- like I could feel them coming through that door. Like, the power of it,” she said.
She said she was moving cabinets to barricade the classroom door when she realized she had been shot.
“At that point, I had sent my husband a test message. It just said, ‘I love you. Active shooter’ ... He did (respond). He said, ‘just get safe.’ ... I didn’t respond,” she said.
---> Read more: Oxford shooter explains plans to ‘kill everyone’ in video recorded day before shooting