MEADOW LAKE, Sask. — Phyllis Longobardi remembers coming face to face with the shooter.

It was the moment that changed her life, on the day that forever changed the life of the small northern community of La Loche, Sask.

“Everyone was gone and it was just him and me and I was staring down the barrel of his gun,” Longobardi said in a phone interview from her home in Nova Scotia.

Six shotgun pellets hit her. Thankfully, six others missed.

Longobardi said she no longer wants to remember the vivid, horrific details of that day. Now that the young man accused in the shooting has pleaded guilty, she may not have to.

The 18-year-old, who was still 17 at the time of the shootings, pleaded guilty in a Meadow Lake courtroom on Friday to second-degree murder in the deaths of two teen brothers and first-degree murder in the deaths of a teacher’s aide and a teacher. He also pleaded guilty to seven counts of attempted murder for shooting seven other people, including Longobardi.

Now that the shooter, whose identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, has taken this step, Longobardi said she is feeling some relief for the first time in months.

“He has damaged a lot. He’s taken the innocence of kids away,” she said.

Like other survivors, she wants the shooter sentenced as an adult. He was weeks away from his 18th birthday when he devastated so many lives.

They are “adult crimes,” and they deserve adult consequences, Longobardi said.

Charlene Klyne, another survivor who still has shotgun pellets in her body, agrees.

La Loche school shooting victim Charlene Klyne speaks about her struggles with Saskatchewan Workers' Compensation as she deals with her injuries from the Jan. 22 school shooting that left four dead and seven others injured in Saskatoon on September 28, 2016

“He stood at the door and looked at me,” she said in an interview from her new home in Saskatoon.

“I really think he totally knew what he was doing.”

Klyne was blinded by the shooting and was forced to leave her job. She also had to give up her hobbies, amateur photography and knitting.

Both women moved away from La Loche after the shooting and say it’s unlikely they will ever return. Others have to live there and are reminded daily of what happened.

“Every day. Every day,” said Norman Fontaine, whose two grandchildren, Drayden Fontaine, 13, and Dayne Fontaine, 17, were shot dead at his house moments before the accused went to the school to continue the carnage.

Fontaine said his two grandchildren were his best friends. He can’t speak about them without agony.

“It’s pretty hard. Pretty hard,” he said from his home in La Loche. “Two are gone. We can’t help it.”

The boys’ mother is back at work now, and the entire community is doing its best to move forward, he said.

Many family members and supporters packed a La Loche courtroom Friday to watch a live stream video feed of the shooter’s court appearance in Meadow Lake.

Standing in street clothes in the prisoner’s box, he fidgeted through much of the proceedings. His defence lawyer, Aaron Fox, argued against an adult sentence, saying “moral culpability” is especially important when dealing with youth in the justice system.

Crown prosecutor Lloyd Stang speaks to media in Meadow Lake, Sask., on Friday, Oct. 28, 2016. A teen has admitted to killing four people in a mass shooting at a high school and in a home in northern Saskatchewan.

The teen, who can't be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, sat quietly in Meadow Lake court Friday as his lawyer entered guilty pleas to first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of two teachers at the school in La Loche on Jan. 22.

The judge ordered a psychiatric report for the young man, who is due back in court on Jan. 31 and again in May and June for hearings to determine if he will be sentenced as an adult. Those hearings are expected to take place in La Loche.

Around lunchtime on Jan. 22, the shooter gunned down the Fontaine brothers, who were said to be popular and into hunting and riding ATVs — at their home.

While making his way to the high school, he texted a group of friends.

“im done with life,” his message read.

One of his friends asked why.

“just killed 2ppl,” he answered. “bout to shoot in the school.”

At the school, he blasted the main doors with bullet holes. Inside, teacher Adam Wood, 35, and teacher’s assistant Marie Janvier, 21, suffered fatal gunshots. Seven others were wounded.

In the nine months since the shooting, there have been some signs of recovery in the community. Last month, it celebrated the opening of a new Friendship Centre, which provides help with housing, employment and youth intervention.

“We’re starting to see things come to fruition. … We’re trying to make as much impact as we can with the resources we have,” said Leonard Montgrand, the centre’s executive director. Still, barriers remain, particularly in unemployment, he said.

This summer, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall announced support for new adult education programs, training in auto mechanics and other trades, and affordable rental housing. La Loche also got a community mental health nurse and a suicide prevention and community wellness worker, Wall said.

However, local resident Jacene Piche said Friday that more programs are still needed for young people. Right now, there are recreational sports programs, but not much for young people who are more interested in the arts.

“You see kids saying on Facebook, ‘it’s so boring, nothing to do.’ If you don’t give them choices, they won’t go looking for it themselves,” he said.

— with National Post files from Doug Quan and StarPhoenix files from Dave Deibert