Trapped in a classroom while a mass shooter prowled his high school, a student reporter began taping his classmates’ heartbreaking reactions.

David Hogg, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, turned on his camera while a lone gunman opened fire on his high school, ultimately killing at least 17 people.

Mr Hogg told Time that he had attempted to flee the shooting, but was ushered into a classroom with several other students to hide out. While there, he checked social media and realised that a mass shooting was taking place.

“While I was in there, I thought, ‘What impact have I had? What will my story be if I die here?’” said the student, who works at the school’s TV station and volunteers at a local newspaper.

“The only thing I could think of was, pull out my camera and try telling others,” he continued. “As a student journalist, as an aspiring journalist, that’s all I could think: Get other people’s stories on tape. If we all die, the camera survives, and that’s how we get the message out there, about how we want change to be brought about.”

So Mr Hogg turned his camera on his classmates, asking them, in hushed tones, for their opinions on gun control.

Florida shooting – in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Florida shooting – in pictures Florida shooting – in pictures Police arrest a suspect in connection with the shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida Reuters Florida shooting – in pictures Parents wait for news after reports of a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida AP Florida shooting – in pictures Anxious family members wait for news of students AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee Florida shooting – in pictures Students being evacuated from the school AP Florida shooting – in pictures Students being evacuated from the school Getty Florida shooting – in pictures People gather waiting for word from students AP Florida shooting – in pictures Parents waiting for news on their children AP Florida shooting – in pictures People gather at a hotel where students were taken after the shooting Getty Florida shooting – in pictures Florida Governor Rick Scott speaks to the media as he visits Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School following the shooting AFP/Getty Florida shooting – in pictures Dr. Igor Nichiporenko, Medical Director Trauma, left, and Dr. Evan Boyer, Medical Director, Emergency Services, speak about treating victims and the suspect at a press conference outside Broward Health North hospital AP

“I really don’t think there’s anything new to say, but there shouldn’t have to be,” one student told him.

“If you looked around this closet and saw everyone just hiding together, you would know that this shouldn’t be happening anymore, and that it doesn’t deserve to happen to anyone, and that no amount of money should make it more easily accessible to get guns,” she said.

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Another student said she had previously marched in favour of gun rights, and wanted to be a junior member of the National Rifle Association. The student, whose face does not appear on screen, said she even planned to have her 18th birthday party at a gun range. But this shooting changed her mind.

“This experience was so traumatising to the point where I can’t even fathom a gun in my house or on my bodice,” she said. “...To have the bullet pointed at me – at my school, my classmates, my teachers, my mentors – it’s just it’s definitely eye-opening to the fact that we need more gun control in our country.”

Police arrested 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, a former Marjory Stoneman student, in connection with the shooting on Wednesday. He has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder and has yet to enter a plea.