“Never before has something like this happened here,” one of them said.
She said the emergency room was filled with grief and tension when the victims of the shooting were brought in.
“We were all worried as more injured people arrived and some people were announced dead on arrival,” she said.
It was also equally disturbing to learn that the gunman, Zhongren Li, 42, shot children.
“We were working with the victims and did not know if our family would be the next victim who would be brought in,” she said.
One of her patients was the wife of the man and child killed by Li.
Her other child was also wounded.
The nurse said she was in tears as she tried to comfort her patient who was asking, “How will my life be without them? How will Thanksgiving be?”
Some of the patients waiting in line expressed sympathy to the families of the shooting victims.
Mary Joy Camacho said the atmosphere was tense and everybody was worried.
“I saw some family members crying and the media added to the tension,” she said.
Despite the situation, she said all the nurses and the doctors maintained a “professional environment” at CHC.
Outside the hospital, residents waited for the news about the suspect’s arrest.
A resident said his family’s planned picnic was cancelled because they were afraid that the gunman was roaming the island.
Another resident said he picked up his son from school after learning about the shooting.
