"It was a little girl and my brain couldn't quite grasp that," said middle school math teacher Krista Gneiting who intervened during the school shooting.
A math teacher who stopped a shooting at an Idaho middle school that left two students and a janitor injured earlier this month said that she hugged the sixth-grader allegedly behind the shooting and "slowly pulled the gun out of her hand."
Krista Gneiting told ABC News that she was preparing her students for an exam when she heard gunshots ring throughout the hallways.
She then looked into the hallway and saw the janitor lying on the floor and told her students "we're going to run to the high school. You're going to run hard, you're not going to look back and now is the time to get up and go."
Police were called to the Rigby Middle School in the small city of Rigby on May 7 around 9:15 a.m. after gunshots rang across campus. The alleged shooter was identified as a sixth grade girl from Idaho Falls and attended the school, according to reports.
"I just walked up to her and I put my hand over her hand," Gneiting, a Rigby Middle School math teacher, said in an interview ABC News that aired on "Good Morning America."
"She didn't give it to me, but she didn't fight," she continued.
After she got the weapon from the young girl, Gneiting says she then "pulled her into a hug because I thought, 'this little girl has a mom somewhere that doesn't realize she's having a breakdown and she's hurting people.'"
After she retrieved the gun, Gneiting says she called 911 and hugged the child until police came.
"After a while, the girl started talking to me and I could tell she was very unhappy," she said. "I just kept hugging her and loving her and trying to let her know that we're going to get through this together."
Gneiting had originally posted to Facebook expressing "my heart is touched for all of the outpouring of love I've received."
"All of the staff at Rigby did their part and kept our wonderful children safe! Thank you! I love you all and we will get through this together."
The three victims sustained non-life threatening injuries and returned to school last week, according to East Idaho News. A GoFundMe page was created to help pay for the medical expenses for the janitor, identified as Jim Wilson.
The young suspect is currently in custody. Authorities confirmed she has been charged with the shooting, People reported. Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Taylor said after the shooting that she could face three counts of attempted murder, East Idaho News reported.
The Rigby school district experienced an incident in 1989 when a 14-year-old student at the middle school threatened a teacher with a handgun and held another student hostage, the Register reported. No shots were fired in that incident.
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