The Idaho teacher who stopped a sixth-grade school shooter says she hugged the young girl after disarming her.
Earlier this month, the shooter pulled a loaded handgun from her bag and opened fire, wounding three people at Rigby Middle School.
Krista Gneiting, a math teacher at the school, managed to remove the gun from the child's possession and subdue her.
In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Gneiting spoke about the immediate aftermath of the ordeal, which saw her embrace the troubled youngster.
She recalled: "I just walked up to her and I put my hand over her hand. I just slowly pulled the gun out of her hand and she allowed me to."
Check out the emotional interview here:Gneiting continued: "She didn't give it to me, but she didn't fight. And then after I got the gun, I just 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."
Per Associated Press, police responded to the incident at about 9:15 AM on Thursday, May 6, after the young assailant - whose identity remains anonymous - shot two students and a janitor at the school. Fortunately, the three victims survived their injuries.
Gneiting told ABC News that she had been preparing her students for final exams in her classroom when she heard a gunshot. When she looked out into the hallway, she saw the wounded janitor on the floor.
After hearing two more gunshots, she says she told her class: "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."
Gneiting had been helping an injured student when she saw the armed sixth-grader. "It was a little girl and my brain couldn't quite grasp that," she said. "I just knew when I saw that gun, I had to get the gun."
After disarming the child, Gneiting dialed 911 before hugging her as they waited for the police to take her into custody.
"After a while, the girl started talking to me and I could tell she was very unhappy," Gneiting said. "I just kept hugging her and loving her and trying to let her know that we're going to get through this together."
As reported by People, the girl has been charged and could face three counts of attempted murder.
