Chardon High School shooting witness describes scene inside of cafeteria

CHARDON, Ohio - Jason Suhadolnik still can't believe there was a shooting inside of his school. He is a first-year student at Chardon High School and was inside of the cafeteria when gunfire erupted.

Suhadolnik was sitting at a lunchroom table with a few friends about 10 feet from the shooter when he opened fire.  Suhadolnik said he doesn't know the alleged gunman, TJ Lane. He said at first the gunfire sounded more like a toy gun.

"We heard this loud boom-type of thing like popping chips and we weren't sure what to think of it. And so we were looking around and I heard the next four shots. And I saw the guy holding the gun and I saw the people trying to duck down from it," he said.  "For me, it didn't sound like a real gun at first. I was in disbelief that it was a real gun when we ran out of school. It kind of sounded like a cap gun."

The teenager said his instincts then kicked-in. 

"From there me and my friends started yelling 'go' and we ran outside into Maple Elementary School across the street as fast as we could,"  Suhadolnik said.

Suhadolnik remembers the gunman running out of the cafeteria with the gun in his hand. 

"He was just holding it, that is the last thing I saw him do. He was just holding it in a straight position," Suhadolnik said.

Suhadolnik said the first thing he did once he got to the elementary school was call his parents to let them know there had been a shooting at Chardon High School and that he was fine.  He said there were plenty of tears shed over the phone.