AUSTIN — AUSTIN -- On Thursday, shooting victims and family members arrived to the state capitol to talk to Texas Governor Greg Abbott in his third and final roundtable.
The discussion featured victims, students, families and educators from the Santa Fe, Alpine and Sutherland Springs communities who have endured shooting acts of violence in their areas.
It was a room packed with tragedy and support.
Each with similar stories, hoping no else has to go through what they did.
"I could hear the gunfire and the alarms in the background, she was whispering again, I've been shot,” said Scott Rice.
His wife is in the hospital, recovering after being shot in Santa Fe.
"Flo was shot from behind by a coward. She managed to reach in her purse, grab her cell phone and crawl to safety," said Rice.
For some, the roundtable discussion was emotional. A student from Santa Fe shared her story about sitting next to the shooter in class each day. She said she wouldn't have thought twice about letting him in the school through a locked door, and now urges for tighter security.
Students from Santa Fe were torn on gun issues, some asking for teachers to be trained and armed, while another student said "school is no place for guns."
One student said he would feel safer with more armed officers, and that while security cameras may be helpful, they "won't come down and save you."
A few parents and students shared the "dire" need for counselors in schools, saying there's a shortage. One student said it takes weeks to see her school counselor, whether that's for emotional support or to change a class because of wait lists.
One student suggested pull alarms in schools -- like a fire alarm -- for lockdowns to alert everyone in the school what is happening.
Santa Fe Senior Aaron Chenoweth saw the shooter on his way into to school. A short time later, he lost one of his football teammates. Now, he plans to return to school for his final two days of senior year.
"It's scary, I'm a little on edge about it, but no one should feel scared to go to school,” said Aaron Chenoweth. "They were good people, precious lives that shouldn’t have been taken, but they were."
To make sure of that, Chenoweth asked Governor Abbott to put more police officers in school campuses -- an idea Sen. Ted Cruz-R said he continues to hear.
"We saw incredible heroism, but had there been additional officers in place perhaps the shooter could have been stopped before he had taken anyone’s lives,” said Cruz.
Morgan Molsbee was a student in Alpine in 2016, when a freshman girl shot another student and then killed herself.
"I heard a teacher across the hall yell lockdown," said Molsbee.
The door to the classroom where Molsbee was didn't lock.
"We pushed chairs against doors, we shoved all the desks against the door and I was like, 'OK, we're OK,'" said Molsbee.
"If it had been a situation like Santa Fe, we would have had a possible worse outcome," said Molsbee's mother, Jackie, who is also a teacher at Alpine.
Jackie said that before the shooting, she thought they were prepared. Now, she has a few ideas for Governor Abbott.
"We need to be able to speak out and say this kid needs help," said Jackie.
She wants to see students with mental health issues identified at an earlier age.
"We know when we have taught for 20 years, the difference between a child that is having normal, sad, bad days, versus a child that comes to school every single day upset, no friends, writing things in notebooks. Teachers see that and nobody asks the teachers," said Jackie.
Jackie is also suggesting more funding at schools to upgrade security.
"We have lack of funding, but we're told we have to do it so where's that funding going to come from," said Jackie.
In Thursday's round table, one teacher suggested getting rid of the STAAR test, and instead using that money to fund new security measures in schools across the state.
For Morgan, she feels it comes down to access into the school.
"I think we just need one way in and one way out and you are watched walk in and watched walk out," said Morgan.
Wednesday's roundtable on school safety discussed mental health and gun regulations.
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Abbott plans to use this series of school safety discussions to create possible solutions and changes before the school year begins.
If you are interested in sharing your opinion on how to improve school safety, click here.