WINDER, Ga. — As Americans, we often feel tied to the tragedies that happen around our country.
That's especially true for one of WFMY News 2's team members tonight.
WFMY News 2's Nixon Norman shared her personal connection to Wednesday's shooting in Winder, Georgia.
During her junior year of high school, she was taught by one of the 9 people injured, David Phenix.
At the time, he taught a computer class and was a coach at Walnut Grove High School, just 30 minutes from Apalachee High School where the shooting occurred.
She asked her former principal at WGHS, Thomas Boutwell, to share his thoughts as shock spreads throughout the community.
These days, you might feel schools are no longer safe spaces.
"Education has really changed over the years," Boutwell said, who was principal at WGHS from 2009 to 2014.
It's an evolution he's seen firsthand, "it's an almost everyday occurrence now, that they're [schools across the country] finding students at schools with weapons," Boutwell said.
But the massacre at that Georgia high school 30 minutes away, took him especially by surprise because one of the teachers injured, was a former Walnut Grove teacher, David Phenix.
"I was just totally shocked. Especially when I found out that one of the staff members who got shot was David Phenix," Boutwell said.
Phenix's daughter shared an update on social media, saying her dad was shot in the hip and foot but is now stable in the hospital.
It's encouraging news to Boutwell, who said he's stayed in touch with his former colleague.
"I hired David when he first started working at Walnut Grove and he was there for a few years. I also hired him as a coach," Boutwell said.
He said he noticed Phenix's ability to connect with students.
"If I was a student in school, I would want to get him for every class, every period," Boutwell said. "He could go into a classroom and in 15 minutes, you could hear a pin drop. He would have the attention of those kids. He was a special teacher [at Walnut Grove High School]."
Boutwell said per Phenix's daughter's post, that he will make a full recovery.
"He's got a long road ahead of himself and I wish him the best," Boutwell said.
As for the Apalachee High community, dealing with 13 people who were shot today, Boutwell said, "it's gonna take a while to get over this."
David Phenix is just one of 9 people who are recovering from their injuries.
WFMY News 2 will likely learn the identities of the others in the coming days.