Claudine Keane has revealed the extreme distress she felt this week, as she feared for her son Robbie Jr during the shootings in LA.
At least 14 people were killed in the mass shooting in California, and a number of establishments – including 70 schools – had gone into lockdown as three shooters were on the run.
Writing in her column in the Irish Daily Star, Claudine, who is currently living in America, said, “It just seemed unbelievable. I had to worry about my own son who was at school.
“It may have been over an hour’s drive away from us, but the police had issued warnings that there were up to three shooters on the run, and that 70 schools had gone into lock-down in fear that a school may be targeted.
“I literally counted down the time for school to end so Robert and all the other children in schools around California were safe.”
Claudine also revealed that she had a harrowing experience of her own last year, as she found herself hiding for cover during another attack in the States.
“This very week last year, I was Christmas shopping on Rodeo Drive when I saw some parked police vehicles along the street.
“Suddenly I heard a loud shot and people around me started to run and scream. My adrenaline started to pump and my reaction was to run and take cover in the nearest store.
“There were about four of us who ran into the Valentino store. Security locked the doors and we didn’t know if it was indeed some kind of mass shooting.
“I remember just sitting there under the clothes rail thinking, ‘this is not real, how could this be happening to me? I need to wake up from this nightmare.’
“We were there for an hour, but it felt like an eternity, and it was the unknown – would they come here next? I have never been so scared in my life.”
