Takisha Duncan walks up an alley to get her child Taniya Lumpkin, a senior at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School, at the evacuation point on the Schnucks parking lot after a shooting at the school in south St. Louis on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Video by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
Takisha Duncan got a text message from her daughter on Monday morning.
There was an intruder at her school. She wanted her mother to come get her.
“Mom, hurry up,†wrote Taniya Lumpkin, a senior. “They’re shooting.â€
Duncan was one of dozens of parents looking for their children who had fled the Central Visual and Performing Arts High School campus at Kingshighway and Arsenal Street. Police cars and emergency vehicles filled the roadways. Students streamed out of school buildings, hands up. Ambulance workers rolled out gurneys.
Duncan dropped everything and left work.
People are also reading…
“I just ran here to get her,†she said, still hurrying down an alleyway, through traffic and roadblocks to get to campus.
“When I got here, I just started hearing shots,†she said.
Police told bystanders to get down, to back away from the scene.
Duncan got ahold of her daughter on her cellphone. Taniya said the shooter tried to break into the classroom but couldn’t get in.
“I told her to be quiet,†Duncan said.
Then police told Duncan the news: “They told us they got the shooter.â€
“I’m thankful to God that the police so happened to get him, to stop him from getting inside the door,†she said.
Several parents said the same on Monday morning, praising police officers for their response.
Police and school officials evacuated students to the Schnucks grocery store on Arsenal.
There, just before 10 a.m., mother and daughter found each other again.
They hugged. And cried.
Photos: School Shooting at CVPA High School in St. Louis

High school students console one another in the parking lot of Schnucks on Arsenal, after fleeing Central Visual and Performing Arts High School after a shooting at the school on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022.

“He looked at me, he pointed the gun at me,†said Ray Parks, second from right, a dance teacher who came face to face with the gunman. Parks was prayed over by student Messiah Miller, 16, center, a junior at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, and others outside the school where a shooting took place on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022, in the Southwest Garden neighborhood.

People embrace in the Schnucks Arsenal parking lot following the shooting at Central Visual Performing Arts High School in St. Louis on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Photo by Jordan Opp, jopp@post-dispatch.com

People race across Kingshighway at Arsenal Street after a shooting at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School and the Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 in the Southwest Garden neighborhood. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

St. Louis police officers work outside the scene of a school shooting at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School and the Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 in the Southwest Garden neighborhood. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

People embrace in the Schnucks Arsenal parking lot following the shooting at Central Visual Performing Arts High School in St. Louis on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Photo by Jordan Opp, jopp@post-dispatch.com

A third-floor window is shot out at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School following a shooting on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 in the Southwest Garden neighborhood. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

St. Louis Public Schools Superintendent Kelvin Adams steps away after speaking at a news conference outside Central Visual & Performing Arts High School following a school shooting on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022, in the Southwest Garden neighborhood.

Concerned parents arrive at the scene of a school shooting at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School in south St. Louis on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com

Police cars assemble at Arsenal and Kingshighway on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022, at the scene of a shooting at CVPA and Collegiate high schools. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones hugs U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-St. Louis, before a news conference outside Central Visual and Performing Arts High School following a school shooting on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022, in the Southwest Garden neighborhood.

A parent embraces his child at the evacuation point for students who were at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School after a shooting at the school in south St. Louis on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com

Takisha Duncan (left) embraces her child Taniya Lumpkin, a senior at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School, at the evacuation point on the Schnucks parking lot after a shooting at the school in south St. Louis on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com

Messiah Miller, 16, a junior at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School, is reunited with his mother Bridget Morrow following a school shooting on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 in the Southwest Garden neighborhood. Messiah studies music at the school. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

High School students were evacuated to the Schnucks parking lot from the Central Visual & Performing Arts High School after a reported shooting at the school in in south St. Louis on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com

People embrace at the evacuation point on the Schnucks parking lot after a school shooting at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School in south St. Louis on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com

Law enforcement arrives at the scene of a school shooting at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School in south St. Louis on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com

St. Louis interim Police Chief Michael Sack speaks at a news conference watched by Public Safety Director Dan Isom and U.S. Rep. Cori Bush outside Central Visual & Performing Arts High School following a school shooting on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 in the Southwest Garden neighborhood. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

St. Louis interim Police Chief Michael Sack speaks at a news conference outside Central Visual & Performing Arts High School following a school shooting on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 in the Southwest Garden neighborhood. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

St. Louis police officers work the scene outside Central Visual & Performing Arts High School and the Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience following a school shooting on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 in the Southwest Garden neighborhood. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

Teacher Debbi Cox, center right, shares hugs with a student following a shooting at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School and the Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 in the Southwest Garden neighborhood. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-St. Louis, steps away after speaking at a news conference with St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones and interim police Chief Michael Sack outside Central Visual and Performing Arts High School following a school shooting on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022, in the Southwest Garden neighborhood.Â

Law enforcement officers gather on the football field behind Central Visual & Performing Arts High School and the Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience following a shooting on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 in the Southwest Garden neighborhood. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

An ATF agent works at the scene of a shooting at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School and the Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 in the Southwest Garden neighborhood. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

Parents and students walk across Kingshighway at Arsenal Street after a shooting at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School and the Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 in the Southwest Garden neighborhood. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

An ATF agent passes under police tape at the scene of a shooting at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School and the Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 in the Southwest Garden neighborhood. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

Teacher Debbi Cox, center left, stands with a student following a shooting at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School and the Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 in the Southwest Garden neighborhood. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

A Central Visual Performing Arts High School employee, left, hugs her sister in the Schnucks parking lot following the shooting at the high school on in St. Louis Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Photo by Jordan Opp, jopp@post-dispatch.com

Schnucks Arsenal frozen foods manager Steven Bunting, left, hands out water bottles to police officers in the Schnucks parking lot following the shooting at Central Visual Performing Arts High School in St. Louis on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Photo by Jordan Opp, jopp@post-dispatch.com

Kit Roesch, right, a junior at Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience, hugs her father Don Roesch in the Schnucks Arsenal parking lot following the shooting at the school in St. Louis on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Photo by Jordan Opp, jopp@post-dispatch.com

People check their phones as they walk towards the Schnucks Arsenal parking lot following the shooting at Central Visual Performing Arts High School in St. Louis on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Photo by Jordan Opp, jopp@post-dispatch.com

People embrace in the Schnucks Arsenal parking lot following the shooting at Central Visual Performing Arts High School in St. Louis on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Photo by Jordan Opp, jopp@post-dispatch.com

Bethlehem Lutheran Church pastor Gerard Bowling, right, leads students, teachers and family members in a prayer in the Schnucks Arsenal parking lot following the shooting at Central Visual Performing Arts High School in St. Louis on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Bowling arrived at the scene after receiving a text from one of the youth members of the church who attended the high school. Photo by Jordan Opp, jopp@post-dispatch.com

A side entry door, shot out at the bottom, is guarded by St. Louis police following a school shooting on the shared campus of Central Visual and Performing Arts High School and Collegiate School of Medicine & Bioscience.

A side school entry door, shot out at the bottom, is processed by a St. Louis police crime scene officer following a school shooting at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 in the Southwest Garden neighborhood. A teacher, student and the suspected shooter were killed in the morning attack. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner, second from left, and her staff arrive at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School following a shooting on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 at Kingshighway and Arsenal Street. A teacher, student and the suspected shooter were killed in the morning attack. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

A man brings flowers to Central Visual & Performing Arts High School following a shooting on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 at Kingshighway and Arsenal Street. A teacher, student and the suspected shooter were killed in the morning attack. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

A friend of Alexzandria Bell, the student killed in a school shooting at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School, leaves the school grounds on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 in the Southwest Garden neighborhood. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

Teachers and staff members of Central Visual & Performing Arts High School talk at the front entrance and prepare to leave following a shooting on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 at Kingshighway and Arsenal Street. A teacher, student and the suspected shooter were killed in the morning attack. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com

Police block off the streets around the Central Visual & Performing Arts High School as they investigate the area after a shooting inside the school in south St. Louis on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com

Teacher Octavio Nieto-Jacobo consoles fellow teacher Debbi Cox outside the Central Visual & Performing Arts High School in south St. Louis on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. The teachers and staff returned to the school to pick up personal items like car keys, jackets, and computers. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com

Police gather outside the Central Visual & Performing Arts High School after a shooting inside south St. Louis on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com

Police block off the streets around the Central Visual & Performing Arts High School as they investigate the area after a shooting inside the school in south St. Louis on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com

Marie Crane, 24, holds a candle during a vigil in Tower Grove Park for the victims of the school shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School in St. Louis on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. "It's tragic. I just wanted to be with the community and grieve," said Crane, who lives a few block from the school. Several hundred people attended the vigil.Â

Rep. Cori Bush addresses the crowd during a vigil in Tower Grove Park for the victims of the school shooting at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School in St. Louis on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com

Cody Badgwell (second from right) and Yolanda Sulton (right) stand to the side in a pavilion before a vigil at Tower Grove Park as Mayor Tishaura Jones holds a press conference about the shooting Central Visual & Performing Arts High School in St. Louis on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Several hundred people attended the vigil. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com

Kevin Montes and Natalia Serra listen as speakers address the crowd during a vigil in Tower Grove Park for the victims of the school shooting at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School in St. Louis on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. They live about 100 yards away from the school. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com