SPRINGFIELD, ILL. (WAND) - On Monday night, Mylas Copeland received an alert that read "run, hide and fight" from his son's college, Michigan State University.

"And I thought, 'wait a minute.' I immediately told my wife, call Aesen," said Copeland.

Copeland quickly processed what was happening over six hours away at MSU. An active shooter was on the lose at the university. His son, Aesen Copeland, a freshman at MSU realized the danger that was going on right across campus.

"At first I thought nothing of it. We hear of shots around campus every once in a while. But then my parents started texting me. Then the group message from our RA's started to go off that said 'run, hide and fight,'" said Aesen.

Aesen was studying with his girlfriend when they heard about the shooting which left thousands of students seeking shelter and barricading doors.

"We turned off the lights, put our shoes on and just listened to the horror that was going on around us," said Kylie Ricci, freshman at MSU.

Aesen's roommate, Chris Scott, remembers exactly what he was doing at the time of the shooting. He even heard gunshots right outside the building he was locked in.

"I was lifting weights with my friend Brian. We're just in the room. People were barricading the door. He made his way towards the gym and all we heard was shots and then people just started running," said Scott, freshman at MSU.

"People were being held at gunpoint, screaming, barricaded behind a door. They had no idea what the next few minutes of their life would look like," said Ricci.

Mylas Copeland immediately drove towards campus, making the six-hour drive in the middle of the night. He was able to bring his son and several college friends back home with him to safety.

"You never thought it would happen," said Copeland. "We never thought it would happen."

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