Teenage Muslim Girl Opens Oshkosh Mosque to Students During School Shooting

Wisconsin teenager Duaa Ahmad, 17, helped around 100 of her fellow Oshkosh West High School students take shelter at the nearby mosque where she and her family worship after a school stabbing and shooting on Tuesday.

The incident began when a 16-year-old student stabbed a law enforcement officer and the officer shot the student, police said. Both wounds turned out to be nonfatal. When the shot was fired, the teacher in Ahmad’s class told someone to call 911 and instructed the students to flee the classroom, CNN reported.

“A guy yelled, ‘go, go to the mosque’ and that’s where everybody seemed to be going anyway, so I just tried to lock as many people in as I could,” she told CNN. Ahmad had unlocked the mosque with a security code, which her father, Saad Ahmad, told CNN all mosque members have access to.

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As soon as Saad Ahmad, heard about what happened, he said he went to the mosque to help. The father-daughter team made sure the students knew where the water and bathrooms were and that they were comfortable.

“I’m really glad she opened the mosque right away and took the initiative,” her father told CNN. “I was quite proud of her that she was able to handle this situation at such a young age.”

Oshkosh West High School resumed classes on Friday, according to the Oshkosh Area School District.

The Oshkosh Admadiyya Muslims Facebook group posted a heartwarming message about Ahmad’s bravery.

“One of the member and student at Oshkosh West opened the Mosque Doors immediately to accommodate the students and provide a quick warm shelter and refreshments,” the post said. “As concerned citizens and close neighbors, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community offers any and all services to Oshkosh School System and the City. Our doors are always open.”

But Ahmad said she did what anyone would have done in her situation.

“I was there at the right time in the worst situation,” she told CNN.