Georgia school shooting stirs painful memories for Saugus High School shooting survivor

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The deadly school shooting in Georgia has stirred up emotions across the country -- especially for victims of gun violence.

This November will mark five years since a 16-year-old student shot five classmates, killing two, at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita.

Mia Tretta, one of the survivors of that shooting, shared her thoughts about the gun violence in Georgia.

"Every single time there is a shooting, it's like I'm in my hospital bed again, or it's like seconds after the bullet entered my body," Tretta described.

Tretta dealt with the physical pain of being wounded and the emotional pain of losing her best friend who was killed.

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A survivor of the 2019 Saugus High School shooting has turned her anger and sadness into action.

"I went into that school on a normal day, and I was wheeled out on a gurney. I was shot with a .45-caliber ghost gun, by a student I had never met before," Tretta recounted.

Wednesday's school shooting in Winder, Georgia brought back painful memories for Tretta. Her best friend Dominick Blackwell was one of two students killed in the 2019 rampage.

Now a college sophomore, Tretta has turned her pain into purpose as a gun violence prevention advocate with the goal of ending gun violence in our country.

"It's not just Parkland, and Uvalde and Sandy Hook, but those are the ones people really got riled-up over. Every time we lose that energy, we also lose the motivation for more policy change, which just lets it happen to more people," she said.

MORE: Saugus school shooting survivor speaks at White House

Saugus High School shooting survivor Mia Tretta spoke at the White House and praised the Biden administration for cracking down on ghost guns.

"Making sure there are active shooting drills on all school campuses across the state of California. Making sure young people as well as the faculty understand, if in fact there is an active shooter, what to do during that particular time," said Assemblymember Mike Gipson (D-Carson).

AB 1858, which calls on comprehensive school safety plans, is still being considered in the Assembly, with amendments pending.

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Students from Apalachee High School in Georgia experienced what thousands of American children have experienced before them - the terror of becoming victims of a school shooting.