The heartfelt text messages teen brothers exchanged during the Florida school shooting

As gunfire echoed through the halls of a Florida high school last week, Sam and Matthew Zeif were among the students hiding inside, wondering if they would walk out again.
 
The two brothers were in separate classrooms at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on the afternoon of February 14 when Nikolas Cruz allegedly entered the grounds and opened fire.
 
Seventeen students and staff members were killed in the massacre.
 
Sam Zeif, 18, had finished a maths class when he heard shots ringing out. His teacher instructed the students to find hiding spots in their second-floor classroom and remain inside.

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“After sitting there for 10 minutes of hearing shots, I realised my brother was right above me. He was on the third floor,” the final-year student recalled to InsideEdition.

Concerned for his younger sibling’s safety, Sam texted him: “Are you okay”.
 
“Hopefully. Just know, I love you …  forever and you’re the best brother,” Matthew, 14, wrote back.
 
“I love you too,” Sam responded.

Images: Sam Zeif/Twitter
 
The teacher Matthew referred to was Scott Beigel, who taught geography and coached the school’s cross country team. He’d only been at the school for a year.
 
As Sam and Matthew’s Jennifer Zeif told the New York Times after the shooting, the 35-year-old had ushered students into his classroom as they fled from the gunshots in the hallway.
 
Matthew had been the last pupil to slip inside the room, just ahead of Mr Beigel, who was shot and killed seconds later as he tried to re-lock the door.
 
The room had filled with a “smokey haze”, Matthew said, and he’d turned to see the teacher “pale and bleeding” as he lay near the door.

After the two brothers were reunited outside the school, Sam shared their text exchange on Twitter, where it has since been read and shared by thousands.
 
“Scariest part of it all was knowing my little brother was right above me and not knowing if I would ever see him again,” he wrote. 
 
“I’ve never really treated him the way he deserved. Not anymore. Seeing his face outside of school was the most relief I had ever felt.”
 
Speaking to InsideEdition, Sam - who lost one of his best friends in the shooting - said he and Matthew had never really “connected”, but their shared ordeal had completely changed their relationship.
 
“I have this unreal appreciation for him that I never felt before and it’s amazing because I never realised how life could take him away from me,” the 18-year-old said.