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Worker Shielded Teen During Western Psych Shooting

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- When a gunman killed one man and wounded several others in the lobby of Western Psychiatric Clinic and Institute in Oakland, 16-year-old Dustin Grey had just rode the elevator to the lobby.

When the doors opened, the shooter was right in front of him.

"He had the gun in his hand and he was shooting," he told KDKA-TV. "I was shaken, but I didn't scream or nothing because I figure if I screamed, it would draw attention to myself."

Grey, who is treated for special needs at the hospital, was in the elevator with two staff members – one of whom grabbed him as gunshots flew.

"And then when the guy pulled me back in the elevator and he put me behind him … so nothing would happen."

They rode the elevator up and then ran to the basement where they stayed for hours.

"We put everything up against the door so nothing would happen," Grey said. "And then after that, a couple hours later, the SWAT team came in and got us out of the building."

Both Dustin and his mother say if the workers hadn't acted quickly, the gunman could have taken them as hostages or killed them too.

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