School officials and B.C.’s premier are pledging a review of school safety protocols after two high school students were knifed in what police are calling a random attack.

Letisha Reimer was just 13 years old when she was stabbed to death in the rotunda of Abbotsford Senior Secondary on Tuesday. A 14-year-old girl, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, was also stabbed and is now recovering in hospital.

Administrators placed the school under lockdown for several hours, even though Abbotsford Police had already arrested a 21-year-old suspect minutes after the girls were stabbed. The lockdown left dozens of parents outside the school looking in and feeling helpless and anxious for news.

“It’s terrifying for the parents because we have no idea [what’s going on],” one mother told CTV News.

But students and officials say inside the school everyone sprang into action as word spread of the attack, executing lockdown protocols the students practice annually.

"It was fast. Students reacted like that, teachers reacted like that and the whole system worked,” said Grade 12 student Baneet Braich.

She was in a computer lab when the 14-year-old girl stumbled in covered in blood and crying for help. Braich says the teacher and students immediately started staunching the girl’s wounds with their own clothing.

"You can practice this all you want, but when the real thing happens it's the ultimate test and I'm so proud of our staff and the police for the manner in which they responded,” said Abbotsford School District Superintendent Kevin Godden.

"[Two staff] stopped this individual first by yelling at him, and then staff converged on him,” said Godden.

Staffers restrained Gabriel Klein until police could arrive. He is now in custody and has been charged with second degree murder and aggravated assault. Police say the suspect has no connection to the school or the Abbotsford community.

“All of the emergency planning that we do at our schools had an impact in this case because the people stepped in to stop it as it was going on,” said Premier Christy Clark at a Vancouver press conference addressing the fatal attack.

Clark called the two employees heroes, and while she said schools are among the safest place a child can be in British Columbia, she also opened the door to changes to current security protocols.

"We need to understand what happened first, we need to see the results of the police investigation” she said.

“But if there is more we need to do and we can do, we will do it."

B.C. schools routinely conduct drills to prepare for several types of emergencies, including earthquakes and violent incidents that can require lockdowns or “hold and secure” situations, where a school will lock all doors to keep out any potential threats but classes continue as normal inside.

CTV News contacted the Vancouver, Burnaby and Surrey school districts, which all confirmed they have the same unlocked door policy as Abbotsford at their high schools. All doors can be opened by anyone from inside or outside the school, though signs are located throughout most facilities directing visitors to register at the reception desk.

Administrators told CTV News they don’t want to lock all the doors to avoid having students’ learning environment feel prison-like.

They also pointed out that since many schools require portables to handle demand, many students go in and out of the school on an hourly basis, making a logistical headache if side doors are routinely locked.

“Some decision will be made in the not-too-distant future as to whether our protocols were successful and or whether they need to be changed," said Godden.

Other school districts will be looking at the results of Abbotsford’s evaluation as they conduct their own annual assessments of their safety and critical incident plans. Students at Abbotsford Secondary want their peers around the province to think twice next time they’re prompted to rehearse a drill.

"We practice lockdown drills and sometimes kids don't take them seriously,” Braich said.

Still badly rattled from her experience less than 24 hours earlier, she was nonetheless proud at how her school community responded to a dangerous situation that claimed a life.

“It shows us that this is why security is so important."