ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Sarah King, owner of Blush Boutique in Kirkwood, taught retail classes at Stevens Institute of Business and Arts (SIBA), where 34-year-old Sean Johnson allegedly opened fire Tuesday afternoon before shooting himself. She described her class of twelve students as an intimate environment. “The teachers really know every single student that’s there.”

She says most of the students are excited about their classes in the fashion industry and are ready to take it to the next level and find work in their field.

SIBA offers associates and bachelors degrees in tourism, business administration, fashion, retail and interior design.

King says she always felt safe at the school which moved to it’s current location a few years ago and renovated the historic building into what is described on the school’s website as a “high-tech” facility.

King, who was in Los Angeles on a buying trip, got the news of the shooting in a text. She said, “With all the shootings that seem to keep happening and for this to hit home at a school where I taught and where I know faculty and staff, makes me very sad, very sad.”

SIBA first opened its door as Patricia Stevens College in 1947.