A Long Island father whose son works at a FedEx location in Indianapolis says a company policy made it difficult to reach him Friday when a shooting occurred at the facility.

Chris Casey of Southampton says his heart stopped when he heard the news of the mass shooting.

"I hear Indianapolis and I know that's where my son is, and then it says FedEx facility, and then a second alarm goes off," Chris said.

His son Ryan has been working for FedEx in Indianaoplis for five years.

"It was terrifying," Casey said. "Absolutely terrifying. Sad. You just think the worst of course. You know there's eight people dead. I called him a bunch, I texted him a bunch. He didn't pick up -- I knew why. It was a waste."

It was a waste, Casey says, because he knew his son was not allowed to bring his cellphone into work per company policy.

Casey said that made matters worse, until his phone finally rang.

"At about 8:30 in the morning my son called, and tears came to my eyes and ... so happy to see that he was alive. Very emotional."

Casey's son says he's still trying to process what happened.

"I don't really think it's like really sunk in yet. The whole entire gravity of the situation," he said.

His workspace is only a short walk away from where the shooting took place. He was home at the time.

Ryan Casey wonders what would've happened if employees had their cellphones with them.

"It wasn't really handled that properly. People still don't know information. If people were allowed to bring their cellphones onto the property, this type of thing would have been dealt with -- the more information the better -- like where they are located or contact your family, and stuff like that."

Reflecting on the shooting, both son and father agree something needs to change.

"I guess they had their reasons for this policy, but maybe they need to rethink the policy now that this has happened," Chris Casey said.

According to a statement to News 12, it appears FedEx will not change its cellphone policy. It said, "To support safety protocols and minimize potential distractions around package sortation equipment and dock operations, cellphone access within certain areas of FedEx Ground field operations is limited to authorized team members."