Elementary School Shooting: Children Describe Horror
While many students are still unaware as to the extreme violence that surrounded them earlier this morning at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Connecticut, some were able to describe what they saw and heard to members of the press.
"I was in the gym and I heard a loud, like seven loud booms, and the gym teachers told us to go in the corner, so we all huddled," one anonymous student told NBC Connecticut. "And I kept hearing these booming noises. And we all … started crying. All the gym teachers told us to go into the office where no one could find us."
"So then a police officer came in and told us to run outside. So we did and we came in the firehouse and waited for our parents," the little girl added.
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Other students described hearing "loud booms" which were actually the sounds of gunfire as it rang throughout the school earlier this morning. At least 27 people were shot, according to the Associated Press, and 18 of them were children.
Teachers attempted to shield their young students, aged 5-10, from the horror around them as they made their way through the building.
"They were told to hold hands and close their eyes. What was in there must have been very gruesome," a bystander told MSNBC.
Those who didn't make it outside were kept in their classroom closets until help could arrive. Teachers are being credited with doing their very best to protect their young students, according to ABC News. One report stated that students responded quickly when their teachers told them to "grab a pal and walk out."
"We had to walk with a partner," 8-year-old Alexis Wasik told The Hartford Courrant.
Police have not confirmed the shooter(s)' identity at this time, nor have they offered a motive as to the violent act.
