US Shooting: School library clerk saved 18 kids

A brave worker at the Connecticut school rescued 18 kids from the gunman by hiding them in a library supply closet, as Adam Lanza went shooting.

Washington: A brave worker at the Connecticut school rescued 18 kids from the demented gunman by hiding them in a library supply closet, as Adam Lanza went shooting in the hallway outside.

“I shouted, ‘Lockdown!’ ” Mary Ann Jacob recalled on Saturday, adding: “I tried to remain calm. I didn’t want the kids to panic. . . . I just kept thinking, ‘Stay calm.’” According to the New York Daily News, Jacob said a peculiar crackling over the school’s public-address system was the first sign that the quiet December morning had turned deadly about 9:30 am. “It sounded strange,” Jacob said, adding: “I knew something was wrong.” Within seconds, a school secretary warned Jacob there was a killing machine in their midst. Then she heard the sounds of bullets flying, the report said. “I don’t remember how many,” Jacob, who has worked at the K-4 school for five years, said, adding: “It was bang! Bang! Bang!” According to the report, Jacob coolly followed school protocol, blocking the library entrance with a file cabinet before steering the youngsters into the supply closet. The kids, following her directions, walked inside in short order. They remained in the closet for about an hour, even as an eerie post-shooting silence descended on the building before police arrived, the report said. It took an hour before Jacob finally heard a police officer pounding on the library door, letting them know it was safe to emerge from their haven, it added. “It was horrific,” she said of the devastating attack, adding: “It’s hard to describe the horror of this situation, how these people were so loved. They will all be so missed.” ANI