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ΔΕΙΤΕ ΑΚΟΜΑTeachers sacrificed themselves to save their pupilsFour teachers murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School all died heroes as they attempted to save their young pupils from a gunman they recognised as the son of one of the school’s kindergarten teachers.
6:35PM GMT 15 Dec 2012
Authorities have identified principal Dawn Hochsprung, 47, school psychologist Mary Sherlach, 56, and 27-year-old Victoria Soto, a young first grade teacher, as three of the eight adults found dead at the Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday.
A fourth teacher, Lauren Rousseau, 30, a substitute teacher who had been working at the school since October, was also reported to have been killed.
Twenty eight people died in the shooting spree, including 20 young children between the ages of five and ten. Six adults also died in the attack on the school.
It has been reported that Miss Soto sacrificed herself to save her students – throwing her body in front of the young children.
Some of the teachers took cover beneath tables when the murderer, Adam Lanza, opened fire inside the school in suburban Newtown, Connecticut – but the Mrs Hochsprung and Mrs Sherlach didn't hesitate, according to reports.
They ran into the hallway to confront the danger – and were murdered "execution-style" as a result.
It is understood that Lanza forced his way into the school past the newly-installed security system.
It was initially reported that Lanza's mother, Nancy Lanza had been a kindergarten teacher at the school, but staff later said they were not aware she worked there.
By that stage he had already killed his mother at the home they shared nearby with one of her guns and used her car to drive to the school.
Diane Day, a school therapist, told the Wall Street Journal that she and several other teachers were in a meeting with Mrs Hochsprung and Mrs Sherlach when the shooting began.“We were there for about five minutes chatting and we heard, 'pop pop pop',” she said. “I went under the table.”
But the principal and the school psychologist ran toward the sound of the gunfire with complete disregard for their own safety.
“They didn’t think twice about confronting or seeing what was going on,” Ms Day said.
Rabbi Shaul Praver, who visited the scene, said that Mrs Hochsprung and Mrs Sherlach were killed in an "execution-style" shooting.
Miss Soto, who had taught at the school for five years was described by one of her deeply distraught 10-year-old pupils as ‘really nice and funny’, was trying to shield her students and usher them into a closet when she came face-to-face with the gunman.
Miss Soto’s cousin, Jim Wiltsie, said: “She put herself between the gunman and the children and that’s when she was tragically shot and killed.
“I’m just proud that Vicki had the instincts to protect her kids from harm. It brings peace to know that Vicki was doing what she loved, protecting the children and in our eyes she’s a hero," he added.
Jacob Riley added that Miss Soto liked to chew gum in class – something not usually allowed for teachers. He said he often teased her about her habit – and she playfully teased him back.
Former school superintendent John Reed told the Connecticut Post that Mrs Sherlach was warm and cared deeply for her students.
“If there ever was a person, by qualifications and personality, to work with children, to be a school psychologist, it was Mary," he said.
She was married, had daughters in their 20s, and enjoyed gardening, reading and the theatre, according to her school biography.
Mrs Hochsprung, who was happily married to her second husband after her first marriage ended in divorce, tweeted dozens of pictures of her school since the start of term earlier this year.
Friends and neighbours said it was immediately clear to everyone she knew that she loved her students and her school.
“I don’t think you could find a more positive place to bring students to every day," she told a local newspaper recently.
Lauren Rousseau, who grew up in the neighbouring town of Danbury, CT, had been due to go see The Hobbit movie on Friday night with her boyfriend Tony Lusardi III before going to a party. She had even made cupcakes with pictures of the actors in the movie attached to the top.
But she never returned from school - it is thought she was one of the teachers looking after the kindergarten classes targetted by Adam Lanza.
Miss Rousseau's mother Teresa, a copy editor at The News-Timesnewspaper. "It was the best year of her life," said Mrs Rousseau, describing her daughters happiness at getting a permanent position at the school this year.
"She had so many interests - music, dance, theatre."
"She was like a kid in many ways," added her father, Gilles Rousseau. "That's why she liked working with kids so much. She died with her little kids."
Another tale of heroism came from an eight-year-old student who said a teacher pulled him from the hallway as bullets rang out.
“I saw some of the bullets going down the hall that I was right next to and then a teacher pulled me into her classroom. It sounded like someone was kicking a door,’ he said.
Abbey Clements, also a teacher at the school, recalled how she thought the loud banging noises were caused by folding chairs falling over but she quickly realized that the sounds being transmitted over the school's PA system were in fact gunshots.
There were two students loitering in the hallway and Miss Clements and other teachers ushered them into her classroom for safety.
"My heart breaks for my little students who had to listen to those gunshots, they are going to have to work out their own trauma," she said, adding, "I couldn't stop those sounds from coming through the classroom."
The teacher only opened the door to her classroom once police officers had arrived at the school. The police escorted the children, some who were quiet and some crying, out of the school.
Fortunately, all of her students escaped unharmed and none had to pass by any causalities.
Kaitlin Roig, another teacher who survived the attack, explained how she kept her class safe by ushering them into a bathroom when she heard shots being fired.
"I said to them, I need you to know that I love you all very much and that it's going to be OK, because I thought that was the last thing they were ever going to hear," she added.
Mary Ann Jacobs, who worked as a clerk in the school library added: "The intercom went off and we could hear a kind of skuffle going in the office. I thought it had been set off by mistake so I called the office and the school secretary answered and said it was a shooting. As far as I am concerned she is a hero as she was right where it was happening.
"I yelled lock down in our room and ran across the hall to tell them to lock down too. We locked all the doors and covered the windows and got all the kids somewhere they cannot be seen. We told them to sit down and be quiet.
"We took them into a storage room at the back of the library where the servers are. We tore up bits of paper and handed out crayons to give the kids something to do.
"We were there for around an hour before people starting banging on the door saying they were the police. We didn't open the door for a while until they put a badge under the door."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9746935/Teache
rs-sacrificed-themselves-to-save-their-pupils.html |
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