They pull out weapons and open fire in the parking lot. They proceed inside, to the school cafeteria, shooting as they walk, then upstairs to the library, still shooting. As bullets ricochet throughout the building, scores of students hide in closets, bathrooms, under tables and chairs. Some students, barricaded behind a heavy door, whisper of their terror over cell-phone calls to relatives. Dozens more flee the building, hiding in bushes or sprinting to a nearby park.
Ambulances take students wounded first, all of whom managed to run outside, to area hospitals.
Anguished parents, awaiting word on their children, gather at nearby Leawood Elementary School. In small groups, the students and teachers run from the building to a holding area, where they are frisked, questioned, offered medical care and then bused to Leawood School to be reunited with parents. Officers searching the library find the bodies of both suspects, who apparently died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds. All bodies remain inside. Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved.