Survivors give account of fatal school shooting

SURVIVORS of a Kentucky school shooting in which two 15-year-old pupils were killed and another 18 people were injured have revealed their terror after shots first rang out.

Some pupils ran into classrooms at Marshall County High School in Benton to hide from a 15-year-old boy who opened fire on the campus, while others ran out of the building.

Bailey Nicole Holt and Preston Ryan Cope, both 15, were killed when a classmate, who has not been identified, opened fire on Tuesday morning in the school’s busy atrium, a common area in the centre of the school where children gather before classes.

Trauma consumed the rural town of about 4,300 people, where nearly everyone has a connection to the school.

Kentucky State Police Commissioner Rick Sanders said authorities would not yet identify a 15-year-old in police custody who is alleged to have walked into the school armed with a pistol just before 8am before opening fire.

“No-one screamed,” said 16-yearold Alexandria Caporali, recounting the moment her high school became the site of the latest American mass shooting. “It was almost completely silent as people just ran.”

Ms Caporali was eating breakfast when she heard a shot, turned and saw the teenager with the gun. She knew him as a quiet boy who played music and always seemed happy. After the first shot, he seemed to hesitate.

The boy kept shooting until he ran out of ammunition, Ms Caporali said, adding that he then he took off running, but was soon apprehended by police and led away in handcuffs.