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School Nurse Reveals the Chilling Details From CT Shooting: The Moment She Saw the Killer and How Long She Hid in a Closet

Dec. 17, 2012 10:25am Erica Ritz

Sandy Hook Nurse Sally Cox Remembers Newtown, CT School Shooting | Adam Lanza

Sally Cox was photographed the day of the attack. (Photo via CBS News)

Sally Cox has been the school nurse at Sandy Hook Elementary for fifteen years. Last Friday began as any other– with the pledge of allegiance, followed by a locking of the outer doors at 9:15.

But roughly 15 minutes later, before the normal stream of children had time to come in with the usual coughs and ailments, Cox said she heard a rough “popping.”

“My first thought was, was this something with the heating– something– or did something fall?” she remembered shakily.

But she had a sort of sense of impending doom when the secretary called her name, remembering the fear in her voice.

That “popping” had likely been the gunman shooting his way into the school, and he was headed straight for the nurse’s office.

(Photo: CBS News)

Cox related what happened next:

Sally Cox: …The popping kept going off. And I just dove underneath my computer desk. The back of the desk has a small opening for, like, wires to come out. And I just peeked. I could see his feet and his legs from the knees down. And he– his feet were facing in my direction. And I just froze with fear. And then he just– it was just seconds and then he turned around and I could hear him walk out. I heard the door close and then I just heard popping starting all over again. And then the secretary, she was down behind my desk and we pulled the phone off the desk and she called 911.

[Interviewer] Scott Pelley: And she said what?

Sally Cox: She said– I– she said, “We have a shoo– please send help right away. We have a shooter in the building.” And then we just wanted to get out of there. And then we just ran into my big supply closet… We pulled that door closed. So we were behind two locked doors. And we could just hear the popping continue. And we heard screams. There’s nothing we could do. You know? It was just a helpless, horrible feeling. You know? And just like a nightmare that– couldn’t believe that– you know, you just think it’s a bad dream. After some time, I think it was about 11:15, so we had been in that closet for about an hour and a half, I opened the door and I peeked out, ’cause my office has a lot of windows and looks into the courtyard. And I just saw what looked like maybe SWAT people but I didn’t know, you know, who they were. I didn’t know if there were other shooters. And it wasn’t until 1:15 when I– somebody was jiggling the door. And– but nobody called out. So I decided to be brave enough and open that door into the office and a lot of state police officers were there at that point. And they were very surprised to see me. [Emphasis added]

Cox had been in the office roughly four hours by the time she left. When she was escorted from the building, officers told her to shut her eyes to spare her the sight of the students and teachers she once cared for.

Here is video from CBS’ special report, which also includes interviews with those close to the Lanza family, a student in Lanza’s English class, and an expert in school shootings:

–

In CONTROL, Glenn Beck presents a passionate, fact-based case for guns that reveals why gun control isn’t really about controlling guns at all; it’s about controlling us. Find out more HERE.

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Comments (81)

RestoreCapitalism
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 2:43pm
What a tragedy this is. It’s an insult that the political powers will use this to further their agenda, as Obama is already ramping up to now. You know, if you were to search the home of Oprah or Michael Moore, you would no doubt find spoons, forks, and all kinds of eating paraphernalia, but that doesn’t make them fat, it’s their own behavior.

You can’t idiot proof the world, but you can take away everyone’s freedom trying.

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- Detroit paperboy
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 5:36pm
  So…….I read that the mother knew this kid was nuts, and warned the babysitter 15 years ago…when he was ten years old…but at twenty, she looked the other way, this nut bag had access to weapons and she or no one else ever noticed ?????? Good grief, just look at the photo of this turd….you tell me he does not look nuts…..was his mom an NEA liberal, or what ? Don’t judge ….correct……
  
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- SocialistSlayer
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 6:08pm
  Some kind of Nurse ! She hid while the little kids were being slaughtered – I would hate to experience her coming Nightmares as she relives her Cowardice !
  
  Report this comment
- seresmary
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 12:27am
  It’s unfortunate that no one, not even a clergy from the prayer vigil the other night said the words that are responsible for this tragedy. It’s called “SIN” people, we live in a sinful world, a world filled with evil. Yes there are some good people but they are sinners as well, and until we all realize that the only answer for sin is in a “Savior” and we repent of our sin and except the price that was paid for on the Cross, this world is lost. I was really astonished to not here one pastor invoke the name of Jesus Christ, sin, repentance, humility, seeking God, turning from our wicked ways, where are these pastors preaching, what are they preaching that is a better question. What this young man did was horrific, but he was totally devoid of righteousness and filled with sin. Everyone talks about the mother and her love for her guns and the sport of it, but did she believe in God, did she attend church, was the young man grounded in faith, obviously not. It’s not the “guns” people that do the killing, they are but an instrument of the evil behind the weapon. Until we face the fact of evil in our world and the obvious choice to repent of that evil nothing will change, nothing. Someone said, the Devil came to Newtown Friday, well the Devil came to everytown today and tomorrow.Mary711
  
  Report this comment
- The Giver
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 1:13am
  Weird times.
  Socialistslayer, I thought the same thing about the nurse. But then I remembered that a scene needs to be secure for first responders to even come in. Behind two locked doors, she couldn’t tell what was going on much. When things got quiet, she might have helped a little, but this was not what a school nurse handles. This is more for an EMT or Paramedic. Nurses are good at whatever they have experience doing. A school nurse for 15 years, doesn’t have know how to handle this. Nurses should be trained for all sorts of events, or have EMTs.
  
  Report this comment
TheHalfrican
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 2:17pm
I am confused by the statement ” there was nothing we could do” . How about taking out your gun and shooting this POS. Has anybody noticed that the very 1st thing the survivors do after one of these nightmares is to run straight into the arms of a man or woman who is holding a gun ?

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- michaelmoron
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 2:33pm
  That’s a helpless liberal for you. “There is nothing we can do”
  
  Hey Lib, you just got a ticket for jaywalking.
  Lib: “There is nothing we can do”
  
  Hey Lib, with inflation, bread will be 20 dollars a loaf, soon.
  Lib: “There is nothing we can do”
  
  Hey lib, They have taken away our Liberties and Rights.
  Lib: “There is nothing we can do”
  
  Hey Lib, America is dead. It Has been seized by a Private Bank (Federal Reserve) in 1933 and
  Sold in 1992. And now the new owners want a One World Government.
  Lib: “There is nothing we can do”
  
  Report this comment
- Rightallalong
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 3:03pm
  Even if you don’t have a gun, cowering in the corner? Give me a break … with a handgun it is very difficult to hit a moving target even if youa re a pretty decent shot which 99% of people (including cops) are not. Studies have shown police shoot-outs happen at less than 7 yards and the cops miss 80% of the time.
  
  You and a fwe others attack the guy and save the kids…. maybe a few people get shot, better than 20 kids…. American have become a bunch of cowards.
  
  Report this comment
- SocialistSlayer
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 6:10pm
  Street Rules :
  Run From A Knife
  Charge a Gun !
  
  Report this comment
- happ77
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 8:42am
  There was nothing SHE could do. People are
  posting “if only someone had a gun”.
  We’re talking about liberals, they get physically
  sick in the presence of guns.
  
  Report this comment
Afungi
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 2:16pm
Trying to use a sane logical mind to figure out a crazy one’s motives that make you scream “This makes no sense. How could anyone do something so horrid.” I have to make sense of this. Does not work.
Problem solvers work with what is and what can be done not wishful thinking. 0.5% of people are going to be a dangerous problem sometime in their life. It is not possible to find them all and prevent them from injuring others. Thinking you can is wishful thinking. Reality making schools weapon free zones are having an effect of being a nut magnet. The genie is out of the bottle. The response time for a school is what 20 min? And they announce their coming with lights and sirens blazing. Mostly they show up to do forensics. Limit access and be ready to meet deadly force (bad people) with advantaged deadly force. Look to countries that have dealt with extreme violence in public places.
The school principal heroically through her life at the killer. She would have changed the out come drastically had she been allowed the tools, training and protected site to control a limited entry zone with a clear kill zone and the will to in force it. Wishing all guns would just go away and we can find all crazies and stop them preemptively is not reality. Learn from it. Deal with it!

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Charybdis
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 2:15pm
Of course there was nothing you could do, Maam. You were unarmed while facing an armed lunatic.

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AmericaMustBeFree
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 1:47pm
Empower the teachers, principals and even the nurse.. if one of them had had a gun.. 26 lives would not have all been lost.

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Owt_Raged
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 1:46pm
Of course there was nothing you could do. You were forbidden to have or carry firearms to protect yourself, as schools are a gun free zone. The little signs protect you, right????

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- Flag-Man
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 1:59pm
  That is why the punks with guns go there.
  NOBODY there has a gun.
  They (the punks with guns) kill in gun free zones
  
  Report this comment
EdSpringfieldMO
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 1:45pm
Sorry hit the wrong key before I was finished.
The nurse who was looking through the hole in her desk, could have waited until he turned around, seen that he had a weapon, and if she was armed, could have ended it then.

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- EdSpringfieldMO
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 1:51pm
  Don’t tell me than more gun control is the answer. If two or more in the front part of the school would have been armed, this would have been a lot less of a tragedy.
  
  Report this comment
Marine308
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 1:27pm
BIRDBANBOB49

Kip Kinkles (Springfield, Oregon) parents did the same thing by throwing gasoline on a fire with the exact same results. If my kids showed behavior problems the last thing I would do is allow them access to weapons!

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hflndrs
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 1:18pm
Too bad the nurse or another offical couldn’t use their Second Amendment right and carry a firearm on school grounds. Then there would have been something they could do.

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- jst1425
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 1:37pm
  EXACTLY!!!
  
  Thank God…someone gets it!
  
  ok…lets play it all out in our heads for a moment…the shooter kid at about 9:40 comes into the school ans starts shooting people….QUESTION: what was the FIRST call made after all that started?? How about…911….! Why 911 someone may ask? BECAUSE IT WAS TO GET SOMEONE TO THE SCHOOL AS QUICLY AS POSSIBLE….WITH A GUN!
  
  Report this comment
therealstory
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 1:13pm
If Obama really believes that guns are the problem he should demand that his security unit be unarmed as well. After all guns don’t protect people correct?
Or is it that only he will decide who gets protection and who will be left vulnerable?

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Semper4everSemper
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 12:10pm
After Columbine – I have a nephew who had a friend that was there and lived – I told most everyone thatl I talked with that there should be a volunteer ‘cadre’ of fully screened and qualified parents from each school that would be assigned to patrols of 2-3 each day (wearing high vis vests) on a rotating basis. They wouldn’t necessarily need to be off duty police, just screened, qualified and available.

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- Flag-Man
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 1:55pm
  Semper Fi
  
  Report this comment
GrayPanther
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:41am
Once again, a mentally disturbed person has used weapons to express their mental state. Don’t blame the weapon; blame the persons who know he was disturbed. Mother was aware he had problems and was getting worse and yet she had these weapons in the house and apparently they were not secured. And going one step further, if a school staff person had been armed it could have prevented the carnage. What did the school do when the shooter allegedly tried a day or two before to enter the school? Was it reported? Did police follow up on the report? Clearly there was no further precautions taken if this was the case. What ever the investigation turns up it will NOT be the weapons fault though the Democrats will attempt to restrict their use in the future.

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- Baddoggy
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 12:04pm
  Read this everyone.EYE OPEHER!!!!
  http://beforeitsnews.com/economics-and-politics/2012/12/2-mass-shootings-connected-to-libor-2447738.html
  
  Report this comment
- Birdbanbob49
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 12:34pm
  It may not be Politically Correct to blame a School Teacher who taught Elementary School for the murder of 20 Children,…But she also taught her violent mentally ill deranged child to be a Weapon Marksman at his many trips with her to a gun range and NOT locking up those guns with a Gun safe and Gun Locks…but that is exactly what we should do…… if we actually want to learn from this tragic lesson…….Instead I fear we will blame everybody else including the Gun.
  
  Guns don’t kill people…in this case a stupid teacher who taught a mentally ill person to be a marksman did…..
  ..tell me….If you lived with a mentally deranged person (who liked to burn himself)….would you lock up your guns….?….Or….would you teach him to be a marksman and give him full access to those weapons….
  
  Report this comment
- deeberj
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 1:05pm
  All we know about the mother is that she knew her son had Aspergers. That isn’t a mental illness and doesn’t result in mass shooting violence. So stop judging her because we just don’t know enough.
  
  I always wanted a gun to target shoot but never purchased one because I have a son with a mental illness and I didn’t think it wise to have one around the house. So if this mother knew he was mentally ill then she should not have had the guns available to him.
  
  Report this comment
- rangerskippy
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 1:10pm
  @Birdbanbob
  
  Not to split hairs, but this demonic freak is not a marksman, he is a murderer. What he did, did not require skill, it required nothing but evil intent. He point blank range shoot little innocent children. All he needed to know how to do, was load and pull the trigger, it took no skill.
  
  Not sure I can word this right, but had he gone down town, and did an attack on the police station, against armed opponents, and killed 20 of them, them folks could call him a trained marksman.
  
  Marksman is a positive in my book. I train for competition, including shooting the nationals at Camp Perry, Ohio. I do dry fire drills until it hurts. If someone calls me a marksman, it is a honor.
  
  Do not honor this piece of filth with such a word. Tiger Woods is a “Golf Champion”. If a thug stole a golf club, and beat his neighbor to death with it, we would not call him a Golf Champion.
  
  Report this comment
Marine308
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:36am
What a horrible tragedy! Maybe schools should be talking to Front Sight. They have been offering free training for teachers, administrators and school faculty to teach them how to use a gun in defense of the kids in this kind of situation. More gun laws or taking away guns from law abiding people will not stop insane people from doing insane acts! Remember what Timothy McVey did with fertilizer and fuel in a rental truck or the guy in China that stabbed to death over 30 people!

IF YOU STILL THINK GUN CONTROL WORKS FOR THE INNOCENT, PLEASE!!!! TAKE THE TIME TO WATCH THIS!!!

Innocents Betrayed – The History of Gun Control ~ FULL LENGTH

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrPvtEVT5sk

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Frodo RinosBane
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:32am
Quite right, nothing she could do (without a weapon). I would wager that if teachers were allowed to carry concealed weapons this would have ended much quicker and with less loss of life.

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therealstory
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:29am
I believe every school principle and vice principal should have a concealed carry permit, be armed and trained for such terrible event. If just one person was able to defend these children we would most likely have no where near the number of dead children. God bless these children’s souls and their parents. The most horrible event the mind can imagine happening. May the shooter rot in Hell for eternity.

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- thegoldman
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:40am
  There is fingerprint tech for that the weapon will only work for one person…
  
  Report this comment
The-Monk
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:27am
@VanGrungy,

Just went there and I don’t like it.

So just get over it. Help, be quiet or move out of the way.

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The-Monk
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:21am
@VanGrungy

I don’t understand. Please explain. : )

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packa14
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:17am
everyone is clamoring fo theit minute in front of the camera!!!

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spfoam1
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:16am
The entire surviving staff will forever be haunted by the fact that they did nothing to help these kids. It was their choice to be defenseless even when they knew the children were completely dependent on them for protection, and now they have to live with it. That is a cold hard fact.

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schroeder123
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:09am
If she only had a gun and knew how to use it. Think of how many kids she could of saved.

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- Le Sellers
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:21am
  We ought to insist, IF government-run, tax-funded welfare schools exist at all (and they should not), that all teachers carry as a condition of their employment and licensing. If they cannot protect the children who are there because the state forces them to be, they must be safe.
  
  If any teachers have the idiotic notion that guns are evil, that they, as the purest of the pure, cannot touch one, then let them open their own schools and attract parents as stupid as they.
  
  Mr. O’bama, will there ever BE any Jobs?
  
  Report this comment
- SavvyCowboy
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 12:48pm
  Right on!! If everyone in our school systems had concealed weapons permits and were proficient in using their weapons, these shootings would all but cease. Don’t ban guns, get them into the hands of law abiding citizens like teachers, etc. and watch this insanity drop to zero.
  
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AvengerK
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:09am
You know honestly…..why can’t we leave these people alone and let them mourn and heal in dignity and privacy? Do we really need an hour by hour analysis by “experts” from our entertainment-as-news 24-hour newcycle? Do we really need an army of news crews camped in that town interviewing anyone with even a remote association to the horrible events of last week?
Isn’t it insulting and nauseating enough that our news and entertainment networks set the images of this appalling tragedy to the “appropriate” music for our voyeuristic consumption and pleasure? Haven’t we as a society cheapened this enough for the families and the town?
Leave these people alone and let them get on with their mourning and their healing…enough already.

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- Cavallo
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:18am
  They can’t let this crisis go to waste. The public must be beaten down with it. Suffocated by it. Drowned in it. There is money to be made by the networks and the fascists hacks in Washington want to pass regulation and enforce their stranglehold on the populace. This is their opportunity and they don’t care who they have to exploit to use it.
  
  Report this comment
- schroeder123
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:24am
  It won’t work.
  Obamamama himself will be flapin his hatch over the airways about this.
  This is news and you can’t stop it. 24 hours a day for 6 months.
  
  Report this comment
- AvengerK
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:55am
  CAVALLO…just switch them off, don’t click on the link or change the channel they’ll learn the lesson. It’s time we became humans beings again instead of the Roman mob our handlers have conditioned us into being.
  Honestly…when I saw images of this vile and senseless act set to music the blood rushed to my head..I’d had enough. Some clown at a TV network (and I’m putting Fox in there too) feels that “sad and mournful” music should accompany these images like a soundtrack to a movie or TV series. How effing detached from reality and human dignity can these people be? I’ve been praying for these babies and for the troubled mind who took their lives every night since this happened. This is what they deserve…not armies of news crews and cameras and microphones shoved in their faces and images of their horrible loss set to music for mine and your entertainment. effing enough already!
  
  Report this comment
LameLiberals
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:07am
After 3 days of 24 hours of this story – I am bored bored bored. Crap happens – get over it.
If given the choice, most of these students would not have been in that school to be mowed down because if given a voucher, they would be paying a home school teacher or going to a private school. .

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Cavallo
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:00am
The Blaze seems to be getting just as bad as the Alphabet networks in milking this tragedy for every angle and possible heart wrenching interview. Done repeatedly. The networks seem almost in ecstatic glee over being able to run with this football all the way through the new year, dramatizing, analyzing, exploiting, and sensationalizing. I can promise that TV movie rights are being sought, and scripts hastily already being scribbled (all with Bobo the wonder marxist as great savior and healer and champion of children). I don’t for one instance buy that any of these “journalists” give a crap about the kids, just what they can squeeze out of the situation pretending like they do.

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- AmericanStrega
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:44am
  Yes! Last night I turned on FOXNews and on the screen was an on-going list of the murdered, with a sad song playing in the background (I turned the channel). While I am saddened for those who lost their lives, I have to agree with you CAVALLO. ALL media outlets are and will be using this tragedy for their own benefit. It’s just sick. They and this admin. do not give a fig for the dead. They just see this as a means to promote themselves and their agenda. Sick Basss-turds!
  
  Report this comment
- AvengerK
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 12:02pm
  Agreed CAVALLO.
  
  Report this comment
VanGrungy
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 10:59am
“And we heard screams. There’s nothing we could do. You know? It was just a helpless, horrible feeling. You know?”

It’s a terrible feeling to know that Police are minutes away and you have no tool to use to fight back

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- Le Sellers
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:11am
  We ought to insist that, IF government-run, tax-funded welfare schools exist at all (and they should not), that all teachers carry as a condition of their employment and licensing. If they cannot protect the children who are there because the state forces them to be, they must be safe.
  
  If any teachers have the idiotic notion that guns are evil, that they, as the purest of the pure, cannot touch one, then let them open their own schools and attract parents as stupid as they.
  
  Mr. O’bama, will there ever BE any Jobs?
  
  Report this comment
jakartaman
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 10:45am
I pray for them all
The pain hurts the soul

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- Exrepublisheep
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 10:58am
  Indeed.
  
  Report this comment

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