A quick-thinking music teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School found a secure spot for her students as soon as she heard the first salvo from the shooter's gun.
Killer Adam Lanza arrived moments later at their locked closet door, pounding and yelling "Let me in," while the students in Maryrose Kristopik's class quietly hid inside, AFP reported.
"We were all really scared and then we prayed," said 9-year-old Nicholas Sabillon, who was interviewed with his parents. "Miss Kristopik gave us all lollipops. We thought it would be our last snack."
The sound of shattering glass and additional menacing yells from Lanza tormented the students. But Sabillon says they remained silent and carefully held their musical instruments so they wouldn't produce a sound.
At some point, Lanza, 20, left the room and killed himself after he'd murdered 20 students and six adults.
Police scoured the schoolhouse, then led students to a nearby fire station, which became the meeting point for parents searching for their children.
Sabillon's parents Jose and Sherry arrived like many other Newtown parents, unaware that students had been killed at all.
"There was not one mention of children," Sherry said. "We would never have thought that children were injured."
Schools in Newtown reopened, though the elementary school remains shut. Funerals for two victims took place on Monday and another two were scheduled for today.