Nev. boy says he came face-to-face with shooter

This undated photo provided by Chandra Landsberry shows Sharon and Michael Landsberry. Police said Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013, the student who wounded two classmates and killed Michael Landsberry and then himself on a Nevada middle school campus in Sparks, Nev., was 12 years old. Police also lauded the actions of Landsberry, a 45-year-old math teacher and former Marine, who they say tried to stop the rampage before he was fatally shot in the chest. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Chandra Landsberry via The Reno Gazette-Journal) NO SALES; NEVADA APPEAL OUT; SOUTH RENO WEEKLY OUT

This undated photo provided by Chandra Landsberry shows Sharon and Michael Landsberry. Police said Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013, the student who wounded two classmates and killed Michael Landsberry and then himself on a Nevada middle school campus in Sparks, Nev., was 12 years old. Police also lauded the actions of Landsberry, a 45-year-old math teacher and former Marine, who they say tried to stop the rampage before he was fatally shot in the chest. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Chandra Landsberry via The Reno Gazette-Journal) NO SALES; NEVADA APPEAL OUT; SOUTH RENO WEEKLY OUT

This undated photo released by the Nevada Air National Guard shows Sparks Middle school math teacher and former Marine Michael Landsberry, 45. Authorities say the student who opened fire on a the Nevada middle school campus, wounding two students and killing Landsberry, got the weapon from his home. Washoe County School District Police said they are still working to trace where the gun was bought. Police said a Sparks Middle School student was the lone shooter and turned the weapon on himself. (AP Photo/Nevada Air National Guard)

Community members gather to pay their respects to Michael Landsberry, a 45-year-old eighth-grade math teacher, soccer coach and former Marine who was killed by an eighth-grader at Sparks Middle School on Monday, Oct. 21, 2013 in Sparks, Nev. The 12-year-old student who opened fire on the middle school campus, wounding two classmates and killing Landsberry, before he turned the gun on himself, got the weapon from his home, authorities said Tuesday. School District police said they are still working to determine how the boy obtained the 9mm semi-automatic Ruger handgun used in the Monday morning spree at Sparks Middle School. The boy's parents are cooperating with authorities and could face charges in the case, police said. (AP Photo/The Sacramento Bee, Hector Amezcua) MAGS OUT; LOCAL TV OUT (KCRA3, KXTV10, KOVR13, KUVS19, KMAZ31, KTXL40); MANDATORY CREDIT

Children and a parents take a photo of a memorial with candles at Sparks Middle School on Monday, Oct. 21, 2013 in Sparks, Nev. The 12-year-old student who opened fire on the middle school campus, wounding two classmates and killing a teacher before he turned the gun on himself, got the weapon from his home, authorities said Tuesday. School District police said they are still working to determine how the boy obtained the 9mm semi-automatic Ruger handgun used in the Monday morning spree at Sparks Middle School. The boy's parents are cooperating with authorities and could face charges in the case, police said. (AP Photo/The Sacramento Bee, Hector Amezcua) MAGS OUT; LOCAL TV OUT (KCRA3, KXTV10, KOVR13, KUVS19, KMAZ31, KTXL40); MANDATORY CREDIT

Sparks Mayor Geno Martini addresses reporters during a news briefing Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013, at Sparks police headquarters with the latest information about a Sparks Middle School 7th grader who shot two students and killed a teacher before shooting himself in the head the day before with a semi-automatic handgun police believe he obtained from his residence. (AP Photo/Scott Sonner)

SPARKS, Nev. (AP) — Students cowered in fear and pleaded for their lives as a 12-year-old Nevada boy went on a schoolyard rampage with a handgun he brought from home, waving the weapon at frightened classmates and shooting a math teacher in the chest on a basketball court.

The boy opened fire Monday morning on the Sparks Middle School campus, wounding two boys and killing the teacher before he turned the gun on himself.

Washoe County School District police revealed Tuesday that the seventh-grader brought the 9mm semi-automatic Ruger handgun from his home, but authorities were still working to determine how he obtained it. The student's parents were cooperating with authorities and could face charges in the case, police said.

Eighth-grader Angelo Ferro recalled burying his face in his hands and pleading for his life as the boy waved the gun and threatened to shoot. Another seventh grader and Ferro's math teacher, Michael Landsberry, lay gunned down nearby.

"The whole time I was hoping Mr. L was OK, we'd all get through it, it was a bad dream," Ferro told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Ferro, 13, was in the schoolyard with friends when the violence started.

He heard a pop about 15 minutes before the morning bell rang but didn't think much of it. Then he saw an injured boy clutching his wounded arm, and he watched Landsberry walk toward the gunman and take a bullet to the chest.

Unable to get inside the locked-down school, Ferro and others crouched against the building for safety but soon came face-to-face with the armed student.

Ferro didn't know the boy but said he and other frightened classmates tried to talk him out of firing. But something distracted the boy, and he didn't shoot.

"You could hear the panic," Ferro said. "He left, thank God."

A series of 911 calls made from the school also reflected the terror of the situation, including an ominous report of "teacher down."

"Can you send please send police out here," a panicked student told a 911 dispatcher. "There's a kid with a gun."

Authorities provided no motive for the shooting but said they've interviewed 20 or 30 witnesses and are looking into any prior connections between the victims and the shooter.

"Everybody wants to know why — that's the big question," Sparks Deputy Police Chief Tom Miller said. "The answer is, we don't know right now."

Also Tuesday, law enforcement and school officials again lauded the actions of Landsberry, a 45-year-old former Marine who tried to stop the rampage before he was killed.

"I cannot express enough appreciation for Mr. Landsberry," Washoe County School District Superintendent Pedro Martinez said at a news conference. "He truly is a hero."

Students said they saw Landsberry walk calmly toward the shooter and ask him to hand over his weapon before he was killed. Washoe County School District Police Chief Mike Mieras said Landsberry's actions gave some students enough time to run to safety.

Police said they believe the shooter at one point tried to enter the school but couldn't open the door because of emergency lockdown procedures.

After killing Landsberry, the boy fired at a second student, hitting him in the abdomen. He then shot himself in the head.

The two 12-year-old boys who were wounded are in stable condition and recovering.

Students from the middle school and neighboring elementary school were evacuated to a high school after the shooting, and all classes were canceled. The middle school will remain closed for the week, while an adjacent elementary school is set to reopen Wednesday.

Sparks, just east of Reno, has a population of roughly 90,000.

Landsberry coached several youth sports. He also served two tours in Afghanistan with the Nevada National Guard and was well-known in the school community, Sparks Mayor Geno Martini said. Landsberry served in the Marine Corps from 1986 to 1990 and was stationed in Camp Lejeune, N.C., and Okinawa, Japan, according to military records.

Senior Master Sgt. Robert Garrett attended middle school with Landsberry in Reno before serving as his supervisor in recent years at the Nevada Air National Guard.

"Every one of the people I have talked to just knew that Mike was in there," Garrett said. "He was the guy that would have jumped in there to stop the bullets from hitting other kids. And sure enough, it was."

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Rindels reported from Las Vegas. Associated Press news researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York City contributed to this report.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-10-22-US-Middle-School-Shooting/id-f8d69cca0ecf4c00a457d89de9df6843
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