Teacher Died Saving Students

Victoria Soto hid her students, then was shot
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 15, 2012 11:15 AM CST
Teacher Died Saving Students
Mourners gather for a vigil service at the St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Conn., Friday.   (AP Photo/Andrew Gombert, Pool)

One of the six adults killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School was a first-grade teacher who made sure her students were safe before she was herself shot, reports the Hartford Courant. Victoria Soto, who turned 27 this month, taught next door to the room where the heaviest shooting broke out. She gathered her students and hid them, possibly in a bathroom or a classroom closet. The gunman then entered her room looking for more people to kill, a source tells the newspaper. "But seeing no one but Soto, he shot her, then left the room."

Soto's cousin, a police officer, said "Vicki was a great individual with a huge heart and put students first," reports the Wall Street Journal. "Unfortunately, that is how she lost her life. I wanted people to know that she was a hero for what she did, and that she gets the recognition that she deserves.” (More Victoria Soto stories.)

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