8 Minutes After 911 Call, A Rescue From Madness

"Yeah, I'm here," the voice whispered. "We need an ambulance." Students were bleeding all around her. She heard moaning. Haas opened her eyes slightly, saw a shell casing and closed them. Was the door locked? Morgan asked. It doesn't lock, Haas replied.

Then, as if out of nowhere, the gunshots became loud again. Pop. Pop. Pop.

"He's in here," the voice whispered. It was 9:48. Cho had retuned to Room 211. He was shooting quickly, walking down aisles cluttered with book bags and bodies. He went to many students who were breathing, aimed at their heads and fired. Bullets ricocheted off walls. Haas tried to play dead.

Pop. Pop.

Morgan heard Haas scream. A blood-curdling, hysterical scream.

"I just got hit," she said.

A bullet had struck the back of Haas's head.

Sharp pain.

* * *

As Morgan tried to keep Haas calm, Virginia Tech and Blacksburg police officers were desperately trying to get into Norris Hall two floors below. Since the Columbine shootings, police across the country have trained to respond to an "active shooter" by entering a building immediately.

Blacksburg Police Sgt. Anthony Wilson ran with four officers to the front double door. But the door was chained from the inside. They heard glass breaking, people screaming and shots being fired. They ran to the northwest corner of Norris and met up with other officers, some in SWAT gear. They tried the door there; it was also chained. "Shoot the chain," they yelled almost in unison. One aimed a shotgun and tried, but no luck. He shot again. It wouldn't budge.

On the phone, Morgan heard another loud gunshot. And another. She heard the girl's breathing quicken. "He's reloading," Haas said.