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Workers at Calif. school averted disaster
Official says quick action prevented 'horrific bloodbath'
W workers
Plywood covers one of the windows at the Rancho Tehama Elementary School that was shot out during gunman Kevin Janson Neal's shooting rampage at Rancho Tehama Reserve, Calif., Tuesday. - photo by Associated Press
CORNING, Calif. — A tiny Northern California elementary school would have turned into a "bloodbath" if not for quick action by school workers who rushed small children inside and locked down the building, thwarting a gunman on a deadly mission, authorities said.Kevin Janson Neal repeatedly shot into Rancho Tehama Elementary School while trying to get inside. He eventually got frustrated and left."There is no doubt that he did not want to give up," Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston said Wednesday. "I really, truly believe we would have had a horrific bloodbath at that school if that school hadn't taken the action that it did."The school has about 100 children in kindergarten through fifth grade and four certified teachers, according to its website.Some students had finished breakfast while others were being dropped off when Neal started firing Tuesday morning.
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