Children yelled to their classmates to drop under the church pews and flung their bodies over their friends'. Adults nearby sprinted toward the loud, banging noises.
Gunfire sprayed through the stained-glass windows of Annunciation Catholic Church in Minnesota on Aug. 27 as children and parishioners prayed during a Mass celebrating the start of a new school year at the associated parochial school.
As details emerge about the shooting that took the lives of two young students and injured 18 others, so have stories about the heroic acts community members took to protect and help one another.
More: A shooter attacked children in prayer. Has America hit a new low?
Here are some of the harrowing stories.
