Kayla's Teacher Tried To Save Her

Buell Elementary School first-grade teacher Alicia Judd worked frantically to try to save Kayla Rolland after the 6-year-old was shot in her classroom, according to 911 tapes released by police.

"Oh God, please, she's getting white....The little girl is getting white," Judd told a Genesee County 911 dispatcher.

Kayla died Feb. 29; a 6-year-old classmate is accused of killing her.

Judd used her cellular phone to call 911 at 9:53 a.m., The Flint Journal said in a story Tuesday.

"I have a student at Buell school who has been dying. I need an ambulance immediately," Judd told the 911 dispatcher.

As she told the dispatcher the girl had been shot by a student, Judd's answers were broken as she struggled to catch her breath and moaned "please, no."

As Judd talked to a 911 dispatcher, a school secretary called 911 from an office phone.

"I have a child that was shot in the classroom," the secretary said.

With an ambulance and police cars on the way less than 10 seconds after the 911 calls were made, Judd told the dispatcher that Kayla had a pulse but was not breathing.

After Judd told him she knew CPR but didn't remember how to do it, the dispatcher asked where the girl had been shot.

"I can't tell, I'm scared to turn her body," Judd said. "Oh God, please Lord, please."

Judd told the dispatcher the girl was going into convulsions and was trying to get air. The dispatcher then asked where the person who shot her had gone and where the gun was.

"The gun is in the desk," Judd replied. "I see it but she's white and I can't feel a pulse."

Judd then began to give the girl CPR as the dispatcher led her through the steps.

After giving two breaths, Judd found a small pulse but said Kayla was not breathing normally.

"It's like she's trying to get air," she said.

A Mount Morris Township officer arrived in the classroom as Judd looked for the little girl's wound. As Kayla's breathing worsened, Judd told the dispatcher that she couldn't find a pulse anymore.

Paramedics arrived in the classroom just before 9:59 a.m. and continued the efforts to save Kayla's life.

But the bullet, which entered Kayla through her right shoulder and tore through her chest, had done too much damage. Kayla was pronounced dead at 10:29 a.m. at Hurley Medical Center.

No charges are expected against the boy, who authorities have said is too young to understand what happened. A 19-year-old man living at the house where the boy had been staying has been charged with involuntary manslaughter for allegedly allowing the boy access to the gun.

Kayla's mother, Veronica McQueen, says she gets little satisfaction from the charges brought against the man.

McQueen said in a television interview Tuesday that she hopes no other parent ever faces the horror that she faced.

"I don't want to see another paent have to bury a baby," McQueen said. "I just couldn't imagine how a 6-year-old baby could bring a gun into school."

McQueen, whose comments were interrupted by her lawyer several times, said she feels sorry for the boy accused of killing her daughter, Kayla Rolland.

"He needs to see a counselor. I hope he gets the help he needs," she said.

She met with President Clinton at the White House on Tuesday.

"As a parent my heart goes out to her and as president I'm going to do everything I can to see it doesn't happen to other children," he said before the meeting.

The shooting was a week ago Tuesday. Anxious parents returned their children to school on Monday for the first time since the shooting.

The U.S. and Michigan flags remained at half-staff, and a nearby evergreen tree with stuffed animals at its base was decorated with pink ribbons in memory of Kayla. Room 6, where the shooting occurred, has been cleaned and repainted.

On Monday evening, several hundred people attended a memorial service at Greater Friendship Azusa Church of God in Christ, across the street from the school.

Worshipers then crossed the street bearing candles and sang This Little Light of Mine outside the school.