Sandy Hook Elementary School Parent: 'My Friend's Kids Are Dead'

True Crime

By KC Baker

12/14/2012 at 02:45 PM EST

State police personnel lead children from the Sandy Hook Elementary School

Shannon Hicks/Newtown Bee/Reuters/Landov

The mother of a child at Sandy Hook Elementary School shared her experience of the mass shooting with PEOPLE Friday afternoon.

When our reporter spoke with the woman – who went to the school Friday morning with a book for her child – she was crying and said, "I was hiding under a desk. It was terrifying … my friend's kids are dead."

The woman's children are currently at the local firehouse and she is waiting for police to release them. She adds that when the students were evacuated from the school, they were instructed to look away from the principal's office when they walked past.

A federal official tells PEOPLE that 26 people were killed in the school Friday morning, including 18 children.

Police have confirmed that the alleged shooter is dead inside the school where his mother was a teacher. CNN reports that his body was discovered in a classroom.

Though not confirmed, the woman adds that the shooter "went into the office, started arguing, and he killed people in the office," before going into the classroom.