'Guys Lay Dead, With Holy Books Around Them'

The alert from the Merkaz Harav religious seminary came so soon after the attack began that medics were on the scene while shots were still ringing out. Yerach Tucker, a medic with the United Hatzalah volunteers, said before even thinking of saving lives, the rescue team had to save themselves. "We came just a few minutes after getting the call and there was still shooting," Tucker said. "We had to crouch down to avoid being hit. There was shooting from the window."

Dozens of ambulances had descended on the scene in Kiryat Moshe, just off the main roads at the entrance to Jerusalem. By the time the medics got inside, the extent of the carnage had become grotesquely clear. "There were young guys - 16, 17, 18 years old - lying on the floor with blood all over them and the holy books lying around them," Tucker said.

The lone gunman, a Palestinian reportedly from East Jerusalem, slipped into the religious seminary at about 9pm, apparently with few problems. He had disguised himself as a Jewish yeshiva [religious school] student and carried a cardboard box in which were hidden a Kalashnikov assault rifle and a pistol, with several clips of ammunition. He walked up the short drive in front of the four-story dormitory block before turning right into the library.

It took him just 10 minutes to kill eight young Jewish religious students. Two were shot at the entrance to the library. Six more died inside, where a group of 80 had gathered for prayers to mark the start of a festival.

Armed police ran inside for fear there was a second gunman. "Swat teams searched the building room by room," said Micky Rosenfeld, an Israeli police spokesman. A bomb disposal unit was sent in to check for explosives, though they discovered the man was armed only with the two weapons. He had fired several clips of ammunition.

The yeshiva is one of the largest in Israel and trains hundreds of pupils, both high school-age students and young men in their 20s. It was established in 1924 by Avraham Kook, the Chief Rabbi during the British mandate. It is in the "national religious" school of Judaism and plays a key role in the settler movement.

After the attack, a large crowd of ultra-Orthodox Israelis gathered outside and called for revenge, as police and medics continued their work. Also in the crowd was Meir Indor, a retired lieutenant colonel and head of the Terror Victims Association. "Israel is paying tonight a heavy price for restraining itself in the fight against terrorism," he said. "I feel ashamed for what happened. There should be a tough response, otherwise they'll just think that terror does pay."