this is "nightline." >> tonight, another school shooting. a broken-hearted mother on the phone with her daughter as she was dying. >> voices and chaos in the background. and she couldn't say anything. >> teenagers describing the nightmarish scene. >> nobody knew what to do, everybody was yelling, get down, get down. >> the juvenile suspect in custody. will he be tried as an adult? plus, a recovery after the deadly las vegas massacre. one woman shot in the head, not expected to survive. >> i spoke to three doctors there, and they all told me the same thing, that there was nothing they could do for her. >> remarkably, evleaving the hospital today. and circle of life.

elton john telling our robin roberts why he's leaving the spotlight behind. >> this is god or someone telling me, this is what you have to do now. >> why the crocodile rock star wants his last performance to be in america. ♪ ♪ i remember when rock was young ♪ ♪ >> and what he thinks is the defining song of his career. but first the nightline 5. >> and number one is

♪ good evening, and we begin here tonight with the wrenching words of a mother who was on the phone with her daughter as she lay dying after a school shooting in kentucky. the young suspect was in court today as authorities try to figure out what allegedly set him off. the victim's mother says, she is praying for his family. here's abc's steve osunsami tonight. >> she called me and all i could hear was voices and chaos in the background. and she couldn't say anything. >> reporter: 15-year-old bailey holt never made it home from school. >> it's just so hard to believe that somebody in a split second could take -- take two lives and injure so many. in just a short amount of time.

and you can't get it back. >> reporter: her mother describes the last time she heard from her daughter. she said bailey called home tuesday morning as she was dying on the floor. >> i called her name over and over and she didn't respond. so we rushed to the high school and -- >> we couldn't get close. >> they wouldn't let us through. >> reporter: the chaos she heard was the sound of more than a hundred teenagers running for their lives. >> i took out my headphones and turned around and everyone was just broken up. they were running. i saw the flashes from the gun shots. by that time, i was just running. >> reporter: once again, there was no school here today. because for the third day in a row, marshall county high is a crime scene. two students are dead, and more than a dozen are wounded here. all victims of what is already america's 11th school shooting since the start of this year. >> there's just no words to describe. >> reporter: it was just before classes at the small-town high school in western kentucky.

and like every morning, students filled the common area, some eating breakfast, and others chatting with friends. police say that all of a sudden a 15-year-old student with a handgun opened fire. >> it keeps replaying in my head, hearing the pop, pop, pop, sounded like fire crackers. >> if you could respond to marshall county high school, active shooter. >> and we heard screaming and you see people trampling over each other to get out the doors. >> reporter: kids started running, some with gunshot wounds. >> i saw there was a lot of blood everywhere and people were getting shoved down. so i just took off. i started running. i was scared for my life. >> reporter: just minutes later, students were on their cell phones calling for help. >> i was close enough that i got blood, like all on my pants. it did happen like right next to me. i just immediately started running because the shots were just so loud. >> reporter: the teens ran where they could, crying and screaming, into a dentist office and a body shop next door. >> it was just like, bang, bang,

bang. and nobody knew what to do. and everybody's just yelling, get down, get down. >> reporter: but high school senior kennedy said she knew she had to run. >> i thought that if you get down, there's a chance that you'll never get back up. so i just took off. i ran as fast as i could. i mean, i don't know. it's by the strength of god honestly that i got out of that school. >> reporter: bryson found himself right next to the shooter. his right hand was grazed by a bullet. when he came in, did he say anything? >> no, he was lifeless. he just pulled out the gun, didn't think twice, and just did it. >> they're advising, far as they know, it's one shooter. he's still on scene. >> reporter: outside the school, a photographer from local station wpsd, had just dropped off his daughter and was sharing live video of students running from the gunfire. >> i was talking to one of my buddies in the commons. he got shot in his chest. we ran out together, but i lost him. i don't know where he went. >> reporter: the cavalry came

quick. this town is so small that one of the first responders thought that bailey holt, who died at the scene, was his >> one of our first troopers to arrive saw the young lady that died on the scene and thought it was his daughter. because she had been dropped off at the school this morning as well. same clothing description, same description. and he had to go over to convince himself it wasn't his daughter. >> reporter: the most seriouslily hurt had to be airlifted to hospitals more than a hundred miles away in nashville. by the time they got there, 15-year-old preston cope was pronounced dead. >> he's an incredible kid. every time you saw him, he was tlkinhe hallway, he never had anything negative to say. >> reporter: cope's teammates say they're hurting bad. >> the locker room is gonna be different, but we're coming together. we'll be okay. >> reporter: this isn't just the 11th school shooting since

january 1st, it's also the 50th, this academic school year. >> i think we've become desensitized to these school shootings. they happen far more often. i think as a result, people aren't as horrified. >> reporter: kentucky has been here before. just 30 miles from here in west paducah, three students were killed and five were wounded 20 years ago at heath high school in one of the first major school shootings to shock the country. over the years, a steady stream of gunfire in cities now known by just their first name. >> another school shooting. >> a shooting in a school. >> columbine to blacksburg, mary'svill mary'sville, washington. >> it louised to be if there was any school shooting, it was the lead story for days and people would be obsessed, how did this happen? >> i'm here at the scene of tomorrow's shooting where a 15-year-old will kill four children, two adults, and then

turn the gun on himself. >> the violence has become so common that a group of parents who lived through the tragedy at sandy hook elementary, released this video, underlining how they believe americans have come to accept these shootings in our school. >> how will you explain the shooting to your daughter? >> actually, i won't get to explain it to her, because she won't make it. >> reporter: back in benton, police have arrested the alleged shooter, a 15-year-old student who surrendered at the scene. prosecutors haven't confirmed if this is him, but they do tell us that state law requires he be tried as an adult. >> when you're talking about murder and a defendant over the age of 14, it's not going to be that hard to get the case moved from juvenile to adult court. >> reporter: some students who know the 15-year-old in police custody, believe he was bullied at school. the holts say they are praying for her alleged killer.

>> i don't know if i could go to court to see him. i just don't know if i can. but i want him to pay foray fory everything he's done. and i want someone to pray for him too. because i know he's probably having a hard time too. >> he still took our baby. >> but he still took my baby from me. >> reporter: the holts say they're speaking out to keep the memory of their daughter alive. they join an awful club -- parents who lost so much, calling for an end to the violence. >> whatever that kid had going through his mind, i don't know, but if he needed a friend, i know she would have been a friend to him. >> yes. >> and talked to him about anything that he needed. because that's just the kind of person she was. >> reporter: for "nightline," steve osunsami in benton, kentucky. >> steve osunsami, thank you. we turn to a different story out of another shooting

incident, involving a young woman who was shot during the country music concert in las vegas. doctors did not expect her to make it, but today she left the hospital. here's abc's amy robach. >> even though i will not be the same old jovana, i will come back stronger. >> reporter: jovana feeling stronger than ever, set to leave the hospitals just four months after being shot in the head during the massacre at an october concert in las vegas. >> on october 1st, a part of me changed. >> reporter: a bullet lodged in her brain during the shooting spree that left 58 people dead at the route 91 music festival. she was not expected to survive, let alone walk and speak again. >> i remember i spoke to three doctors there, and they all told me the same thing, that there was nothing they could do for

jovana. and that it was a non-survivable injury. >> reporter: but she persevered with help from the neurological institute in phoenix. re-learning how to do everyday tasks once again. >> she has been a go-getter, amazing, really has worked hard at everything we've given her. >> reporter: now although her recovery is still an uphill battle, her family is ready for the next chapter of their lives to begin and leave their horrible tragedy in the past. >> we will not let people like him win, and we will not live in fear. >> incredible story. our thanks to amy robach. next, we switch gears entirely to elton john. saying goodbye with one last farewell tour. why he's stepping out of the spotlight and what he's going to do now. ♪ under the covers ♪ and i guess that's why they

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♪ and we're back now with elton john who sat down with robin roberts, as the legendary musician prepares for his final world tour, he looks back at a brilliant career. ♪ ♪ saturday night's all right >> reporter: from saturday night's all right to i'm still standing -- ♪ ♪ i'm still standing after all this time ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: for nearly 50 years, sir elton john has wowed

the world with his music and showmanship. ♪ ♪ hold me closer tiny dancer dar >> reporter: his most famous songs, like tiny dancer -- standing the test of time. and true to form, with an over-the-top concert announcement, music's rocket man is retiring from touring. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: but not without a monumental worldwide farewell tour. 300 dates over three years. >> robin? hi, gorgeous. >> why now, elton? >> well, before the children, i thought, this is what i'm doing until the day i die. probably collapse on stage and die. but i don't want to be away from my children. they need me, i need them, much more than doing another touro show.

>> reporter: the proud father said he and husband david furni furnish began planning this in 2007. their sons must be priority one. >> you know what, i desperately want to spend as much time with them as possible, which means, i will do one big tour to say goodbye. this is god or someone telling me, this is what you have to do now, enjoy these gorgeous creatures that you've got. >> reporter: at 70 years old, he said it was an easy decision. >> our boys came into our life at a late time. i've never experienced anything like it, being a father, and being a parent and there's no contest. >> i remember david said, he couldn't imagine you not performing in front of a live audience, that that is something that he felt you would always have to do. >> and i'll stilling writing, making music, making records. i'll still be involved in music. i can't not be involved in music.

>> reporter: his music career has been prolific. with hits like benny and the jets. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: and rocket man. ♪ ♪ oh i'm a rocket man >> reporter: he's sold more than 300 million records with 31 platinum albums and five grammys. ♪ ♪ and they made you change your name ♪ >> reporter: his most popular song -- candle in the wind. ♪ ♪ seems to me you lived your life like a candle in the wind ♪ >> reporter: which he famously performed at princess diana's funeral. ♪ ♪ when the rain set in >> reporter: but it's not his favorite. >> has there been a defining song that you have performed? >> well, i have to say "your song," because it was the first great song that we wrote. ♪ ♪ how wonderful life is while you're in the world ♪

>> and i've been singing it ever since, 1970. it's stood the test of time. >> reporter: staying popular through so many decades is rare. elton credits "the lion king" with helping bring him a whole new generation of fans. ♪ ♪ it's the circle of life >> when you lion king" and how that introduced you to another audience. >> i was so lucky. it completely changed my life. >> reporter: songs like "circle of life" -- ♪ ♪ circle of life >> reporter: and "can you feel the love tonight." ♪ ♪ can you feel the love tonight ♪ >> reporter: still wowed children, including his own. >> i took my boys to see it in london at the weekend, and it was just amazing. because i move on and i forget that i've written it. i tend not to think of the best. i tend to look forward.

>> reporter: for now, forward means farewell. >> certainly things have happened, where one phone call, one decision, one gut feeling has made my life better. this is the same kind of gut feeling when i said yes to "the lion king," when i said, do a farewell tour. >> good for you, because we have that inner voice, but not many of us listen to it. >> it's called a leap of faith. and the leap of faith is scary. >> reporter: the farewell yellow brick road tour, named after one of his early hits -- kicks off in september with stops on five continents. >> i'm determined to go out with a bang. i'm just feeling very joyous about the opportunity to go around the world and play and say thank you to all the fans that i've had. >> what do you enjoy most about being on that stage and performing? >> the contact with another human being, the emotion you get back from a lovely -- from

someone who doesn't know you, you don't know them. >> reporter: he says he's ready to perform despite a serious health scare last year. when the singer said he contracted a rare bacterial infection that left him in the hospital for 11 days. >> i picked up an infect p south america. took me seven weeks to recover. and during that time, i thought, this has just reinforced my decision to stop it. >> and your health is good now? >> my haulealth is fantastic. i wouldn't be attempting 300 shows unless i was in the peak of health. >> what is it that you want to leave on the stage and leave with people as you exit the stage? >> that i gave people a hell of a lot of pleasure, that our songs will live on, and that i'm not disappearing and i will be making music. but i want my last performance to be in america. because this is where i got my start, and i owe this country so much, and i'm so fond of this country that i want to start and

finish in america. ♪ ♪ i'm still standing after all this time ♪ >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm robin roberts in new york. ♪ ♪ i'm still standing ♪ yeah yeah yeah next, hear why the academy award-winning actor casey affleck is bowing out of presenting at the oscars this year. it's the latest in the me too/time's up story. abc news "nightline," brought to you by red lobster. oy seafood with new tasting plates small plates, with big flavor- like yucatan shrimp in chili-lime butter and caramelized pineapple. and if you like hot, buttery maine lobster, check out this petite red lobster roll. for new entrees, explore globally-inspired dishes like spicy dragon shrimp. and now, when you order any two new or classic entrees, you get a free tasting plate. so get your coupon at redlobster.com and join us today!

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oscar news. casey affleck has withdrawn from presenting the best actress wau award at the oscars. this comes amidst allegations of sexual harassment, allegations he's denied and concerns that his presence could be a distraction as hollywood grapples with abuse allegations. affleck won last year for his role in the movie manchester by the city. traditionally he would have presented the best actress award this year. thank you for joining us on "nightline." as always, we're online 24/7 on our "nightline" facebook