The
United States is in shock after a man murdered his mother at home
before gunning down 20 children and six adults in a Connecticut school.
The
heavily armed gunman, named as 20-year-old Adam Lanza, shot the
children - aged between five and 10 years old - at Sandy Hook Elementary
School.
Dawn Hochsprung, the head teacher at the school in Newtown, was among those killed in the shooting, which began at around 9:30am - just after school day started.
After
storming through several classrooms, Lanza, who was wearing a
bullet-proof vest and carrying two handguns, turned one of the guns he
was carrying on himself.
An emotional US President Barack Obama wiped tears from his eyes as he told a stunned country : "Our hearts are broken today."
Mr Obama hinted at possible gun law reform ,
declaring that the latest atrocity signals that the country should come
together to take meaningful action, "regardless of the politics".
The President also used his weekly address to express his sadness in the wake of the shooting.
"We
grieve for the families of those we lost. And we keep in our prayers
the parents of those who survived. Because as blessed as they are to
have their children home, they know that their child's innocence has
been torn away far too early," Mr Obama said.
Children
told their parents they had heard bangs and, at one point, a scream
over the intercom. Teachers ordered them to hide in closets or corners.
"I
was going back to my classroom and I heard like a person kicking on the
door and I turned around I smelled smoke," an eight-year-old boy told
NBC.
Reports said Lanza killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, and then drove to the school in her car.
Some reports said Lanza's mother was a substitute teacher at the school. But her name did not appear on a staff list.
At
least three guns were found - a Glock and a Sig Sauer, both pistols,
inside the school, and a high-powered rifle in the back of the car,
authorities said.
A
law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity said some
of the guns used in the attack may have belonged to Lanza's mother, who
had legally purchased five weapons.
The
attack, just two weeks before Christmas, was America's second-deadliest
school shooting, exceeded only by the Virginia Tech university massacre
in 2007 that left 32 dead.
Authorities offered little clue as to the motive for the shootings in the picturesque small town northeast of New York City.
The
gunman was believed to suffer from a personality disorder and lived
with his mother in an affluent part of Newtown, a picturesque community
of 27,000 people.
State
police Lt Paul Vance said just one person suffered an injury and
survived, indicating that the gunman was unusually accurate or
methodical in his fire.
Lanza's
older brother Ryan, 24, of Hoboken, New Jersey, has been questioned by
police but a law enforcement official said he was not believed to have
had any role in the shooting and was "extremely cooperative".
Ryan Lanza told law enforcement he had not been in touch with his brother since about 2010.
Hours
after the shooting, hundreds of people gathered for a vigil, the crowd
filling the church to capacity and spilling outside its doors.
Some lit candles while others joined hands to sing Christmas songs.
"Evil visited this community today," State Governor Dan Malloy said earlier.
David Connors, whose triplets were at the school during the shooting but were unharmed, said he was still horrified.
"It's hard. I've never imagined a thing like that could happen here."
Police said they expected to be able to make public the identities of the victims later on Saturday.
Prime Minister David Cameron said: "It is heartbreaking to think of those who have had their children robbed from them."
The Queen sent a message to Mr Obama in which she said she was "deeply shocked and saddened".
Pope Benedict XVI sent a letter of condolence to the community, which was read aloud at a vigil in Newtown on Friday evening.
UN
chief Ban Ki-moon wrote to Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy to give his
"deepest condolences at the shocking murders," a statement said.
"The targeting of children is heinous and unthinkable," he added in condemning the "horrendous" crime.
Police, world wonder about Conn. shooting motive
By By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN and JIM FITZGERALD
NEWTOWN, Conn.
(AP) — The massacre of 26 children and adults at a Connecticut
elementary school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world
even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, a
20-year-old described as brilliant but remote, was driven to such a
crime and how he chose his victims.
Investigators
were trying to learn more about Adam Lanza and questioned his older
brother, who was not believed to have been involved in the rampage at
Sandy Hook Elementary. Police shed no light on the motive for the
second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.
In tight-knit Newtown on
Friday night, hundreds of people packed St. Rose of Lima Church and
stood outside in a vigil for the 28 dead — 20 children and six adults at
the school, the gunman's mother at home, and the gunman himself, who
committed suicide. People held hands, lit candles and sang "Silent
Night."
"These
20 children were just beautiful, beautiful children," Monsignor Robert
Weiss said. "These 20 children lit up this community better than all
these Christmas lights we have. ... There are a lot brighter stars up
there tonight because of these kids."
Lanza
is believed to have suffered from a personality disorder and lived with
his mother, said a law enforcement official who was briefed on the
investigation.
Lanza shot his mother, Nancy Lanza,
drove to the school in her car with at least three of her guns, and
opened fire in two classrooms around 9:30 a.m. Friday, law enforcement
officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A
custodian ran through the halls, warning of a gunman, and someone
switched on the intercom, perhaps saving many lives by letting them hear
the chaos in the school office, a teacher said. Teachers locked their
doors and ordered children to huddle in a corner, duck under their desks
or hide in closets as shots reverberated through the building.
The well-liked principal, Dawn Hochsprung, was believed to be among the dead. A woman who worked at the school was wounded.
Maryann
Jacob, a clerk in the school library, was in there with 18
fourth-graders when they heard a commotion and gunfire outside the room.
She had the youngsters crawl into a storage room, and they locked the
door and barricaded it with a file cabinet. There happened to be
materials for coloring, "so we set them up with paper and crayons."
After
what she guessed was about an hour, officers came to the door and
knocked, but those inside couldn't be sure it was the police.
"One of them slid his badge under the door, and they called and said, 'It's OK, it's the police,'" she said.
A
law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity said
investigators believe Lanza attended the school several years ago but
appeared to have no recent connection to it. It was not clear whether he
held a job.
At
least one parent said Lanza's mother was a substitute teacher at the
school. But her name did not appear on a staff list. And the official
said investigators were unable to establish any connection so far
between her and the school.
Lanza's older brother, 24-year-old Ryan Lanza, of Hoboken, N.J., was questioned, and investigators searched his computers and phone records, but he told law enforcement he had not been in touch with his brother since about 2010.
For
about two hours late Friday and early Saturday, clergy members and
emergency vehicles moved steadily to and from the school. The state
medical examiner's office said bodies of the victims would be taken
there for autopsies.
The
gunman entered the kindergarten-through-fourth-grade school through the
front door, and authorities are looking into the possibility that he
shattered glass next to it to get in, police said.
He
took three guns into the school — a Glock and a Sig Sauer, both
semiautomatic pistols, and a .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle, according to
an official who was not authorized to discuss information with
reporters and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The weapons were
registered to his slain mother.
Lanza
and his mother lived in a well-to-do part of prosperous Newtown, about
60 miles northeast of New York City, where neighbors are doctors or hold
white-collar positions at companies such as General Electric, Pepsi and
IBM.
His parents filed for divorce in 2008, according to court records. His father, Peter Lanza, lives in Stamford, Conn., and works as a tax director for GE.
The gunman's aunt Marsha Lanza,
of Crystal Lake, Ill., said her nephew was raised by kind, nurturing
parents who would not have hesitated to seek mental help for him if he
needed it.
"Nancy
wasn't one to deny reality," Marsha Lanza said, adding her husband had
seen Adam as recently as June and recalled nothing out of the ordinary.
Catherine
Urso, of Newtown, said her college-age son knew the killer. "He just
said he was very thin, very remote and was one of the goths," she said.
Lanza attended Newtown High School, and several news clippings from recent years mention his name among the honor roll students.
Joshua
Milas, who graduated from Newtown High in 2009 and belonged to the
school technology club with him, said that Lanza was generally a happy
person but that he hadn't seen him in a few years.
"We
would hang out, and he was a good kid. He was smart," Joshua Milas
said. "He was probably one of the smartest kids I know. He was probably a
genius."
The
mass shooting is one of the deadliest in U.S. history, and among school
attacks is second in victims only to the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre,
which left 33 people dead, including the gunman. Reaction was swift and
emotional in Newtown, a picturesque New England community of 27,000
people, as well as across the country and around the world.
"It
has to stop, these senseless deaths," said Frank DeAngelis, principal
of Colorado's Columbine High School, where a massacre in 1999 killed 15
people.
In
Washington, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence organized a vigil at the
White House, with some protesters chanting, "Today IS the day" to take
steps to curb gun violence. In New York's Times Square, a few dozen
people held tea lights in plastic cups, with one woman holding a sign
that read: "Take a moment and candle to remember the victims of the
Newtown shooting."
President Barack Obama's comments on the tragedy amounted to one of the most outwardly emotional moments of his presidency.
"The
majority of those who died were children — beautiful little kids
between the ages of 5 and 10 years old," Obama said at a White House
news briefing. He paused for several seconds to keep his composure as he
teared up and wiped an eye. Nearby, two aides cried and held hands.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard described the attack as a "senseless and incomprehensible act of evil."
"Like President Obama and his fellow Americans, our hearts too are broken," Gillard said in a statement.
In
Japan, where guns are severely restricted and there are extremely few
gun-related crimes, the attack led the news two days before
parliamentary elections. In China, which has seen several knife rampages
at schools in recent years, the attack quickly consumed public
discussion.
In
Newtown, Robert Licata said his 6-year-old son was in class when the
gunman burst in and shot the teacher. "That's when my son grabbed a
bunch of his friends and ran out the door," he said. "He was very brave.
He waited for his friends."
He said the shooter didn't utter a word.
Kaitlin Roig, a teacher at the school, said she implored her students to be quiet.
"I
told them we had to be absolutely quiet. Because I was just so afraid
if he did come in, then he would hear us and just start shooting the
door. I said we have to be absolutely quiet. And I said there are bad
guys out there now and we need to wait for the good guys to come get us
out," Roig told ABC News.
"If
they started crying, I would take their face and say, 'It's going to be
OK. Show me your smile,'" she said. "They said, 'We want to go home for
Christmas. Yes, yeah. I just want to hug my mom.' Things like that,
that were just heartbreaking."
___
Contributing
to this report were Associated Press writers Pat Eaton-Robb and Matt
Apuzzo and videographer Robert Ray in Newtown; Bridget Murphy in Boston;
Samantha Henry in Newark, N.J.; Pete Yost in Washington; Michael Melia
in Hartford; and the AP News Research Center in New York.
Routine morning, then shots and unthinkable terror
By By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN and JOCELYN NOVECK | Associated Press
Mr Wijat's friend Magic Rabbit 
The Huffington Post UK | Posted: 14/12/2012 16:10 GMT | Updated: 14/12/2012 22:00 GMT
Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting: 27 Feared Dead In Newtown, Gunman Dead
Police have confirmed that 27 people have been killed in a shooting rampage at an elementary school in Connecticut on Friday.
Adam Lanza has been identified as the suspected shooter in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, the Associated Press reports.
Police initially identified the shooter as Ryan Lanza, the 24-year-old elder brother of Adam Lanza. According to the AP, the error occurred when a law enforcement official transposed the names of the two men.
CNN and NBC have reported that the gunman's mother, Nancy Lanza, was a kindergarten teacher at the school.
Twenty children were killed at the school and a second crime scene is being investigated in Newtown at which "there is an adult deceased", officials confirmed.
A neighbor of Ryan Lanza's parents in Sandy Hook told The Huffington Post that police are at Lanza's parents house.
The shooter was killed during the rampage and several others were injured. The identities of the shooting victims has not yet been released.
He was wearing dark clothing, a mask, a bulletproof vest, and was carrying four guns. A cause and manner of death is pending, police said.
Law enforcement officers said in a press statement that the area was now secure, and that the public is no longer in danger.
State policeman Lieutenant Paul Vance said shootings had taken place in two different rooms in the school.
"It's a very, very difficult scene," he said. "It's a tragedy. It's a tragic scene."
A law enforcement official in Washington said the attacker used a .223-calibre rifle.
President Barack Obama has called Governor Dan Malloy, and pledged "whatever resources the federal government can bring to bear to assist families and the investigation," according to his senior adviser Roy Occhiogrosso at the same press conference.
Eight-year-old Alexis Wasik, a third-grader at the school, told the Hartford Courant police were checking everybody inside the school before they were escorted to the firehouse.
"We had to walk with a partner," she said.
Stephen Delgiadice told the Associated Press that his 8-year-old daughter heard two big bangs and teachers told her to get in a corner. His daughter was fine.
"It's alarming, especially in Newtown, Connecticut, which we always thought was the safest place in America," he said.
The superintendent's office said the district had locked down schools in Newtown, about 60 miles northeast of New York City.
Parents of children attending local schools received automated phone calls saying all schools in the area had been put on "lockdown" as a safety precaution, meaning all buildings had been locked, allowing nobody to leave or enter.
President Obama said "There is not a parent in America who does not feel the same overwhelming grief as I do" after 27 people, including 18 children, were killed in a mass shooting at an elementary school in Connecticut.
In an emotional address to the nation from the White House, Obama said that "as a country, we have been through this too many times".
At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney said the Obama administration would "do everything we can to support state and local law enforcement".
Jillian Cruwys, a parent of children at another school in Newtown, told BBC News: "I'm just in complete shock. It sounds like a cliche, but Newtown is the last place you would think this would happen.
"The first thing we heard this morning was there had been an apparent shooting and three possible injuries, and I just can't believe the numbers we're being told now."
Ms Cruwys received a second automated call within an hour from the principal of her children's school to say that all teachers and children at their school were safe.
She continued: "This is just so devastating, the number of families that are impacted by this, it's just really, really hard to know.
"It is a wonderful, very tight-knit and supportive community, a lot of people do volunteer work and stuff. I don't know how anybody deals with something like this. I really don't know, I just think time will tell."
One mother of an 8-year-old girl at the school, Brenda Lebinski, told Patch that her daughter is safe thanks to one teacher's decision to move all kids into a closet when a gunman had entered the building.
Connecticut Shooter Adam Lanza: 'Obviously Not Well'
By BRIAN ROSS and RICHARD ESPOSITO | Good Morning America Connecticut Shooter Adam Lanza: 'Obviously Not Well'Good Morning America - Connecticut Shooter Adam Lanza: 'Obviously Not Well' (ABC News)