Connecticut school shooting: massacre at Sandy Hook leaves 20 children dead

A total of 27 victims died when the gunman, identified by the Associated Press as Adam Lanza, 20, began firing at Sandy Hook Elementary School in the sleepy, affluent town of Newtown, Connecticut, 60 miles from New York. He died at the scene and the body of his mother, Nancy Lanza, was found at his family home. She had been shot in the face.

He used weapons including two handguns — a Glock and a Sig Sauer — and a .233 Bushmaster rifle was found in a car at the school.

^{Frightened children are rushed to safety. Picture: AP Photo/Newtown Bee, Shannon Hick}

^{ABC News published a picture that it reported showed Adam Lanza, the gunman. Picture: ABC News}

^{A young boy is comforted in the aftermath of the shooting. Picture: Reuters}

Sandy Hook is attended by nearly 700 children from kindergarten to the fourth grade, roughly ages five to 10, and many of the victims were reported to be the youngest pupils. After taking his mother’s life, the gunman drove her car to the school, walked into two classrooms around 9.30am and opened fire. Six adults and 18 children died at the school and two children died in hospital.

Some children fled through nearby woodland and back yards. Other survivors, some crying, were led to safety in a line with their hands on the shoulders of the child in front. Two young girls described seeing the gunman go into their classroom and shoot their teacher.

President Barack Obama addressed the nation on television and appeared to weep as he said: “Our hearts are broken today.”

Referring to the dead children, he said: “They had their entire lives ahead of them. There is not a parent in America who does not feel the same overwhelming grief that I do.”

He promised “meaningful action” on gun control, regardless of the fraught politics surrounding the subject in America. He also ordered flags at the White House to be flown at half mast. The Queen sent a message saying she was “deeply shocked and saddened”.

^{A satellite view of the school. Picture: AP}

The gunman, in black fatigues and a military-style vest, was found dead in a classroom. It appeared that he committed suicide. A second man in camouflage trousers was seen being handcuffed. One witness described him shouting: “I didn’t do it.”

The suspect’s brother Ryan, 24, was being questioned by police, the Associated Press reported. He told them that Adam had a “personality disorder” and was autistic, ABC News said. Neighbours described the gunman as “odd”.

A mother who was in a meeting with the principal, Dawn Hochsprung, 47, and others at 9.30am described having heard a “pop pop pop” in the hallway. She said that the principal, vice-principal and school psychologist went out. “Only one person came back. The vice-principal was shot in the leg or the foot and came crawling back,” she added.

She described cowering under a table and said that 100 rounds or more might have been fired.

^{A young girl is given a blanket after being evacuated from the school. Picture: Reuters}

^{Heavily armed Connecticut State Troopers outside the school on Friday. Picture: AP}

One boy, nine, said: “I was in the gym. We heard lots of bangs and we thought it was the custodian knocking stuff down. Then we heard screaming. Then police came in and said, 'Is he in here?’ Then they ran out and we went to the closet in the gym and hid.”

Brenda Lebinski said that her eight-year-old daughter had been among children saved by a teacher who locked them in a closet. “My daughter’s teacher is a hero,” she said. “Everyone was in hysterics – parents, students. There were kids coming out of the school bloodied.”

There have been several mass shootings over the past years. In 2007 Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed 32 people at Virginia Tech university.

In July James Holmes killed 12 at a cinema in Colorado. But security expert Lou Palumbo said “We’ve surpassed any of these prior incidents.”