NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — A gunman opened fire inside a Connecticut elementary school where his mother worked Friday, killing at least 26 people, including 18 children, by blasting his way through the building as young students cowered helplessly in classrooms while their teachers and classmates were shot.
The attack, coming less than two weeks before Christmas, appeared to be the nation's second-deadliest school shooting, exceeded only by the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007.
The death toll — 26 victims plus the gunman — was given to The Associated Press by an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was still under way.
Panicked parents raced to Sandy Hook Elementary School, about 60 miles northeast of New York City, looking for their children in the wake of the shooting. Students were told to close their eyes by police as they were led from the building.
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.
A photo taken by The Newtown Bee newspaper showed a group of young students — some crying, others looking visibly frightened — being escorted by adults through a parking lot in a line, hands on each other's shoulders.
The suspect was 24-year-old Ryan Lanza, whose mother, Nancy, works at the school, a law enforcement official said. His younger brother was being held for questioning as a possible second shooter, the official said.
Ryan Lanza's girlfriend and another friend were missing in New Jersey, the official also said. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the source was not authorized to speak on the record about the developing criminal investigation.
Students and staff were among the victims, state police Lt. Paul Vance said a brief news conference. He also said the gunman was dead inside the school, but he refused to say how people were killed.
Stephen Delgiadice said his 8-year-old daughter was in the school and heard two big bangs. Teachers told her to get in a corner, he said.
"It's alarming, especially in Newtown, Connecticut, which we always thought was the safest place in America," he said. His daughter was fine.
Andrea Rynn, a spokeswoman at the hospital, said it had three patients from the school but she did not have information on the extent or nature of their injuries.
Mergim Bajraliu, 17, heard the gunshots echo from his home and ran to check on his 9-year-old sister at the school. He said his sister, who was fine, heard a scream come over the intercom at one point. He said teachers were shaking and crying as they came out of the building.
"Everyone was just traumatized," he said.
Richard Wilford's 7-year-old son, Richie, is in the second grade at the school. His son told him that he heard a noise that "sounded like what he described as cans falling."
The boy told him a teacher went out to check on the noise, came back in, locked the door and had the kids huddle up in the corner until police arrived.
"There's no words," Wilford said. "It's sheer terror, a sense of imminent danger, to get to your child and be there to protect him."
The White House said Barack Obama was notified of the shooting and his spokesman Jay Carney said the president had "enormous sympathy for families that are affected."
___
Associated Press writers Jim Fitzgerald in Newtown, Pete Yost in Washington, D.C., and Michael Melia in Hartford contributed to this report.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
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get real
Machine guns have been outlawed for what 60 - 70 years ? But what they were selling them out of fast food drive tru in Chicago @ 5 years ago!!! Gun control is using both hands. Any thing else is stupid.
Liberal Society
Just think about this for a moment...
Could this be the result or signs of things to come from a generation that was raised on liberal ideology that everything is O.K. as long as it make's one feel good?
Is this a result or signs of the effects on a generation from a liberal entertainment industry that thrives on our youth by creating false images(Idols), hate, violence and alternative lifestyles and at the same time contribute to the coffers of those who seek or have the power to preserve their "craft" and "way of life"?
ENOUGH!
Let's REMEMBER THE VICTIMS...
Mav
Darn good point on all the pill's now day's!!!
My heart goes out to the family's. Such a waste.
P.S.
Little miss mouth of the south. Why did ya have to bring up gun control?? Believe me. It was not the gun!!!!
Elementary Shootings
Hah! 10 out of 16 opinions disapproved of my comment which was designed to smoke out the liberals that would rather have had the kids murdered then Politicians, Lawyers and Judges that I felt cause these tragedies with their policies and methods. That is 62.5% folks. Also, where is the Dad in this story? Driven off by the mentioned reasons?
Read The 2nd Amendment
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Notice the word "well regulated"? Also notice the word "Militia"?
Also notice the words
Also notice the words "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed". You can argue this all you want. The law of the land is that we have the right to bear Arms. If you want to help stop tragedies like this instead of continuing useless arguements, help stop the people who do this. I could have 1000 guns and would not do what this man did. Terrorists with box cutters ended up killing thousands on 9-11. Timothy McVeigh used fertilizer to blow up kids and adults in Oklahoma. Denying law-abiding citizens their rights is not the way to prevent senseless killing.
Remember Newtown , Connecticut.........
I am appalled that most of the comments on this story have to do with political agendas .
Our prayers should be shown for the victims , the whole community of Newtown, Connecticut.
Most of the people who comment to articles in the dispatch are the same ones over and over again and you always turn it into political mumbo jumbo.
My heartfelt prayers and thoughts are with Newtown , Connecticut.................
Words Have Meaning
It is very clear from that wording that the right of the people to bear arms is in the context of
belonging
to a well regulated militia.
I agree with Scribbles and Shoney,
this isn't a political event to gain traction on, there are 20 dead children and we should be mourning their loss.
Wow y'all just need to
Duke it out AWAY from the comments section. This is NOT about you or your political beliefs or agenda's! This is about 28 people, 20 of them children who will never open another gift, who will never hug their mom's or dad's, who will never experience first love or their wedding day. It is about grandchildren that will never be born, papers that will never be written and first votes that will never be cast.
Grow up and take a day off to give the rest of us a break from your bickering!!!
Guns
Once again some sick evil and out of touch person killed a lot of Gods children for no reason but fame . So stop the fame do not ever say the persons name again anyplace delete them from the world. The person was never born or lived that may stop some of this but when the media keep showing their picture on tv they win. So stop showing their picture forever. Now lets blame the gun yep that will make you feel better show that you are going to do something about this.Lets put the gun on trial ask it why did you kill all of them kids / Bet it will tell you that i did not pull the trigger Put the gun on the witness stand and tell it to kill somebody in the courtroom .You already know the answer so quit blaming the gun. Blame the person and the media .
Once again the Deerwood
Stalker sneaks out of the closet on the attack. You're way off the mark R t B, but then again you always are. Quit obsessing about me and get to work.
Be vewy, vewy careful operating your machine while on Ritalin and your other hallucinogenic drugs eyore.
At fault ???
I agree that the media, politicians and anti groups have put the gun on trial by placing the operator of the gun on the list of his victims.
Let me restate my earlier post to clarify those thumbs downers..."Maybe this horrendous act of violence is a product of today's society created by those who fought and continue to fight for separation from traditional morals and values."
Don't get me wrong here, but do any of our fact based contingent have numbers on what the daily body count is that has made our inner city neighborhoods into a war zone and what is being done to muzzle those who fuel the fires by preaching their actions are justified because of the uneven playing field inherited at birth?
.
Gun violence as a public health issue?
"Guns don’t cause violence but access to guns turns violence deadly and boosts the chances of lethal accidents. Look through statistics compiled by the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the numbers speak for themselves:" (For "the numbers", click on this: http://www.forbes.com/sites/robwaters/2012/07/24/gun-violence-the-public...
The M.E. (from Newtown tragedy) was just at televised press conference, and said the children he examined had been shot multiple times with the .223-caliber assault rifle. He wasn't sure, but thought that might have been only weapon used in that classroom.
So Bubba,
did the M.E. say where the "assult" rifle is or where it went?
All the other reports say a .223 semi-automatic rifle was in the killer's car.
Or are you just spreading more BALONEY on here? You lefters get a little sickening after a while.
Emilie Parker's (one of the 6-yr. old victims) father, Robbie,
spoke very eloquently and admirably about his dear daughter, and some of his thoughts about the incident:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/15/robbie-parker-recalls-6-year-ol...
FnB, please look online for yourself; the M.E.'s statement/news conference was public, and so is this information (about the weapon). I'm curious why you find it necessary to presume this information constitutes "spreading more baloney" before you have even bothered to check it out. Why not suspend judgment on occasion before posting?
Here's a reference with the info, FnB, in case you haven't
already looked it up:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/15/us/connecticut-school-shooting/index.html
I'm sure some news organization also has an online tape of the entire news conference.
You didn't Bubba,
why should I? An "assult" rifle is full automatic and would leave the same wound as a single shot .223 only faster. Get YOUR facts right, please.
So long means "assult" rifle?
I thought most "assult" rifles were kinda short. Read your own link.
Keep reading, FnB,
there's reference to Bushmaster... found by the body. I thought the Bushmaster they described was an assault rifle. The M.E.'s actual statment was helpful.
Bushmasters are semiautomatic
rifles not "assult" weapons, Bubba. They are for sale at Fleet Farm. You antigun folks always scream without the facts. Educate yourself a bit before you squeek. And a lot of M.E. s are just political lackies for criminal polititians.
I heard the .223
was in his car. Do you think maybe we should wait for the whole story to argue about it?
Navy Seals didn't kill Bin
Navy Seals didn't kill Bin Laden.
GUNS DID! Said nobody,ever.
So, don't blame guns for the actions of stupid people!
I pray for this town and my
I pray for this town and my heart aches. A moment of silence please.
Babies,
I feel that it doesn't really make a difference what type gun was used, Babies were killed, these children where assaulted with a gun, that should not have been in the hands of the shooter. Now can we the living get over ourselves long enough to remember the victims...
Lou
How can you play the role of grieving for the victims when we have abortion which murders many more innocent lives than some nut case does. Is it not the same? Innocent beings? Oh, I forgot, the doctor that murders the babies gets rich doing it.