Dec. 14 2012NewsRescue- In what can be seen as another senseless act of Godless terrorism, a shooter, or possibly two reigned terror on a Connecticut elementary school. Related: NewsRescue- Nonreligious Terrorism
Newtown, Connecticut (CNN)
— Dressed in black fatigues and a military vest, a heavily armed man
walked into a Connecticut elementary school Friday and interrupted the
start of a typical school day, opening fire on two classrooms.
Within minutes, 26 people were dead — 20
of them children. Among the six adults killed were Dawn Hochsprung, the
school’s beloved principal, and school psychologist Mary Sherlach.
The shooter, identified by three law enforcement officials as 20-year-old Adam Lanza, was also killed, apparently by his own hand.
Newtown, Connecticut (CNN) -- Dressed in black fatigues and a military vest, a heavily armed man
walked into a Connecticut elementary school Friday and opened fire,
shattering the quiet of this southern New England town and leaving the
nation reeling at the number of young lives lost.
Within minutes, 26 people
were dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School -- 20 of them children. Among
the six adults killed were Dawn Hochsprung, the school's beloved
principal, and school psychologist Mary Sherlach.
The shooter, identified by three law enforcement officials as 20-year-old Adam Lanza, also was killed, apparently by his own hand.
"Stuff like this does not
happen in Newtown," a tight-knit community of about 27,000 just outside
Danbury, said Renee Burn, a local teacher at another school in town. In
the past 10 years, only one homicide had previously been reported.
Photos: Connecticut school shooting
Suspected shooter's brother questioned
How the school shooting unfolded
Student: I saw bullets going past
Student: I saw bullets going past
With the death toll at
26, the Newtown shooting is the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S.
history, behind only the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech that left 32
people dead.
"Evil visited this community today," Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy said of Friday's massacre.
Young students described being ushered into bathrooms and closets by teachers as the first shots rang out.
Third-grader Alexis Wasik said police and teachers barged into her classroom and told students to hide in the corner.
"Everybody was crying," she said. "And I just heard the police officers yelling."
One parent who was in
the school at the time of the shooting said she heard a "pop, pop, pop,"
sound around 9:30 a.m. In the room with her were Hochsprung, the vice
principal and Sherlach. All three left the room and went into the hall
to see what was happening. The parent ducked under the table and called
911.
"I cowered," she told CNN's Meredith Artley. The shooter "must have shot a hundred rounds."
Responding police
officers helped evacuate the children, telling them to hold hands and
keep their eyes closed to the carnage as they exited the building.
As reports of the shooting surfaced, frantic parents descended on a nearby firehouse where the children had been taken.
"Why? Why?" one woman wailed as she walked up a wooded roadway leading from the school.
Police declined to
speculate on a motive Friday evening, citing the ongoing investigation.
Lanza had no known criminal record, a law enforcement official said.
Three weapons were
recovered from the school: a semi-automatic .223 Bushmaster found in a
car in the school parking lot, and a Glock and a Sig Sauer found with
Lanza's body, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation
said. The weapons were legally purchased by Lanza's mother, the
official said.
The official said Lanza died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Lt.
J. Paul Vance of the Connecticut State Police said that the medical
examiner will determine the cause of death for the gunman, though he
noted that police never discharged their weapons.
In addition to the
killings at Sandy Hook, another adult was found dead at a second
location in Newtown, Vance said. A law enforcement source with detailed
knowledge of the investigation identified that person as Lanza's mother,
Nancy, who was found dead at a Newtown residence. She was a teacher at
Sandy Hook, sources said.
Meanwhile, authorities
in Hoboken, New Jersey, were questioning Ryan Lanza, the suspect's older
brother, law enforcement sources said, though they did not label him a
suspect. Lanza's father, who lives in Connecticut, was similarly
questioned, one of the law enforcement officials said.
The fact that so many of
those killed were young children -- Sandy Hook serves students in
kindergarten through fourth grade -- touched a nerve across the world
Friday, from U.S. President Barack Obama and other world leaders
expressing grief to regular folks reacting with horror on social media
as the news unfolded. The overwhelming sentiment: Hug your kids closely.
Obama, a father of two
girls, wiped away tears while delivering a statement about the shooting,
saying, "Our hearts are broken today."
"The majority of those who died today were children. Beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old," he said.
The bodies of the young victims remained where they fell Friday night, as authorities worked to positively identify them.
Flags were ordered to
fly at half-staff nationwide in tribute to the victims, and candlelight
vigils were planned across the country as Americans came together to try
to comprehend the tragedy.
"This is most definitely the worst thing we've experienced in town," Newtown Police Lt. George Sinko said.
It is not yet known how the gunman entered the school.
Hochsprung, the slain principal, had recently installed a new security system to ensure student safety.
Under the new system,
every visitor was required to ring a doorbell at the front entrance
after the doors locked at 9:30 a.m. and report to the main office to
sign in.
Police began receiving reports of shots fired around 9:40 a.m. Friday.
In 1999, at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, two students shot 13 people to death before killing themselves.
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