NEWTOWN, Conn. — A man opened fire Friday inside the Connecticut elementary school where his mother worked as a teacher, killing 26 people, including 20 children, as youngsters cowered in their classrooms and trembled helplessly to the sound of gunfire reverberating through the building.
The killer, armed with two handguns, committed suicide and another person was found dead at a second scene, bringing the toll to 28, authorities said.
The attack, coming less than two weeks before Christmas, was the nation's second-deadliest school shooting, exceeded only by the Virginia Tech massacre that left 33 people dead in 2007.
Panicked parents raced to Sandy Hook Elementary School, about 60 miles northeast of New York City, looking for their children. Students were told to close their eyes by police as they were led from the building.
Schoolchildren — some crying, others looking frightened — were escorted through a parking lot in a line, hands on each other's shoulders.
"Our hearts are broken today," a tearful President Barack Obama, struggling to maintain composure, said at the White House. He called for "meaningful action" to prevent such shootings.
Youngsters and their parents described teachers locking doors and ordering the children to huddle in the corner or hide in closets when shots echoed through the building. Authorities said the shootings took place in two rooms, but they gave no details on exactly how they unfolded.
A law enforcement official identified the gunman as 20-year-old Adam Lanza, the son of a teacher. A second law enforcement official said his mother, Nancy Lanza, was presumed dead.
Adam Lanza's older brother, 24-year-old Ryan, of Hoboken, N.J., was being questioned, the first official said. Earlier, a law enforcement official mistakenly identified Ryan as the shooter.
Both officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record about the unfolding investigation.
The gunman drove to the school in his mother's car, the second official said. Three guns were found — a Glock and a Sig Sauer, both pistols, inside the school, and a .223-caliber rifle in the back of a car.
Lanza's girlfriend and another friend were missing in New Jersey, the official also said.
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.
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.
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.
Mary Pendergast, who lives close to the school, said her 9-year-old nephew was in the school at the time of the shooting, but wasn't hurt after his music teacher helped him take cover in a closet.
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."
On Friday afternoon, family members were led away from a firehouse that was being used as a staging area, some of them weeping. One man, wearing only a T-shirt without a jacket, put his arms around a woman as they walked down the middle of the street, oblivious to everything around them.
Another woman with tears rolling down her face walked by carrying a car seat with a young infant inside and a bag that appeared to have toys and stuffed animals.
The shootings instantly brought to mind episodes such as the Columbine High School massacre that killed 15 in 1999 and the July shootings at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., that left 12 dead.
"You go to a movie theater in Aurora and all of a sudden your life is taken," Columbine principal Frank DeAngelis said. "You're at a shopping mall in Portland, Ore., and your life is taken. This morning, when parents kissed their kids goodbye knowing that they are going to be home to celebrate the holiday season coming up, you don't expect this to happen. I think as a society, we need to come together. It has to stop, these senseless deaths."
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.
He paused for several seconds to keep his composure as he teared up and wiped an eye. Nearby, two aides cried and held hands as they listened to Obama.
"They had their entire lives ahead of them — birthdays, graduations, wedding, kids of their own," Obama continued about the victims. "Among the fallen were also teachers, men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children."
DonMey posted at 12:58 pm on Fri, Dec 14, 2012.
Bingo - You're exactly why comments shouldn't be allowed on stories like this.
DonMey posted at 2:13 pm on Fri, Dec 14, 2012.
Leave the gun debate for another day!
RubidouxFalcon posted at 3:21 pm on Fri, Dec 14, 2012.
Yes, leave the gun debate for another day. If you aren't feeling genuinely sad for the families affected by this senseless massacre, here are a few discussions you could have that aren't a gun debate:
-The value of homeschooling. It's not only a budget and education argument. It's a safety argument.
-Mental Health in America. Are we doing all we can to recognize and treat mental illness in America?
-School Security. My son gets speech therapy at a local school. My wife usually takes him. Last week, I went. I walk in, past the front desk and wen to the room my wife told me to pick him up. I could have gone anywhere in that school. No one asked who I was. It would have been easy to have a gun on me, open up a classroom and start shooting.
These are three good discussions to have other than a tired gun debate.
bungknock posted at 4:10 pm on Fri, Dec 14, 2012.
Sorry folks, I'm beyond sadness, I'm into rage. I can't believe how stupidly tragic this really is.
Slabside posted at 6:12 pm on Fri, Dec 14, 2012.
Prayers to the families. [sad]
Masterrogue666 posted at 8:30 pm on Fri, Dec 14, 2012.
All my prayers to the families.....
FenderBass posted at 6:23 am on Sat, Dec 15, 2012.
Thank you for mentioning the gunman only as briefly as possible. I don't care who he is, what his neighbors thought of him, why he may have done it, ad nausem. ABC is the worst at this. Focus should be on the victims, with all respect to their privacy. My condolences go out to all affected by this senseless act.
bubba posted at 8:02 am on Sat, Dec 15, 2012.
I hope this isn't too soon to discuss this, but the topic seems be be getting started already, and this is only my opinion. The root of our society's problems isn't lack of gun control laws. More laws are only a feel good, do nothing answer to a deeper problem. The real root of these tragedies lies in the lack of mental heath treatment and the stiigmatism that people who need help are looked upon negatively. The world we live in is full of stress and angst. The common denominator isn't the guns they used, but the deterioration of their mental heath. Open access to mental health treatment seems a more viable cure.
Poorman posted at 8:56 am on Sun, Dec 16, 2012.
Very sad and tragic,but its to early to say much about causes rtc,.etc,have to let the media and media types have their say when and if they get the facts right,I did see however that on the usual talikg head shows most all talked about banning assault weaponsa,armor penirtrating ammo etc. I must have missed the part about what type of assault weapon the nutso used. I thought he used three or so hand guns. Have to wait awhile till the media frenzy dies down and the usual antigun politicos get their new and worthless gun laws written.
kittenkat6767 posted at 10:43 pm on Fri, Jan 25, 2013.
Its just horrible! I can`t belive someone could do this! They were inoccent people! Most of them KIDS! This country has gone mad! I apologize if I seem really chizzed off but I am! This is sick! I can`t imagin this happening, it`s just unbelivable! R.I.P sweet angels[innocent]