Shooting at Connecticut Elementary School -- Gunman, Children Dead

Adults escort young children through a parking lot after reports of a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. (Photo credit: Newtown Bee/Shannon Hicks)

UPDATES:

8:30 p.m. ABC News reports that the gunman’s mother was teacher’s aide at school and not a teacher, according to officials. AP still reporting that Adam Lanza's mother was a teacher at the school.

6:07 p.m. AP reports an official says gunman's brother, Ryan Lanza, not believed to have any involvement in shooting rampage.

5:20 p.m. CNN reports suspect's mother found dead at her son's residence in Newtown -- not in a classroom as previously reported. There was no body found at a home searched in Hoboken, N.J.

4:23 p.m. Fox News reports Adam Lanza may have been carrying his brother's ID, leading to initial confusion.

4:16 p.m. Associated Press:

Law enforcement: Suspect in Connecticut shootings is Adam Lanza, 20, son of teacher who is presumed dead.

Suspected shooter's 24-year-old brother Ryan, of Hoboken, N.J., is being questioned.

4:07 p.m. Fox News reports the alleged shooter's name is Adam Lanza, not Ryan Lanza. They are brothers.

3:44 p.m. Connecticut police Lt. Paul Vance: 20 children, six adults killed, plus the shooter and one additional individual at a separate location. Vance said the shootings were confined to "one section of the school in two rooms."

3:38 p.m. Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy says what happened today "will leave a mark on this community and every family impacted." Confirms perpetrator is dead, "as is an individual who the perpetrator lived with."

Local news livestream here

3:10 p.m. Obama issues presidential proclamation ordering all flags be flown at half-staff until Dec. 18.

2:57 p.m. AP reports shooting suspect's younger brother is being held by police.

2:53 p.m. NBC News reports second family member of gunman found shot in Newtown, Conn. home, not in Hoboken, N.J. as previously reported.

2:47 p.m. President Barack Obama to speak at 3:15 p.m.

2:43 p.m. Police identify gunman as 24-year-old Ryan Lanza.

2:31 p.m. NBC News reports alleged shooter's mother was a teacher at the elementary school and was among the dead.

2:20 p.m. CNN reports suspected shooter's name is Ryan Lanza.

2:16 p.m. NBC News reports alleged shooter's parent found dead in New Jersey home.

2:09 p.m. NBC's Andrea Mitchell: "Gun violence has been epidemic in this country."

2:00 p.m. White House: Today is not the day to talk about gun control.

1:58 p.m. CBS News: Body found at home connected to shooter.

1:47 p.m. Student describes terrifying experience inside school: "I heard…seven loud booms…so we all huddled."

1:44 p.m. Connecticut police confirmed there were "several fatalities at the scene," including students and staff, but did not provide an exact number. The scene is secure and search warrants are currently being executed.

1:37 p.m. NBC News reports a second person is in custody in connection with the shooting.

1:29 p.m. AP reports the suspect was a "20-year-old man with ties to the school," law enforcement official says.

The official said that a gun used in the attacks is a .223-caliber rifle. The official also said that New Jersey state police are searching a location in that state in connection with the shootings.

1:18 p.m. CNN reports principal, school psychologist killed.

12:56 p.m. Fox News reports shooter was wearing a military vest.

12:54 p.m. Associated Press reports 27 dead, including 18 children.

12:44 p.m. CBS News reports at least 27 dead.

12:36 p.m. The Hartford Courant reports at least 20 people have been shot, multiple dead.

12:32 p.m. ABC News reports at least 12 dead.

11:49 a.m. The Hartford Courant is reporting there are multiple fatalities, including children, at an elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn. The exact number of deaths is unknown.

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) -- 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.

Photo: Hartford Courant

"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.

Photo: Hartford Courant

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."

This post has been updated.