School Massacre

‘Our hearts are broken’: Obama breaks down in tears as he speaks of America’s  grief after Connecticut elementary school massacre which left TWENTY SIX dead including 20 children

President Obama openly wept today as he spoke of the mindless shooting of 26 people, including 20 children, at Sandy Hook Elementary school this morning saying, ‘Our hearts are broken today’.

In an extraordinary show of emotion at a White House press conference, Obama said: ‘I know there’s not a parent in America who doesn’t feel the same overwhelming grief that I do.’

The President addressed a stunned nation five hours after Adam Lanza, 20, the son of a teacher, brought terror to the Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school.

The shooter was initially believed to have been older brother Ryan Lanza, 24, but it has now emerged Adam was carrying his ID.

Seldom has a head of state expressed greater public emotion in modern times. Obama struggled for words, pausing several times as he wiped away tears saying, ‘This evening, Michelle and I will…hug our children a little tighter, and we’ll tell them that we love them.’

President Obama openly wept today as he spoke of the mindless shooting of 29 people, including 22 children, at Sandy Hook Elementary school this morning saying, ‘Our hearts are broken today’

Ryan Lanza, in the orange jacket in both pictures, shot dead his father, his mother and at least 28 others before turning the gun on himself in Newtown, Connecticut today

The families of victims grieve near Sandy Hook Elementary School, where teacher Nancy Lanza’s son Adam, 20, opened fire and killed 20 children and six adults

A couple comfort each other after the mass shooting, up, and a member of the Connecticut State police leaves the scene outside the Sandy Hook Elementary School, down

Sources say the gunman opened fire first at the principal’s office and then his mother Nancy’s kindergarten classroom before moving from room-to-room shooting children and teachers with a .223-caliber rifle.

His father was found dead at his Newtown home around 2pm, according to officials.

The shootings at the school took place in two rooms, his mother’s kindergarten classroom and another classroom which is unaccounted for.

Lanza is believed to have shot himself at the scene, according to the New York Times.

A number of children were found hiding in closets in the school five hours after the shooting.

Traumatized students were seen being led out of the school crying and holding hands

A woman waits to hear about her sister, a teacher, following the tragic shooting this morning which has shocked the quiet suburban community

Chaotic scenes at the school as police work to secure the area and bodies are carried out of the school

Young children wait outside Sandy Hook Elementary School after a shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, this morning

Parents leave a staging area after being reunited with their children following a shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School

A shooter opened fire at the elementary school shooting at least 20 people – more than a dozen children are believed to be dead

Sandy Hook Elementary School is in Newtown, Connecticut, where Nancy and Peter Lanza lived. Their son Ryan lives in Hoboken, New Jersey

A second man who was seen running from the school right after the shooting was taken into custody around 1pm after he was found in nearby woods.

Lanza is believed to have been carrying four weapons including two handguns and a rifle and was wearing a bullet-proof vest and black military gear.

One mother told CBS that her child said there were bullets ‘whizzing by’ him in the hallway and that a teacher pulled him into a classroom. It was said to have been like a ‘war zone’.

The shooting is the latest in a series of high-profile gun crimes in American schools and colleges,  that is especially shocking given the age of the students involved

The school principal and psychologist are believed to be among the dead.

A boy weeps as he is told what happened after being picked up at Reed Intermediate School following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting

A woman talks to a state police officer for news about the 29 people believed to have been shot dead at the school

Nancy and Peter Lanza’s home in Newtown, Connecticut, was raided after 2pm today and the shooter’s father Peter was found dead

A parent told MailOnline Lanza battered on a closet where 15 children and their teacher were locked inside shouting: ‘Let me in! Let me in!’

The mother, in her 40s, who declined to give her name, said: ‘I want to thank my child’s music teacher. She saved their lives.

‘The shooter kept banging on the door screaming: “Let me in! Let me in!” but he didn’t get in.

‘Now I have to explain to my nine-year-old son that his friends won’t be coming back. How am I supposed to do that?’

Alberta Bajraliu 41, got a call from a friend who heard a gunshot at the school and told her to check it out.

Mrs Alberta’s nine-year-old daughter Venesa was at the school but her two other children are not.

She said: ‘I was one of the first there and they were bringing children out, carrying them out. One girl came out and her face was covered in blood and she had bits of meat from other people in her hair. It was terrible.

‘Another girl just looked shocked. They brought one girl out and I thought it was my daughter. They asked me: ‘Does she have black trousers?’ and I said no as Venesa had jeans.

‘When I saw her I just felt so relieved. She has not spoken much about what happened. She said she was in an art class and the teacher closed the door and they were waiting until they could get out.

Miss Bajraliu also paid tribute to the school’s principal Dawn Hochsprung who is believed to have been killed. She said: ‘She would have done anything for her children’.

Josh Milas, 21, a former pupil at the school, also paid tribute to her and said: ‘She loved those kids. She was a great person’.

Hundreds of officers swarmed the building as students were evacuated after a gunman went from classroom to classroom shooting students and teachers

A mother runs with her children, above, as police canvass homes in the area following a shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, and another comforts her traumatized child,down

A black Honda believed to belong to the shooter has been cordoned off

There are preliminary reports a students father, who is believed to be 20-years-old and from New Jersey, was the shooter. He was killed at the scene though it is unclear if he shot himself or was brought down by an officer

Parents pick-up children outside Sandy Hook Elementary School after 18 students and two adults were shot dead this morning

Hundreds of officers, sniffer dogs, and firefighters patrol the streets outside Sandy Hook Elementary School to secure the area

Dawn Hochsprung, 47, has been the principal at Sandy Hook Elementary school since July 2010.

One teacher is confirmed to have been shot in the foot and is being treated at a local hospital.

The mayor said they are not releasing names until next-of-kin have been notified.

Two handguns have been recovered at the scene and police have cordoned off a black Honda with New Jersey plates believed to belong to the dead shooter.

Hundreds of officers and police dogs had the area surrounded as they worked to secure the scene.

Teachers and students were said to be in morning meetings when the shots were fired. The children were locked inside their classrooms until police came and evacuated them to a nearby fire station.

One child was seen being carried from the school by a police officer, apparently seriously wounded.

A person in one room had ‘numerous gunshot wounds’, police told the The Hartford Courant.

Frantic parents rushed to the school to be reunited with their children

A mother desperately holds on to her son outside Sandy Hook Elementary School after she rushed to the scene

Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown is in lock down after police were alerted to a number of shots being fired at 9.41am by a gunman who was said to be in the main office of the school

Traumatized students were seen being led out of the school crying and holding hands shortly after the shots rang out.

There were also reports that a bomb squad was being called into the school. A helicopter was flying over the scene.

Frantic parents were rushing to the school as they were advised to go to the nearby fire station with ID to pick up their children.

A witness told News8 he saw one child with a bloodied face and another with a hand injury.

The school has about 600 students from kindergarten through to fourth grade – aged between five and 11.

President Obama was first notified of the shooting at a Connecticut elementary school at 10:30am , White House press secretary Jay Carney said.

The president has been receiving updates and will continue to throughout the day, Carney added.

‘If we get more information and as we get more information, we’ll certainly provide it to you. The president as a father and I as a father certainly … feel enormous sympathy for families that are affected and to do everything we can to support state and local law enforcement, to support those who are enduring what appears to be a very tragic event.’

First Selectman Pat Llodra told Patch that there is no information being released about the victims — only confirming that there was a shooting.

‘I’m horrified, saddened and shocked that this happened in Newtown,’ Llodra said. ‘Our priorities right now are making sure everyone safe and reuniting parents with their children.’

One mother of an eight-year-old girl at the school, Brenda Lebinski, told Patch that her daughter is safe thanks to one teacher’s decision to move all kids into a closet when a gunman had entered the building.

Mrs Lebinski said that she had spoken to her daughter’s teacher who was in the school at the time of the shooting, and that a masked gunman had shot adults in the school.

‘My daughter’s teacher is my hero,’ Lebinski said. ‘She locked all the kids in a closet and that saved their lives.’

Teachers and students were said to be in morning meetings when the shots were fired. The children were locked inside their classrooms until police came and evacuated them to a nearby fire station

As well as police and firefighters, there were reports that a bomb squad was being called into the school. A helicopter was also flying over the scene

There are unconfirmed reports of two shooters, one is believed to be dead and the other still at large

There were reports of frantic parents rushing to the school though officials are telling them to stay at home by the phone

Sandy Hook Elementary School is located on Dickinson Drive in Newtown, Connecticut