27 Killed in Shootout in Connecticut Elementary School

World | December 14, 2012, Friday // 20:05
Bulgaria: 27 Killed in Shootout in Connecticut Elementary School A lone gunman killed 26 people at an elementary school here, including 18 children, in a terrifying early Friday morning shooting spree in Newtown Connecticut. Photo from USA Today

At least 27 people, including 18 children, have been killed in a shooting in an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.

According to CBS News, which cited unnamed officials, it would be one of the worst mass shootings in US history.

The principal and school psychologist were among the dead, CNN said. The shooter, an adult, was dead and two handguns were recovered from the scene, NBC News reported without citing a source.

There were unconfirmed reports of a second shooter after witnesses reported hearing dozens of shots, CBS reported.

Sandy Hook Elementary School teaches children from kindergarten through fourth grade - roughly ages 5 to 10.

Television images showed police and ambulances at the scene, and parents rushing toward the school. Parents were seen reuniting with their children and taking them home.

All Newtown schools were placed in lockdown after the shooting, the Newtown Public School District said.

A mother who was at the school during the shooting is quoted as saying that a "masked man" entered the principal's office and may have shot the principal. Lebinski, who is friends with the mother who was at the school, said the principal was "severely injured."

Danbury Hospital, about 11 miles west of the school, had received three patients from the scene, a hospital spokeswoman told NBC Connecticut. The mayor of Danbury, Mark Boughton, told MSNBC: "They are very serious injuries."

A girl interviewed by NBC Connecticut described hearing seven loud "booms" as she was in gym class. Other children began crying and teachers moved the students to a nearby office, she said.

"A police officer came in and told us to run outside and so we did," the unidentified girl said on camera.

Connecticut State Police said its officers were at the scene with local police but provided no additional details. The emergency call to police occurred at 9:41 a.m., state police said.

An individual answering the phone at the Newtown Police Department declined to comment.

Newtown, with a population about 27,000, is in northern Fairfield County, about 45 miles southwest of Hartford and 80 miles northeast of New York City.

Sandy Hook is one of four elementary schools in the district.

The United States has experienced a number of mass shooting rampages this year, most recently in Oregon, where a gunman opened fire at a shopping mall on Tuesday, killing two people and then himself.

The deadliest attack came in July at a midnight screening of a Batman film in Colorado that killed 12 people and wounded 58.

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Tags: shooting, shootout, USA, Connecticut, elementary school, US

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