A heavily armed young gunman slaughtered 20 small children and six adults at a school in an idyllic Connecticut town on Friday, in one of the worst mass shootings in US history.
Connecticut State Police spokesman Lieutenant Paul Vance said 18 children were shot dead inside Sandy Hook Elementary School and that two more died of their wounds in hospital.
Six adults at the school were killed, Vance said, before the killer was shot -- either by his own hand or police. US media said the school principal was among those killed.
Hours after the massacre, there was still no clue to the motives for the shootings in Newtown, a wooded and picturesque small town north-east of New York City.
"Evil visited this community today," State Governor Dan Malloy said.
President Barack Obama, wiping away tears and struggling to maintain his composure, said he was aghast over the tragedy.
There were almost no non-fatal injuries, indicating that once targeted, there was rarely any chance of escape, and that the gunman was unusually accurate or methodical in his fire.
Vance said just one person suffered an injury and survived.
The majority of killings, which began at around 09:30 a.m., "took place in one section of the school, in two rooms," Vance added. The children were aged between five and ten, officials said.
NBC television reported that the dead killer was Adam Lanza, 20, and that police had earlier confused him with his brother 24-year-old Ryan Lanza, whose identity card he had been carrying with him when he went into the school.
The surviving brother was in custody and being questioned, according to US television reports.
Another source of confusion in the police probe was whether the shooter killed his mother at the school, where she reportedly worked, or whether she was the extra victim found in a home in Newtown -- the 28th body in the day's bloodshed.
CNN and other news outlets said the shooter may have first killed his mother, before driving to her school.
Police said they expected to be able to make public identities of the victims and the killer only on Saturday.
Vance described a "massive investigation" and said that law enforcement agents working at the scene were having a hard time coping. "Between our personal experience, we've never seen anything like this. It's heart wrenching for us," he said.
Obama went on national television to express his "overwhelming grief." He ordered flags to be lowered at half mast.
And there were similar statements of grief and shock around the world.
The head of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso spoke of his "deep shock and horror," Britain's Queen Elizabeth II sent a message to Obama in which she said she was "deeply shocked and saddened."
Of all US campus shootings, the toll was second only to the 32 murders in the 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech.
The latest number far exceeded the 15 killed in the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, which triggered a fierce but inconclusive debate about the United States' relaxed gun control laws.
However, the White House on Friday scotched any suggestion that the politically explosive subject would be quickly reopened.
Witnesses described an intense fusillade fired at the elementary school, possibly numbering some 100 rounds, and seeing a corridor splattered with blood.
"I was going back to my classroom and I heard like a person kicking on the door and I turned around I smelled smoke," an eight-year-old boy told NBC.
"Then bullets whizzed by and then a teacher pulled me into her room," he said, describing "total panic."
Police swarmed into the leafy neighborhood after the shooting, while other area schools were put under lock-down.
"I was in the gym at the time ... we heard lots of bangs, and we thought that it was the custodian knocking stuff down. We heard screaming," another young boy told WCBS television.
"Then the police came in. It's like, is he in here? Then he ran out. Then somebody yelled 'get to a safe place,' so we went to the closet in the gym and we sat there for a little while," he said, as stunned parents arrived.
"Then the police like were knocking on the door, and they're like, we're evacuating people, we're evacuating people. We ran out.
The police response was credited with ensuring the speedy evacuation of the rest of the school, once the gunman unleashed his attack.
"Their training kicked in. They saved a lot of lives," Vance said.
Deadly shootings are a frequent occurrence in US public places, often ending only when the gunman is shot or kills himself.
On Tuesday, a man with a semi-automatic rifle raked an Oregon shopping mall, killing two people, then taking his own life.
In the most notorious recent incident until now a 24-year-old, James Holmes, allegedly killed 12 people and wounded 58 others when he opened fire in a midnight screening of the latest Batman movie in Aurora, Colorado, in July.
However, despite the tragedies, support for tougher gun ownership laws is mixed, with many Americans opposing restrictions on what they consider to be a constitutional right to keep powerful firearms at home.
AFP
Sat Dec 15 2012
![Pertubuhan kebajikan New Zealand mohon maaf edar gula-gula bercampur dadah Methamphetamine Pertubuhan kebajikan New Zealand mohon maaf edar gula-gula bercampur dadah Methamphetamine](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/41723674988_pineapplesweetsme.jpg)
Pertubuhan kebajikan New Zealand mohon maaf edar gula-gula bercampur dadah Methamphetamine
Auckland City Mission secara tidak sengaja telah mengagihkan gula-gula bercampur Methamphetamine yang boleh membawa maut melalui pek makanan.
Pesakit buah pinggang di Gaza hadapi kekurangan mesin dialisis
Pesakit buah pinggang di Gaza menghadapi kekurangan peralatan dialisis dan bekalan perubatan yang teruk di Khan Younis.
Kekejaman zionis: Hamas hilang kepercayaan A.S jadi pengantara gencatan senjata
Hamas hilang kepercayaan terhadap keupayaan Amerika Syarikat untuk menjadi pengantara gencatan senjata di Gaza.
Kekejaman zionis: Hamas tidak ambil bahagian rundingan gencatan senjata baharu
Hamas tidak akan mengambil bahagian dalam pusingan baharu rundingan gencatan senjata Gaza yang dijadualkan di Qatar, pada Khamis.
Malaysia kecam pencerobohan Israel ke atas Masjid Al-Aqsa
Wisma Putra dalam satu kenyataan pada Rabu berkata perbuatan keji ini yang dilakukan di bawah perlindungan pasukan keselamatan Israel, merupakan pencerobohan serius terhadap satu daripada tapak paling suci Islam.
![WHO isytihar mpox sebagai kecemasan kesihatan awam global WHO isytihar mpox sebagai kecemasan kesihatan awam global](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/41723675747_Mpoxvirus.jpg)
WHO isytihar mpox sebagai kecemasan kesihatan awam global
Ini merupakan pengisytiharan kali kedua dalam tempoh dua tahun berikutan wabak yang bermula di Congo sudah merebak ke negara jiran.
![Turkiye akan terus tingkatkan tekanan ke atas Israel - Presiden Erdogan Turkiye akan terus tingkatkan tekanan ke atas Israel - Presiden Erdogan](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/81723674774_TayyipEMahmoudAbbas.jpg)
Turkiye akan terus tingkatkan tekanan ke atas Israel - Presiden Erdogan
Erdogan maklumkan kepada Presiden Mahmoud Abbas, Turkiye akan terus sokong perjuangan Palestin.
![Bekas pemimpin Bangladesh, Hasina didakwa lakukan genosid Bekas pemimpin Bangladesh, Hasina didakwa lakukan genosid](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2016-07/71467442821_SheikhHasina.jpg)
Bekas pemimpin Bangladesh, Hasina didakwa lakukan genosid
Sheikh Hasina didakwa melakukan "genosid dan jenayah terhadap kemanusiaan" semasa beberapa minggu protes ganas yang mengakibatkan ratusan orang terbunuh.
![Fadillah tiba di Peru untuk hadiri mesyuarat menteri-menteri tenaga APEC 2024 Fadillah tiba di Peru untuk hadiri mesyuarat menteri-menteri tenaga APEC 2024](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/51723674456_FadillahYusof.jpg)
Fadillah tiba di Peru untuk hadiri mesyuarat menteri-menteri tenaga APEC 2024
Timbalan Perdana Menteri Fadillah akan mengetengahkan pendirian Malaysia dalam melaksanakan usaha peralihan tenaga negara.
![Lawatan PM Anwar ke India dijangka kukuhkan hubungan ekonomi - Ramanan Lawatan PM Anwar ke India dijangka kukuhkan hubungan ekonomi - Ramanan](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/61721630406_TBAnwarIbrahim.jpg)
Lawatan PM Anwar ke India dijangka kukuhkan hubungan ekonomi - Ramanan
Perdana Menteri Anwar dijadualkan membuat lawatan rasmi pertama ke India dari 19 hingga 20 Ogos.
![Siasatan NTSB di lokasi kejadian dua komuter terlanggar Siasatan NTSB di lokasi kejadian dua komuter terlanggar](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2013-05/61368919113_295x200.jpg)
Siasatan NTSB di lokasi kejadian dua komuter terlanggar
Susulan insiden kejadian dua komuter berlanggar di Connecticut Amerika Syarikat.
![Ribut salji ragut 15 nyawa di Connecticut Ribut salji ragut 15 nyawa di Connecticut](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2013-02/71360571416_295x200.jpg)
Ribut salji ragut 15 nyawa di Connecticut
Orang ramai mula membersihkan timbunan salji susulan ribut salji yang melanda kawasan Connecticut yang meragut 15 nyawa.
Obama mahu kawal penggunaan senjata
Presiden Barack Obama berikrar untuk melakukan apa yang terdaya bagi mengawal penggunaan senjata dan mengelak keganasan.
![Obama sokong usaha larangan pemilikan senjata Obama sokong usaha larangan pemilikan senjata](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2012-11/41352276963_295x200.jpg)
Obama sokong usaha larangan pemilikan senjata
Susulan insiden tembakan rambang di Newtown, Connecticut, Amerika Syarikat, Presiden Barack Obama menyokong penuh usaha Demokrat untuk menguatkuasa semula larangan pemilikan senjata.
![Bapa penyerang sekolah Connecticut mohon maaf Bapa penyerang sekolah Connecticut mohon maaf](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2012-12/51355535508_120x90.jpg)
Bapa penyerang sekolah Connecticut mohon maaf
Peter Lanza mengakui beliau dan keluarganya masih tertanya-tanya mengapa anaknya Adam melakukan serangan di sekolah Connecticut.
Siasatan diteruskan dalam insiden sekolah AS
Jurucakap polis berkata semua detektif ditugaskan mencari bukti dan maklumat lengkap berhubung insiden itu terutama mengenai penyerang Adam Lanza yang berusia 20 tahun.
![27 sah mati, Ryan Lanza bukan penyerang 27 sah mati, Ryan Lanza bukan penyerang](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2012-12/71355542790_120x90.jpg)
27 sah mati, Ryan Lanza bukan penyerang
Polis mengesahkan 27 maut dalam serangan sekolah di Connecticut dan penyerang adalan Adam Lanza dan bukan abangnya Ryan.
26 terbunuh dalam insiden tembak di sekolah AS
Sekolah Sandy Hook di Connecticut diserang, penyerang membunuh 26 orang termasuk 20 pelajar sebulum terbunuh dalam insiden terbaru di AS.
![Keputusan : Obama 256, Romney 191 (270 untuk menang) Keputusan : Obama 256, Romney 191 (270 untuk menang)](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2012-11/71352254271_120x90.jpg)
Keputusan : Obama 256, Romney 191 (270 untuk menang)
Dalam keputusan awal Pilihan Raya Presiden Amerika Syarikat, Presiden Barack Obama dilaporkan menang di Connecticut dengan memungut tujuh undi elektoral.