Gunman Kills 26 Including Children At An Elementary School in the USA

CBS News is reporting that 27 people are dead, including 14 students, after a shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. The gunman is among the dead.

CBS News’ John Miller reports there is preliminary information that the gunman was the father of one of the students. Miller also says that at least a couple dozen people were shot.

The shooter was killed and apparently had two guns, a person with knowledge of the shooting said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was still under way. It is not known whether the shooter took his own life or was killed.

Two students and a teacher were also injured in the shooting and they were taken to Dansbury Hospital,
spokeswoman Diane Burke told CBS News York.

Teachers and police escorted students out of the building following the shooting.

“It was a very orderly evacuation given the circumstances,” Connecticut Post reporter Brian Koonz told CBS New York.

One mother tells CBS 2 reporter Lou Young that it’s like a “war zone” in Newtown. Her child told Young he had bullets “whizzing by” him in the hallway and that a teacher pulled him into a classroom.

Connecticut State Police tell CBS Connecticut that it is “still an active situation.”

Police responded to the school shooting at 9:41 a.m. WFSB-TV reporter Len Besthoff calls it a “chaotic scene.”

Stephen Delgiadice said his 8-year-old daughter heard two big bangs and teachers told her to get in a corner. His daughter was fine.

“It’s alarming, especially in Newtown, Connecticut, which we always thought was the safest place in America,” he said.

The school superintendent’s office says the district has locked down schools as a preventive measure to ensure the safety of students and staff. Schools in neighboring towns also were locked down as a precaution.

State police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance says they have a number of personnel on the scene to assist.

The White House said President Barack Obama was notified of the shooting.