As many as 27 people have been killed, including 18 children, in a shooting attack at a primary school in the US state of Connecticut, US media say.
State Police spokesman Paul Vance would not confirm the number of deaths.
US media identified the gunman, who died at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, as Ryan Lanza, 24, said to from New Jersey.
If the death toll is confirmed, Newtown would be the second-worst US shooting, after 32 died at Virginia Tech in 2007.
Friday's shooting is the third major gun attack in the US in 2012.
In July an attacker killed 12 people at a premiere of a Batman film in Aurora, Colorado. In August six people died at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin. Children's 'eyes covered'
Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy is meeting the families of the victims, a spokesman said, and is expected to visit the school later in the day. He is expected to make a statement at 15:30 EST (20:30 GMT)
US President Barack Obama is also due to deliver remarks on the shooting 15 minutes earlier.
The American flags on Capitol Hill in Washington DC have been lowered to half-mast in the wake of the attack.
Sandy Hook School - described by correspondents as a highly rated school has more than 600 students in classes from Kindergarten to 4th Grade - spanning the ages five to 10.
Police arrived at the school soon after 09:40 local time (14:40 GMT), answering reports that a gunman was in the school's main office and one person had "numerous gunshot wounds".
Scores of officers at the scene carried out a full search of the site. Classes were cancelled as the situation developed.
Schools across the district were immediately on lock-down as a preventive measure, officials said.
According to US reports, the gunman's mother was a teacher found among the dead at the school. The Associated Press said his brother was being held by police.
The attacker was dressed in black and wearing a bullet-proof vest during the attack, and reportedly used a .223-calibre rifle. Other weapons are also said to have been recovered.
With the death toll rising, it emerged that one entire classroom of students may remain unaccounted for, local sources reported.
Three other people were taken to hospital and are reported to be in "very serious condition", Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton told CNN.
One witness speaking to CNN said that shots were heard coming from the hall. There "must have been 100 rounds" fired, she told the channel.
Local media have reported that firefighters instructed children to close their eyes and run past the school's office as they exited the building.
Other sources suggest that some of the shots were fired in a school classroom.
There were early unconfirmed reports of two shooters, but no further details of a second gunman mentioned by police.
With the children now evacuated, aerial images of the school show emergency vehicles still at the scene and scores of cars surrounding the area.
Parents and children were seen weeping and comforting friends and family at the school as the scale of the shooting gradually became clear. Officials say they are trying to unite children with their parents.
This asshole needs to be chopped up, stuffed in a cardboard box, pack it with cow shit, dump gasoline on it, light it on fire, and after it's done burning have a street sweeper wipe up the ashes and deposit the remains of that son of a bitch in a landfill.
According to US reports, the gunman's mother was a teacher found among the dead at the school. The Associated Press said his brother was being held by police.
This asshole needs to be chopped up, stuffed in a cardboard box, pack it with cow shit, dump gasoline on it, light it on fire, and after it's done burning have a street sweeper wipe up the ashes and deposit the remains of that son of a bitch in a landfill.
Even that would be less that what this guy deserves.
It is deeply frustrating and incredibly sad when shootings like this occur. It's pointless to kill a roomful of kids who never hurt anyone. Not that the adults killed are any more guilty of anything. Every one of these people has an extended family, and their lives are scarred and destroyed as well.
It's an act of unmeasurable selfishness.
The guy apparently killed his mother at another location, before coming to the school where his mother is a teacher and killed apparently every one else he could get in the sight of his guns.
No doubt the media will psychoanalyze this guy for weeks, and tell us every detail of his life leading up to the murders. When in a just world he would be ignored and forgotten. I've previously described such incidents as "random absurdity", that they are isolated incidents where one lone nut kills a bunch of people, but aside from the people he kills, it is not an act that has an enduring significance on the nation or the world. But alarmingly, these acts seem to be occurring with greater frequency, and with increasing body counts. I'm not a psychologist or expert, but it seems to me that the media makes celebrities of them, and they choose to go out with a nationally televised bang that gives them 15 minutes of fame, along with their act of rage or revenge or defiance or whatever.
We all probably knew about the incident before you posted it.
Nice try though.
Yeah, Doog. Nice try at posting an article about something that just happened in the Current Events board allowing us all here a place converse about the event if we so choose.
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet."
We all probably knew about the incident before you posted it.
Nice try though.
Yeah, Doog. Nice try at posting an article about something that just happened in the Current Events board allowing us all here a place converse about the event if we so choose.
According to US reports, the gunman's mother was a teacher found among the dead at the school. The Associated Press said his brother was being held by police.
Wow. Insanity defense?
My first thought was the police picked up the brother just to get the full story of what was going through the shooter's head.
Although many reports at least imply that he's a second suspect.
We all probably knew about the incident before you posted it.
Nice try though.
Yeah, Doog. Nice try at posting an article about something that just happened in the Current Events board allowing us all here a place converse about the event if we so choose.
I'm just sayin'.
Don't you have an Avengers 2 script to go read so you can tell us how much it sucks? Or maybe, don't be a dick. Congrats on you for hearing about it earlier. Want a ribbon?
It happened almost eight hours ago, Doc. There is nothing current about it. Quit living in the past.
My post was over four minutes old, man. Why can't you let things stay in the past?
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet."
According to US reports, the gunman's mother was a teacher found among the dead at the school. The Associated Press said his brother was being held by police.
We all probably knew about the incident before you posted it.
Nice try though.
Yeah, Doog. Nice try at posting an article about something that just happened in the Current Events board allowing us all here a place converse about the event if we so choose.
I'm just being a rex.
"My friends have always been the best of me." -Doctor Who
"Well,whenever I'm confused,I just check my underwear. It holds most answers to life's questions." Abe Simpson
I can tell by the position of the sun in the sky, that is time for us to go. Until next time, I am Lothar of the Hill People!
A relative told ABC News that Adam was "obviously not well."
Family friends in Newtown also described the young man as troubled and described Nancy as very rigid. "[Adam] was not connected with the other kids," said one friend.
State and federal authorities believe his mother may have once worked at the elementary school where Adam went on his deadly rampage, although she was not a teacher, according to relatives, perhaps a volunteer.
Nancy and her husband Peter, Adam's father, divorced in 2009. When they first filed for divorce in 2008, a judge ordered that they participate in a "parenting education program."
I think it's becoming obvious that the shooter had mental health issues. Therefore, And remember this is coming from a life member of the NRA, the mother should have not been putting him in a position where he could have access to weapons.
I'm not even sure that it is just the mental health issues at this point. While they certainly can--and probably do--play a role in this, the psychotropics these guys are on can have side effects just as bad--if not worse--than the mental illnesses. Just something else to put into the pattern file.
It's a truly horrible thing that happened and the fact that it looks like this douche took his own life,doesn't give any answers to grieving parents and families is just as bad. There can be no explanation as to "Why?" only speculation and probabilities but no definitive answers.
It's a dog eat dog world & I'm wearing milkbone underwear.
It's a truly horrible thing that happened and the fact that it looks like this douche took his own life,doesn't give any answers to grieving parents and families is just as bad. There can be no explanation as to "Why?" only speculation and probabilities but no definitive answers.
Yeah there isn't anything that's going to make sense for the killer to do what he did other than he was really crazy. Maybe it's time to go back to the state hospital system we used to have?
Yeah there isn't anything that's going to make sense for the killer to do what he did other than he was really crazy. Maybe it's time to go back to the state hospital system we used to have?
I noticed your post earlier. Is there really a chance something like that could be brought back though?
I don't know. Some of it would depend on the laws of each state. I haven't researched the issue but I think most of the movement to close mental hospitals, etc., were state, not federal initiatives.
Indiana man with 47 guns arrested after school threat: A northern Indiana man who allegedly threatened to "kill as many people as he could" at an elementary school near his home was arrested by officers who later found 47 guns and ammunition hidden throughout his home.
I wonder if the media creates some of this by exploiting these tragedies for ratings and/or a particular agenda. I suspect that the incessant coverage creates copycats.
I keep searching for pictures of Adam Lanza and all I get is a picture of him smiling as a young boy. Is he really that young or is this another case of the media choosing specific pictures just to make the person look sympathetic?
I wonder if the media creates some of this by exploiting these tragedies for ratings and/or a particular agenda. I suspect that the incessant coverage creates copycats.
Of course. Look at the "fame" or infamy the Colorado theater asshole got.
Constant coverage, putting the killer's face all over the news.
I keep searching for pictures of Adam Lanza and all I get is a picture of him smiling as a young boy. Is he really that young or is this another case of the media choosing specific pictures just to make the person look sympathetic?
I think it's more a question of them not having a picture they have rights to of him when he was older
The media coverage has been awful but blaming them? I would blame our whacky lack of gun control laws that allows weapons of mass destruction being easier to be had than reanting a car.
The media coverage has been awful but blaming them?.
The only person who deserves blame is the shooter. I'm only questioning whether people in the media should reonsider how they cover things and whether that makes things worse not better.
Originally Posted By: Matter-eater Man
The media coverage has been awful but blaming them? I would blame our whacky lack of gun control laws that allows weapons of mass destruction being easier to be had than reanting a car.
Don't be hyperbolic. I live in NY. I can rent a car right now. I'm an officer of the court and I can't own a pistol without a difficult to get permit
I think this guy's Mom is more to blame than the guns.
Either she didn't safeguard her firearms from a member of her household with a history of mental illness, or (and this is just a wild speculation on my part) she bought her mentally ill son guns in her name.
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