Two Reports: One from the BBC and the other from the Hartford Courant/AP

As many as 27 people have been killed, including many children, in a shooting attack at a primary school in the US state of Connecticut, US media say.

At least 18 children are among the dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, the Associated Press reported.

State police spokesman Paul Vance said the gunman died at the scene - but would not confirm the number of deaths.

If confirmed, Newtown would be the second-deadliest US shooting, after 32 people died at Virginia Tech in 2007.

Governor Dannel Malloy is meeting the families of the victims, a spokesman said, and is expected to visit the school later in the day.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters that US President Barack Obama had been informed of the incident and was receiving regular updates.

Children's 'eyes covered'
 
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.

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.

According to CNN, the shooter's body was in one of the school's classrooms.

Source: BBC

Hartford Courant/AP:

27 Dead, Including 18 Children, At Sandy Hook School Shooting In Newtown

NEWTOWN— Twenty-seven people, including 18 children, have been killed in a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, according to the Associated Press.

The report cites an official with knowledge of the situation.

Sources told The Courant that there are at least 20 shooting victims. Many of the shootings took place in a kindergarten classroom, sources said.

One entire classroom is unaccounted for, sources said.

The shooter is dead, and the situation is secure, said State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance.

Meanwhile, police are searching residences in Newtown and in Hoboken, N.J., sources say.

Three people were brought to Danbury Hospital, but their condition is unknown. The emergency room is on lockdown.

Police were still searching the school at 11 a.m., and police dogs had been brought in. Around noon, the triage area was broken down, stretchers were taken away and the SWAT team left the building.

Shortly after 9:40 a.m., police reported that a shooter was in the main office of the school. A person in one room had “numerous gunshot wounds,” police said.

Groups of students — some crying, some holding hands — were being escorted away from the school by their teachers. Some students were still in the school at 10:30 a.m., parents said.

School and local emergency officials are accounting for the children, who will be released to their parents to get them home. Some parents were sequestered at the Sandy Hook fire department, directly in front of the school.

Other frustrated parents were desperately trying to get information from officials as they searched the school.

Vanessa Bajraliu, a 9-year-old fourth grader, heard the shots.

"I saw policemen -- lots of policemen in the hallway with guns," she said. "The police took us out of the school. We were told to hold each others' hands and to close our eyes. We opened our eyes when we were outside."

Her brother, 17-year-old Mergim Bajraliu, a senior at Newtown High School, was at his nearby home when he heard shots, he said. He first went to a neighbor's house.

"Then we heard sirens," he said.

He rushed to the school on foot and saw a girl being carried out, he said. She looked badly injured. Another girl had blood on her face, he said.

Mergim soon found his sister and took her away from the scene.

Parent Richard Wilford said his Sandy Hook second-grader, Richie, heard what he described as “pans falling” when gunshots rang out. He said that his son told him that the teacher went to go check, came back in and locked the door and told the students to stand in the corner.

“What does a parent think about coming to a school where there’s a shooting” It’s the most terrifying moment of a parent’s life … you have no idea,” said Wilford.

Brendan Murray, a 9-year-old 4th grader, said he was in the gym with his class when they heard "lots of banging." He said the teachers put the students in a nearby closet where they stayed for about 15 minutes before police officers told them to leave the building.

The boy said the students ran down a hallway where there were police at every door. He said "lots of people were crying."

Eight-year-old Alexis Wasik, a third-grader at the school, said police were checking everybody inside the school before they were escorted to the firehouse.

"We had to walk with a partner," she said.

One child leaving the school said that there was shattered glass everywhere. A police officer ran into the classroom and told them to run outside and keep going until the reach the firehouse.

Audra Barth, who was walking away from the school with her first-grade son and third-grade daughter, says a teacher took first-graders into the restroom after bullets came through the window. 

Newtown United Methodist Church opened the doors around noon after ministers there heard of the tragedy. Brad Tefft, a bereavement minister at the church, drove in and opened the doors.

"I better get down there. It's in our neighborhood," Tefft remembered thinking.

He created a sign that said "prayer vigil," which he placed out by the street, and also put a sign on the door saying sanctuary open.

"We are taught to listen and offer that cold cup of water when necessary," Tefft said.

As word spread of the magnitude of the tragedy in Newtown, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy talked on the telephone Friday with President Obama about the incident.

The conversation was part of the federal, state, and local response to the shootings.

"The governor is in the room with the families,'' Roy Occhiogrosso, Malloy's senior adviser, told Capitol Watch shortly before 1:30 p.m. Friday. "He is attempting to make sure they get the information they need. It is an unspeakable scene.''

State officials reacted with shock and alarm to the shootings at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, where multiple people were killed this morning by a gunman.

House Republican leader Larry Cafero and Senate President Pro Tem Donald Williams were both stunned upon hearing that 27 had been killed. Cafero put his hand over his mouth in an immediate reaction.

"The governor is on scene,'' Doba said. "He has spoken to the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, which has pledged any resources we need.''

The state departments of public health, education, mental health and addiction services, and the state police are all working on the incident.

Incoming U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, who represents Newtown as part of the 5th Congressional District, said, "As a mother, I can only begin to imagine what the students, parents, teachers and staff of Sandy Hook Elementary must be experiencing. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone impacted by this horrific tragedy. While details are still emerging, I hope for the safety and well being of the children, teachers and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary and for the Newtown community.''

Afternoon buses and kindergarten has been cancelled. The entire Newton district is on lockdown, and other school districts took similar measures across the state.

In West Hartford, Superintendent Karen List sent a recorded message to families Friday noting an increased police presence at town schools after the Newtown shootings.

“It’s really for reassurance,” List said. Counselors will also be available for students at the schools, and West Hartford administrators are now creating a set of talking points for parents if they decide to explain the shootings to their children over the weekend.

A meeting of Farmington Valley-area superintendents that was scheduled for Friday was canceled.

“We need to be in our districts,” List said. “We need to be communicating with our families, we need to be supporting our faculty and children.”

The only mass shooting in the U.S. with more than 27 killed since the 1950s took place on April 16, 2007, when a student named Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed 32 people at Virginia Tech in Blackburg, Va., before shooting himself.

- Staff writers David Owens, Dave Altimari, Josh Kovner, Marc O'Connell, Bill Leukhardt, Chris Keating, Samaia Hernandez, Denise Buffa, Steve Goode, Brian Dowling, Hilda Munoz, Jenny Wilson and Stephen Busemeyer contributed to this report.

Source: Hartford Courant/AP