27 dead in shooting at Connecticut elementary school

 

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.

 

A person believed to be a shooter is dead. Earlier reports of a second shooter are unconfirmed.
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. A staging area has been set up at the Sandy Hook fire department, directly in front of the school.

Frustrated parents are trying to get information from officials, who were still actively searching 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."

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