NEW YORK, Dec 14:
A young man opened fire at a school in the US state of Connecticut today, killing 27 people including 10 children, in yet another horrific shooting that ended with the gunman’s own death.
Fox News quoted a law enforcement official as saying that the 20-year-old shooter is believed to be a father of one of the students at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.
Wearing all black and carrying two 9mm handguns, the gunman opened fire in the Connecticut school this morning, sending panic waves around the city.
The incident sent crying children spilling into the school parking lot as frightened parents waited for a word.
“I was in the gym and I heard a loud, like seven loud booms, and the gym teachers told us to go in the corner, so we all huddled,” one student told NBC Connecticut during its live broadcast. “And I kept hearing these booming noises. And we all… Started crying”.
“All the gym teachers told us to go into the office where no one could find us,” she added. “So then a police officer came in and told us to run outside. So we did and we came in the firehouse and waited for our parents.”
While the number of people injured in the shooting is not confirmed, three people including a teacher were taken to a nearby hospital.
The Hartford Courant said the gunman is also dead.
Newtown is about 60 miles northeast of New York City and the school has about 600 students.
NBC Connecticut further reported that the entire school district was in lockdown and police and FBI agents were going room to room searching the school.
Such cases have prompted several politicians to seek a review of American gun laws. In August, a gunman went on a shooting spree in a Wisconsin gurdwara, claiming six lives.
In July, 12 people were killed and 38 injured in Colorado where a gunman opened fire at the premiere of the Batman movie ‘The Dark Knight Rises’.
Earlier this week, a gunman opened fire in a suburban Portland shopping mall, killing two people and wounding another before killing himself.
President Barack Obama had been notified about the shooting and continues to receive updates.
Many of the shootings took place in a kindergarten classroom, sources said.
Police had earlier said that shortly after 9:40 am Friday (local time), a shooter was in the main office of the school and a person had “numerous gunshot wounds”. (PTI)
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