In what is being described as the worst school shooting tragedy in America, yesterday, a lone gunman identified as 20-year-old, Adam Lanza, entered a US primary school, Sandy Hook Elemetary School on a rampage killing 26 people before turning the gun on himself. 20 of his victims were children. This tragedy has brought America, its President, and the world to tears.
See tragic photos below from the scene of the crimes courtesy NY Daily News.
This satellite image provided by Google shows the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
The cars of parents rushing to pick up their children and media vans pack the street outside Sandy Hook Elementary School after news broke of the shooting on Dec. 14, 2012.
State Police swarmed the scene at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012. Newtown, Conn. is a small town about 60 miles northeast of New York City.
Family members embrace each other outside Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012.
Gov. Dan P. Malloy (r.) talks with officials at a staging area following the shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012. The Governor has been described as "horrified" by the morning's events.
A young girl is comforted by family and ambulance workers outside the Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012.
Three guns have already been associated with the shooter, who died at the scene. Witnesses said the shooter was masked. The mass murderer has been described as a 20-year-old man.
Dad Stephen Delgiadice said his 8-year-old daughter, who escaped unharmed, reported hearing two big bangs before teachers told her to get in a corner. "It's alarming, especially in Newtown, Connecticut, which we always thought was the safest place in America," he said. Here, a parent picks up his child from Sandy Hook Elementary School after the shooting.
Emergency personnel set up a temporary workstation in the school's parking lot following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on Dec. 14, 2012.
A man mourns nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School where a gunman opened fire on school children and staff on Dec. 14, 2012.
Relatives react to the scene of the shooting outside Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012.
Cops and State Police swarmed the scene looking for the shooter on Dec. 14, 2012. The police presence at the elementary school was described as a "platoon" of state troopers.
A building in Newtown, Conn. has already been set up to counsel family members affected by the shooting on Dec. 14, 2012. Here, a woman is consoled as she weeps outside this building.
Students were sent to a nearby firehouse as a safe place after the shooting. Grieving parents rushed in to pick up their children after the shooting.
Sandy Hook Elementary School was filled with emotion, tears and horror as family members rushed to the scene of the crime after learning of the shooting on Dec. 14, 2012.
Family members and local residents mourn together at a local firehouse that was set up as a safe house following the shooting on the morning of Dec. 14, 2012.
A young boy is comforted outside Sandy Hook Elementary School, the scene of a shooting on Dec. 14, 2012 that has already claimed 28 lives.
A sign in Newtown, Conn. outside a local deli reads "Say a Prayer" on Dec. 14, 2012.
A local boy weeps as he is told what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012. This boy was picked up from another local school, Reed Intermediate School. All schools in town were put on lockdown as details from the shooting emerged.
The terror experienced inside the Sandy Hook school weighs not only on the children, but also on the devastated family members who rushed to the scene to find their young children and family members who worked at the school.
Twenty children were killed by the rampage; 18 were found deceased at the scene, 2 died at local hospitals. President Obama spoke to the nation and through his tears, he hit on the fact that while many children survived the attack, their innocence has been taken away from them far too early.
Terrified children told news reporters they heard the gunshots as their teachers hustled them to safety. Amazing stories of courage and bravery from the elementary school staff are emerging as more children recount their terrifying morning inside the school.
President Obama addressed the nation in an emotional press conference on Dec. 14, 2012. As he usually does, the President spoke as an American and a parent. "They had their entire lives ahead of them – birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own," he said as he fought back tears. "I know there's not a parent in America who doesn't feel the same overwhelming grief that I do."
The shooting has claimed the lives of close to 30 children and teachers, making it one of the deadliest mass shootings in the history of the United States.
A woman waits to hear about her sister, a teacher inside Sandy Hook Elementary School, outside the school on Dec. 14, 2012. The gunman opened fire around 9:40 a.m. inside the school's main office. The shooting was said to have been contained in one section of the school building, including two classrooms as well as the front office.
The school was first locked down and once it was deemed secure, all children and staff were evacuated to a staging area outside the building. Here, children are safely evacuated from Sandy Hook Elementary School by State Police after a masked gunman entered the building and opened fire the morning of Dec. 14, 2012.
The victims were robbed of their lives, while the rest of their classmates were robbed of their innocence. Here, two young children console each other as they wait outside Sandy Hook Elementary School.
