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.
Friday's shooting is the third major shooting in the US in 2012.
In July attack that 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'
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.
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.
The shooter has been described as a man in his 20s, dressed in black, with links to the school, a law enforcement official has told the Associated Press.
The official said the gunman used a .223-calibre rifle during the attack, adding that police in the state of New Jersey are investigating a location there in connection to the shooting.
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.
"Allâh is sufficient for me. None has the right to be worshiped but He, in Him I put my trust and He is the Lord of the Mighty Throne."[Tawbah: 129]
Gunman Identified as Ryan Lanza in Connecticut School Massacre
A heavily armed man invaded a Newtown, Conn., elementary school today, killing his mother and 26 others, mostly children, federal and state sources tell ABC News.
The gunman, identified as Ryan Lanza, 24, of New Jersey, was killed inside of the school.
In addition to the casualties at the school, a dead body was also found in his home, officials said. Sources said Lanza was armed with four weapons and wearing a bullet-proof vest when he opened fire in the elementary school.
Among the dead was the gunman's mother, found in the school, sources told ABC News.
"The shooter is deceased inside the building," Connecticut State Police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance said at a news conference. "The public is not in danger."
Authorities initially believed that there were two gunmen and were searching cars around the school.
First grade teacher Kaitlin Roig, 29, locked her 14 students in a classroom bathroom and listened to "tons of shooting" until police came to help.
"It was horrific," Roig said. "I thought we were going to die."
She said that the terrified kids were saying, "I just want Christmas…I don't want to die. I just want to have Christmas."
The massacre prompted the town of Newtown to lock down all its schools and draw SWAT teams to the school, authorities said today.
President Obama was briefed on the shooting by FBI Director Robert Mueller.
It's unclear how many people have been shot, but 27 people, mostly children, are dead, multiple federal and state sources tell ABC News. That number could rise, officials said.
It is the second worst mass shooting in U.S. history, exceeded only by the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 when 32 were killed before the shooter turned the gun on himself. Today's carnage exceeds the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in which 13 died and 24 were injured.
The Newtown shooting comes three days after masked gunman Jacob Roberts opened fire in a busy Oregon mall, killing two before turning the gun on himself.
Today's shooting occurred at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, which includes 450 students in grades K-4. The town is located about 12 miles east of Danbury.
State Police received the first 911 call at 9:41 a.m. and immediately began sending emergency units from the western part of the state. Initial 911 calls stated that multiple students were trapped in a classroom, possibly with a gunman, according to a Connecticut State Police source.
Vance said that on-duty and off-duty officers swarmed to the school and quickly checked "every door, every crack, every crevice" in the building looking for the gunman and evacuating children.
A photo from the scene shows a line of distressed children being led out of the school.
Three patients have been taken to Danbury Hospital, which is also on lockdown, according to the hospital's Facebook page.
"Out of abundance of caution and not because of any direct threat Danbury Hospital is under lockdown," the statement said. "This allows us simply to focus on the important work at hand."
Newtown Public School District secretary of superintendent Kathy June said in a statement that the district's schools were locked down because of the report of a shooting. "The district is taking preventive measures by putting all schools in lockdown until we ensure the safety of all students and staff," she said.
State police sent SWAT team units to Newtown.
All public and private schools in the town were on lockdown.
"We have increased our police presence at all Danbury Public Schools due to the events in Newtown. Pray for the victims," Newtown Mayor Boughton tweeted.
State emergency management officials said ambulances and other units were also en route and staging near the school.
A message on the school district website says that all afternoon kindergarten is cancelled today and there will be no midday bus runs.
Someone said to the Prophet, "Pray to God against the idolaters and curse them." The Prophet replied, "I have been sent to show mercy and have not been sent to curse." (Muslim)
Re: Gunman Identified as Ryan Lanza in Connecticut School Massacre
This is pretty bad.. I am just struck by how many of these vile acts of people going postal we're experiencing of late.. just a week or so ago a crazy man pushed this poor Korean guy down the train, someone snapped a picture of him as he was about to die no one helped him. crazy loon opens gunfire at shoppers in the mall, another crazy one shoots at theater goers watching a batman movie, another crazy man in NY targeting middle easterners .. honestly it is all too much.. so much senseless killing every where..
Text without context is pretext If your opponent is of choleric temperament, seek to irritate him
Had the non-believer known of all the Mercy which is in the Hands of Allah, he would not lose hope of entering Paradise, and had the believer known of all the punishment which is present with Allah, he would not consider himself safe from the Hell-Fire http://www.muftimenk.co.za/Downloads.html
Seriously? We're turning this into another conspiracy thread instead of just paying respect to those poor innocent children and teachers who were murdered?
What's really more likely, that this was government mind control or a psycho who has taken advantage of America's lax gun laws?
Terrible terrible thing, my heart goes out to those families.
I just can't imagine (nor do I want to) what would possess someone to do that. You want to take your own life but why take it out on little children? That's the horrible thing too, there will be no answers because the coward is gone. He can't face justice or face the families.
Re: Gunman Identified as Ryan Lanza in Connecticut School Massacre
no, i just posted that. i didn't say anything. there are no words for happened.
history IS rewritten the moment it happens. what we see becomes what we saw. i agree that was quick, but i check different sites.
it's a tragedy no matter what.
Had the non-believer known of all the Mercy which is in the Hands of Allah, he would not lose hope of entering Paradise, and had the believer known of all the punishment which is present with Allah, he would not consider himself safe from the Hell-Fire http://www.muftimenk.co.za/Downloads.html
Re: Gunman Identified as Ryan Lanza in Connecticut School Massacre
no, i just posted that. i didn't say anything. there are no words for happened.
history IS rewritten the moment it happens. what we see becomes what we saw. i agree that was quick, but i check different sites.
it's a tragedy no matter what.
Had the non-believer known of all the Mercy which is in the Hands of Allah, he would not lose hope of entering Paradise, and had the believer known of all the punishment which is present with Allah, he would not consider himself safe from the Hell-Fire http://www.muftimenk.co.za/Downloads.html
Re: Gunman Identified as Ryan Lanza in Connecticut School Massacre
Please change the thread title...the guy was Adam lanza...ryan, his brother, was not the shooter...seems the brother had the guys ID on him..maybe on purpose? That's what I see on the news
I heard a criminal psychologist (didn't catch his name, unfortunately), who stressed that the ongoing international media coverage of such tragedies only increases the likelihood of other similar events happening in the future.
Because the events get hyped up and the perpetrator gets so much media attention (even after death), others might fancy getting similar attention.
His advice was to keep the media attention as low as possible, to keep it local, to make the story as 'boring' as possible and to barely give the perpetrator any mention!
US a collapsing society with alot of people becoming depressed, stressed and crazy.
The youth get incluenced by war movies and games like Call of duty and battlefield. Making them more aggresive and more wanting to become a ''soldier''. And they will get send to iraq, afghanistan, somalia to shoot everyone there and to shoot ''ragheads''. In these games u also get teached how to steer a predator rocket from a drone. US military is considering to use these gamers to steer drones in afghanistan, pakistan or yemen.
The people rights to have guns doesnt have to do with this. Everyone who wants to shoot someone will find a gun, legally or not.
Its really the psychological mess the people are in, the US is the testing ground for this zionist elite. Not that europe is better, but the current crisis is only limited to a few european countries.
Last year a 24 year old guy here killed 6 people and injured 17 when he suddenly started to shoot in a shopping mall with a rifle.
I blame the western scoiety for this, there isnt a other reason to think about.
Last edited by Jedi_Mindset; 12-15-2012 at 03:55 PM.
http://www.youtube.com/user/robinb4life?feature=mhee
I will not calm down until I will put one cheek of a tyrant on the ground and the other under my feet, and for the poor and weak, I will put my cheek on the ground. - Umar ibn khattab(Ra)
As a mother of children of elementary/primary school age, my heart goes out to those affected by this awful crime.
May Allah (swt)) shower his mercy upon us all.
People are asking a question nobody knows the answer to: "WHY?"
"I swear by He in Whose Hands is my Soul! The world will not pass until the people face a time when the killer does not know why he killed, and the victim does not know why he was killed." -Sahih Muslim
People are asking a question nobody knows the answer to: "WHY?"
"I swear by He in Whose Hands is my Soul! The world will not pass until the people face a time when the killer does not know why he killed, and the victim does not know why he was killed." -Sahih Muslim
Sis i would like to have the hadith number and volume, if you have jazaak'Allah khair
http://www.youtube.com/user/robinb4life?feature=mhee
I will not calm down until I will put one cheek of a tyrant on the ground and the other under my feet, and for the poor and weak, I will put my cheek on the ground. - Umar ibn khattab(Ra)
Anything can go wrong in this world and one can only hope that unfortunate events do not fall on them. May be these shooters were fed up by the decadence in today's society.
But the alarming fact is that the Aurora and Newtown shooters are the same age as me. I'm wondering to myself if I have the same propensity to express my anger through these acts of violence.
I think the person responsible wanted some attention. They should not display these kinds of stories to the entire world. Keep it local. This topic in my opinion should be closed as we are giving it too much attention (my last post).
I was looking at myself talking to myself and I realized this conversation...I was having with myself looking at myself was a conversation with myself that I needed to have with myself.
Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying:
By Him in Whose Hand is my life, a time would come when the murderer would not know why he has committed the murder, and the victim would not know why he has been killed.
Sahih Muslim > The Book Pertaining to the Turmoil and Portents of the Last Hour (Kitab Al-Fitan wa Ashrat As-Sa`ah) - كتاب الفتن وأشراط الساعة
USC-MSA web (English) reference : Book 41, Hadith 6949
Arabic reference : Book 55, Hadith 7487
Stunningly beautiful adhaan from the Dome of the Rock in Masjid ul Aqsa Download (right click and choose "save target/link as").
This is a clear message for mankind in order that they may be warned thereby, and that they may know that He is only One God, and that those of understanding may take heed (14:52)
Indeed Allah knows, and you know not (16: 74, part)
The youth get incluenced by war movies and games like Call of duty and battlefield. Making them more aggresive and more wanting to become a ''soldier''.
You are exactly correct. By the way the .223 caliber rifle used was most likely an AR-15 which is a civilian version of the M-16 used by the US Army during the Vietnam War. I fear that this is just a foretaste of the widespread killing before the Last Day.
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