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Gunman kills 27 in Conn. school shooting; Candlelight vigil to be held in Yuma
Click here for more photos from Connecticut and memorials and messages of support from around the country
TONIGHT:
According to an update from Robert Vazquez on the Yuma Sun Facebook page, a candlelight vigil at Smucker Park on Avenue A from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. If you would like to help, call or text (928) 750-0083 for more information.
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) -- A man opened fire Friday inside the Connecticut elementary school where his mother worked as a teacher, killing 26 people, including 20 children, as youngsters cowered in their classrooms and trembled helplessly to the sound of gunfire reverberating through the building.
The killer, armed with two handguns, committed suicide and another person was found dead at a second scene, bringing the toll to 28, authorities said.
Police shed no light on the motive for the attack.
The rampage, coming less than two weeks before Christmas, was the nation's second-deadliest school shooting, exceeded only by the Virginia Tech massacre that left 33 people dead in 2007.
Panicked parents looking for their children raced to Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, a community of about 27,000 residents 60 miles northeast of New York City. Youngsters at the kindergarten-through-fourth-grade school were told to close their eyes by police as they were led from the building.
Schoolchildren - some crying, others looking frightened - were escorted through a parking lot in a line, hands on each other's shoulders.
"Our hearts are broken today," a tearful President Barack Obama, struggling to maintain composure, said at the White House. He called for "meaningful action" to prevent such shootings.
Youngsters and their parents described teachers locking doors and ordering the children to huddle in the corner or hide in closets when shots echoed through the building. Authorities said the shootings took place in two nearby classrooms, but they gave no details on exactly how they unfolded.
They also gave no details on the victim discovered at another scene, except to say that the person was an adult found dead by police while they were investigating the gunman.
A law enforcement official identified the gunman as 20-year-old Adam Lanza, the son of a teacher. A second law enforcement official said his mother, Nancy Lanza, was presumed dead.
Adam Lanza's older brother, 24-year-old Ryan, of Hoboken, N.J., was being questioned, the first official said. Earlier, a law enforcement official mistakenly identified Ryan as the shooter.
Both officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record about the unfolding investigation.
Latest AP headlines on tragedy in Connecticut:
- Police: 27 killed at Conn. school; 1 other dead
- AP source: Suspect drove to mother's school
- Officers to increase presence near Arizona schools
- Tearful Obama calls for action after shooting
- Some of the deadliest mass shootings around world
- Connecticut school shooting revives gun debate
- Official: Gunman's NJ brother cooperating
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Latest videos on Conn. school shooting:
