Official: 27 dead in Conn. school shooting

[accadacca]

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) - A shooting at a Connecticut elementary school Friday left 27 people dead, including 18 children, an official said.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was still under way. Another official, speaking on condition of anonymity for the same reason, said the gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown was killed and apparently had two guns.

Stephen Delgiadice said his 8-year-old daughter heard two big bangs and teachers told her to get in a corner. His daughter was fine.

"It's alarming, especially in Newtown, Connecticut, which we always thought was the safest place in America," he said.

The superintendent's office said the district had locked down schools in Newtown, about 60 miles northeast of New York City. Schools in neighboring towns also were locked down as a precaution.

A dispatcher at the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps said a teacher had been shot in the foot and taken to Danbury Hospital. Andrea Rynn, a spokeswoman at the hospital, said it had three patients from the school but she did not have information on the extent or nature of their injuries.

State police said Newtown police called them around 9:40 a.m. A SWAT team was among the throngs of police to respond.

A photo posted by The Newtown Bee newspaper showed a group of young students _ some crying, others looking visibly frightened _ being escorted by adults through a parking lot in a line, hands on each other's shoulders.

Mergim Bajraliu, 17, heard the gunshots echo from his home and raced to check on his 9-year-old sister at the school. He said his sister, who was fine, heard a scream come over the intercom at one point. He said teachers were shaking and crying as they came out of the building.

"Everyone was just traumatized," he said.

The White House said President Barack Obama was notified of the shooting.

[rockgremlin]

I don't know whether to feel irate or nauseated.


I think both.

[Glockguy]

I wish these reminders of evils existence would stop popping up so frequently. I hope people that value life will get the tools and training to fight that evil.

[rockgremlin]

FFS, what could possibly be accomplished by gunning down 18 elementary school children? What's the point? What was the shooter's objective?


I don't get it.

[KapitanSparrow]

My sister called me all scared worried about her two kids who attend different schools in the area. They live just 20 minutes away from Newtown. They have all the schools in her city on lockdown as a precaution.

[Reedus]

FFS, what could possibly be accomplished by gunning down 18 elementary school children? What's the point? What was the shooter's objective?


I don't get it.

My guess is that he was bullied and fed up with life. Probably developed a hatred towards humanity in general as a result. Killing 18 kids was probably his way of making the rest of us feel the pain he has dealt with. Just a guess... Really have no clue of how an individual gets to that low of a point in their life.

[Iceaxe]

What's the point? What was the shooter's objective?

I just finished reading the book Columbine yesterday... it's about showing your dominance and superiority. Usually a hatred of life and what the gunman considers a unfair deal in life. Its not about bullying because the targets were random. If it is about bullying or vengeance the targets are specific.



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[accadacca]

[accadacca]

[Iceaxe]

A couple other things I learned after reading the book Columbine.... don't believe one word that comes out of any cops mouth, the cops lied about what really happened at Columbine for several years, even going as far as destroying evidence that made them look bad.... and the reporters were even worse.

Here is the book if anyone is interested, its a good read:
http://www.amazon.com/Columbine-Dave.../dp/0446546925

[Iceaxe]

27 dead, many children. 2nd largest massacre in US history. Virgina Tech is first

You have to love the way the media keeps score as if it is some type of game. Nothing like giving the next crazy asshat a lofty target to aim for.

[jdgibney]

This one hits close to home :(
My brother, his wife and my awesome nephew live a mile and a half from this school. I can be thankful that he's not old enough to be in school, or he would have been there, and I'm thankful that my brother, a police officer in the next town over (Danbury, CT) is working Midnights or he would have had to respond to that horrific site.

My mom, who works in a Visiting Nurse's Clinic from the hospital where victims were transported to was scheduled to work at the day care next to the school and no doubt knows some of the victims and is afraid to even learn their names. She was in the first ever first grade class at that school back in the 1950's.

I can't comprehend what would ever lead anyone to take their frustrations out on a room full of innocent kindergarten students (or anyone for that matter), and my heart is broken tonight.

[Sombeech]

You have to love the way the media keeps score as if it is some type of game. Nothing like giving the next crazy asshat a lofty target to aim for.

Exactly. A common goal for reporters is to be able to determine if this was the "worse" incident, or the highest body count, or the shortest, longest.... Who freaking cares.

Does anybody know what the #4 most violent school shooting was?

It's all about numbers. They have to keep us updated, like it's breaking news that the death toll went from 26 to 27. Oh but is that INCLUDING the gunman himself or is that number coming fr-WHO CARES?!?!?! Why is everybody hung up on the difference between 26 and 27, this is a horrible incident and news outlets are competing for who reported it the best, who covered it the most, who was first on scene, who said the word "horrific" the most.

[Brian in SLC]

Sad. Tragic.

The debates that follow will be interesting. Rumor has he shot his mom in the face so many times she was unrecognizable, then, took her registered guns to the school. Short of an all out ban on firearms, I'm not sure what gun control legislation would have prevented this.

Might be time to look at mental health issues and access to decent care? No sane person would do this.

Damn hard watching Obama's address. Tough stuff.

Ugh. Heavy.

[Sombeech]

[accadacca]

Sad day indeed.

[bigred72]

[Byron]

Yeah, these people are nothing more than stinking vultures. I stopped watching the Today show years ago because they would drag the families of the dead in for an "interview" while they are still in shock. You might think those people might decline, but the producers are experts of using peoples kindness and consideration against them...slimy hustlers.

[rockgremlin]

"EAT A DICK"

+1

[accadacca]

Morgan Freeman:

"You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here's why.

It's because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single victim of Columbine? Disturbed

people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he'll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.

CNN's article says that if the body count "holds up", this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer's face on all their reports for hours. Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer's identity? None that I've seen yet. Because they don't sell. So congratulations, sensationalist media, you've just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.

You can help by forgetting you ever read this man's name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem. You can help by turning off the news."