As many as 27 people were killed in a shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, which would be the deadliest massacre in the U.S. since the 2007 rampage at Virginia Tech university.
At least 18 children were among those killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School, according to the Associated Press, which cited an unidentified official with knowledge of the situation.
The shooter is dead and had two guns, the AP said. CNN said his body was found in a classroom, and a witness said 100 rounds were heard from the hallway.
‘‘I heard like seven loud booms,’’ said one unidentified girl interviewed by NBC News outside the school.
‘‘We didn’t scream. We started crying.’’
It has been a deadly year in the U.S. Just three days ago, three died after a gunman opened fire inside a mall in suburban Portland, Oregon.
In August a shooter took the lives of six people at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, before being killed by a police officer. In July, a masked gunman opened fire at a midnight movie in Aurora, Colorado, killing 12 and injuring 58.
The AP reported that the attacker in Connecticut is a 20- year-old man.
A law-enforcement official in Washington said that one gun used in the attacks is a .223-caliber rifle, the news service reported.
The official spoke to AP on condition of anonymity because the source was not authorized to speak on the record about the developing investigation.
Many killings took place in a kindergarten class, according to the Hartford Courant. One entire classroom is unaccounted for outside the school, the paper reported on its website.
The town is 65 miles (105 kilometers) northeast of New York City.Police received a 911 call from Sandy Hook Elementary just after 9:30 a.m., Lieutenant Paul Vance of the Connecticut State Police said during a press conference.
Vance confirmed that there were ‘‘several fatalities at the scene, both students and staff,’’ without specifying the number of deaths.
The shooter is dead inside, he said.
The details won’t be released until families are notified, he said.The Federal Bureau of Investigation is assisting state and local law enforcement authorities in responding, White House press secretary Jay Carney said.
President Barack Obama is receiving updates as information becomes available, he said.
CNN showed video of a mother pushing a stroller with one hand and holding another child with her other.
A picture from the Newtown Bee showed students being ushered through the parking lot in a single-file line, with children putting their hands on one another’s shoulders.
Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy was ‘‘’horrified’’ by what happened and is meeting with families, Roy Occhiogrosso, a spokesman, said at a press conference.
The deadliest shooting in the U.S. in recent years is the Virginia Tech campus rampage of 2007, in which Seung-Hui Cho took 33 lives, including his own.
In 1999, two students shot 12 classmates and a teacher in Columbine High School in suburban Denver before killing themselves.
