Barack Obama calls for end to gun violence after shooting which claimed lives of 20 children and six adults
America was reeling on Saturday from one of the worst school shootings in its history as fresh details emerged about a massacre that claimed the lives of 20 children and six adults.
The shock of the tragedy that befell Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, has fuelled fresh national soul-searching about the role guns play in American life and prompted strong calls for greater controls.
In his weekly radio address on Saturday morning, President Barack Obama said that the US needed to take steps to curb the plague of gun violence after a year marked by mass shootings in Oregon, Colorado, Wisconsin and elsewhere.
"We have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this. Regardless of the politics. This weekend Michelle and I are doing what I know every parent is doing – holding our children as close as we can and reminding them how much we love them," Obama said.
As he spoke, the full scale of the killings began to emerge. Much attention focused on the gunman, Adam Lanza, 20. Lanza shared a Newtown home with his mother, Nancy.
He is believed to have killed her there before driving in her car to Sandy Hook, where he shot his victims before apparently taking his own life. He had, according to the local paper, the Connecticut Post, been at the school the previous day where he was involved in an altercation with four staff. Three of them were killed, but the other was not at the school on Friday morning.
Lieutenant Paul Vance, a spokesman for Connecticut state police, said the gunman had forced his way into the school through its front entrance.
Meanwhile, Associated Press quoted a law enforcement official saying that a Glock and a Sig Sauer, both pistols, and a .223-calibre Bushmaster rifle were found at the scene. The guns were apparently legally owned by Nancy Lanza.
Dawn Hochsprung, 47, principal of Sandy Hook, was among the six adults killed. Mary Sherlach, Sandy Hook's school psychologist, was also among the dead.
Hochsprung, Sherlach and the school therapist, Diana Day, were all together when they heard the shooting begin. Day said: "We were there for about five minutes chatting, and we heard 'Pop! Pop! Pop!' I went under the table." She said the other two jumped up from their seats and ran out of the room, where they were murdered "execution style". She added that Hochsprung turned on the school public address system, which alerted others to what was happening and probably saved lives.
Sherlach was married with two grown-up children. A childhood friend, Jeanne Stocker, wrote a tribute on Facebook to her bravery: "She gave her life protecting these children." "Her husband, Bill, and two daughters are beyond devastation. Just so unfair and horrific too."
Victoria Soto, 27, a first-grade teacher was hailed a hero by parents for giving her life as she used her body to protect the children in her class. "She took her kids, put them in the closet and by doing so she lost her life," Soto's cousin, Jim Wiltsie, said. "She was found huddled over her children, her students, doing instinctively what she knew was the right thing."
Soto, who had worked at Sandy Hook for five years, was well-regarded by colleagues and popular with her pupils. "I'm just proud Vicki had the instincts to protect her kids from harm," Wiltsie said.
Lauren Rousseau, a 30-year-old teacher, was also shot dead. She had started her first full-time job as a teacher in October after years of supply work in schools. "It was the best year of her life," said her mother, Teresa.
Police last night released the names and ages of those who died. The other adults were named as Rachel Davino, 29, and Anne Marie Murphy, 52 a special education teacher. All the children – 12 girls and eight boys – were aged six or seven.
The father of Emilie Parker, who was among the victims, fought back tears as he spoke of his grief. Robbie Parker said: "She was beautiful. She was blonde. She was always smiling."
Parker also described the awful task of having to explain Emilie's death to her siblings aged three and four. "They seem to get the fact that they have somebody they're going to miss very much," he said.
Parker said his daughter loved to draw and enjoyed trying new things. "She never missed an opportunity to draw a picture or make a card for those around her. She was the type of person that could just light up a room. She always had something kind to say about anybody. She is an incredible person and I'm so blessed to be her dad."
Emilie's grandfather, Randy, said: "She was very loving. She just loved taking care of people. If she saw people with their feelings hurt, it was, 'what can I do to help?' She was that kind of child."
The father of six-year-old Jesse Lewis said his son was supposed to have spent the day making gingerbread houses in the holiday tradition. Neil Heslin, 50, said: "These were helpless little children. The question is why and I guess it's something we'll never know."
Elba Marquez the grandmother of Ana Grace Marquez, six, another of those killed, said her parents had moved from Canada. "They looked for the best school for their daughter, the best. It was a beautiful place, just beautiful. What happened does not match up with the place where they live."
Teachers at the school said when they heard over the loudspeakers what was going on they went into "lockdown", a drill they practise regularly.
Ap.