NEWTOWN, Conn. -- Police aren't say what may have motivated a man to open fire inside two classrooms at a Connecticut elementary school today, but a law enforcement official who has been briefed on the investigation says the gunman was believed to suffer from a personality disorder
Twenty-six people, including 20 children, were killed in the shooting rampage before the gunman shot and killed himself. Police say another adult was found dead at a second location.
A law enforcement official has identified the gunman as 20-year-old Adam Lanza, the son of a teacher at the Sandy Hook Elementary school. The official says Lanza killed his mother at their home before driving his mother's car to the school.
Police say the killer carried two handguns into the school, while a rifle was found in the back of a car. They say the shootings took place in two classrooms, but they are not providing details on exactly how it unfolded.
Students and their parents describe teachers locking doors and ordering the children to huddle in classroom corners or hide in closets as 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.
President Barack Obama offered condolences on behalf of the nation to Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy and "made it clear he will have every single resource that he needs to investigate this heinous crime, care for the victims, counsel their families.
"We've endured too many of these tragedies in the past few years. And each time I learn the news, I react not as a president, but as anybody else would as a parent. And that was especially true today. I know there's not a parent in America who doesn't feel the same overwhelming grief that I do.
"The majority of those who died today were children -- beautiful, little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. They had their entire lives ahead of them -- birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own. Among the fallen were also teachers, men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams.
"So our hearts are broken today for the parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers of these little children, and for the families of the adults who were lost.
"Our hearts are broken for the parents of the survivors, as well, for as blessed as they are to have their children home tonight, they know that their children's innocence has been torn away from them too early and there are no words that will ease their pain."
Ambulance surrounded the school in western Connecticut and parents were running toward the building as a helicopter flew overhead.
Young students crying and looking frightened were escorted by adults through a parking lot in a line after the shots rang out in Newtown, 60 miles northeast of New York City.
The attack comes less than two weeks before Christmas and appears to be the nation's second-deadliest school shooting, exceeded only by the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007.
The superintendent's office says the district has locked down schools.
State police say Newtown police called them at about 9:40 a.m. about the shooting reports.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
AP: State Police respond to shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Conn.
