School Shooting In Connecticut

School Shooting In Connecticut, At least 27 people - including 18 children - have been killed in one of the worst school shootings in US history.

The death toll at Sandy Hook Elementary School , in Newtown, Connecticut was reported by AP, which cited an unnamed official.

It is also being reported that one of the two shooters, the father of a pupil, was masked and heavily armed - and has been killed. The other suspect is reportedly now in police custody.

AP news agency says "the attacker" was 20 years old and used a .223-caliber rifle.

Meanwhile, local newspaper the Hartford Courant said an entire classroom was unaccounted for. It reported sources as saying many of the shootings took place in a kindergarten classroom.

Staff at Danbury Hospital said they did not expect to receive any more patients than the three they were treating.

Stephen Delgiadice said his eight-year-old daughter heard two big bangs before teachers told her to get in a corner. His daughter was unharmed.

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

White House spokesman Jay Carney said President Barack Obama was monitoring the situation.

"I think it's important on a day like today to view this, as I know the president as a father does, and I as a father and others who are parents certainly do, which is to feel enormous sympathy for families that are affected," he said.

The local mayor, Mark Boughton, posted on his Twitter page: "A horrible, horrible day for the Greater Danbury Community. Prayers for Newtown and the families of the children. #tragic."

Local media initially reported there were two shooters, while police reportedly said a gunman was in the main office of the school and that a person in one room had "numerous gunshot wounds".

The incident began around half an hour after the school day had started.

A dispatcher at the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps said a teacher was shot in the foot and taken to Danbury Hospital.

But State Police are reportedly saying that the school is no longer an "active shooting scene".

Crying pupils were seen being escorted from the school, which has children aged between five and 11 years old.