The Latest on Connecticut School Shooting

For information on the shooting over the weekend, please check NPR's live updates here

4:59pm (last update 12/14/12): NJ Governor Chris Christie called today's shooting an "unspeakable tragedy." 

4:50pm: Some New York legislators want stricter gun laws after today's shooting. Mayor Bloomberg said the country needs President Obama to send a bill to Congress to fix this problem of gun violence. He said calling for 'meaningful action' is not enough. New York Representative Steve Israel said over the next days and weeks, Congress must come together on common-sense steps to keep guns out of schools. Representative Eliot Engel said the fact that the U-S legislature cannot pass sensible gun control in this Congress is a "blot" on its reputation. 

4:46pm: (AP) Family members are relaying what children told them about the shooting in Newtown. Stephen Delgiadice says his 8-year-old daughter heard two big bangs and teachers told her to get in a corner. His daughter is fine. He says the shooting is alarming because his family always considered Newtown to be the safest place in America.

4:45pm: (AP) Parents are describing the terror they faced as they raced to the school that was the scene of today's deadly shooting, hoping to find their children safe. One man says his 6-year-old son saw the gunman burst into his classroom and shoot the teacher. Police eventually led students from the building -- telling them to close their eyes as they walked away from the scene.

4:44pm: (AP)  Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, calling the shootings at a Connecticut elementary school "incomprehensible," and sent thoughts and prayers to the families of the victims. O'Malley in a statement Friday described the "heartbreaking tragedy" that left 20 children dead.  The governor ordered the Maryland State Flag to be immediately flown at half-staff in honor of the victims.
   
4:43pm: (AP) A law enforcement official says the suspect in the Connecticut school shootings is 20-year-old Adam Lanza, the son of a teacher at the school where the shootings occurred. A second law enforcement official says the boy's mother, Nancy Lanza, is presumed dead. The first official says Adam Lanza's older brother, 24-year-old Ryan, of Hoboken, N.J., is being questioned by police. An earlier report from a law enforcement official mistakenly transposed the brothers' first names. Both officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record about the developing criminal investigation. The first official said Adam Lanza is dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

4:39pm: (AP) CT Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has ordered U.S. and Connecticut flags flown at half-staff to honor victims of the Newtown school shooting.  The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday morning left 26 people, including 20 children, dead. Authorities said a gunman, also now dead, opened fire inside the school. At a fire station near the scene, a flag already was at half-staff. Malloy said his order will be in effect until burial services for the victims. President Barack Obama also ordered that U.S. flags be flown at half-staff on public grounds through Tuesday. The attack appears to be the nation's second-deadliest school shooting, exceeded only by the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007.

4:38pm:  (AP) New York's governor says residents are grieving with their Connecticut neighbors.  Gov. Andrew Cuomo (KWOH'-moh) said Friday that New Yorkers share "the anguish" of the elementary school massacre. He also said the tragedy should serve as a "wake-up call for aggressive action" against gun violence. Cuomo said in a statement that society "must unify" on the issue.
   
4:35pm: (AP) A law enforcement official says the suspect in the Connecticut school shootings is 20-year-old Adam Lanza, the son of a teacher at the school where the shootings occurred. A second law enforcement official says the boy's mother, Nancy Lanza, is presumed dead. The first official says Adam Lanza's older brother, 24-year-old Ryan, of Hoboken, is being questioned by police. An earlier report from a law enforcement official mistakenly transposed the brothers' first names. 

4:30pm: NY Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-Manhattan/Brooklyn, called for immediate action saying "a serious discussion about gun control and the epidemic of gun violence plaguing our society" is needed, following the Connecticut school shooting.

4:25pm: NY Gov. Cuomo says is calling for a “crack down” on guns following the shooting at a Connecticut elementary school that has left nearly 30 people dead.

3:45pm: Lieutenant Paul Vance with the Connecticut State Police confirmed that there were 28 total casualties: 20 children, 6 adults, and the shooter. There is also another unidentified person who is dead at a remote scene, that police say is connected to the shooting. CT Police also say the incident happened in one section, two rooms, of the school. No updates on identities, how the shooter died or what weapon was used. 

3:26pm: President Obama wipes away tears as he gave an emotional briefing on the shooting. He said he was reacting as a parent and not a president noting that most of those who died were between 5 and 10 years old. 

3:18pm: President Obama assures Gov. Malloy he will get all the help he needs.

3:16pm: (NBC 5) 24 year old gunman killed of a self-inflicted wound.

3:02PM: (AP) The suspect's younger brother is being held in custody, his connection to the shooting is unknown.

2:59pm: CT Gov. Malloy will hold a news conference at 3:30pm at Treadwell Park in Newtown

2:56pm: Police continue to investigate if there was a second shooter involved.

2:55pm: (Huffington Post, CNN) Gunman identified as Ryan Lanza, 24, Son of Kindergarten teacher at the school.

2:53pm: Police are searching the Hoboken, NJ home of the accused shooter.

2:52pm: President Obama expected to speak at a 3:15 news conference.

2:48pm: (Newton Patch) The gunman delilberately went to Sandy Hook Elementary School with the intention of killing his mother who was a kindergarten teacher at the school.

2:16pm: Parents and kids react to the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School:

2:01: (AP) Lieutenant Paul Vance from the Connecticut state police says officers have searched the entire school and have safely evacuated all the students. Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy is currently talking with those families, and is scheduled to give a press conference later. Police say the shooter is dead in the building, but they would not release his identity.

2:00pm: (AP) - A father of a 7-year-old pupil at Sandy Hook Elementary says it was "sheer terror" when he learned of the shooting today at the school in Connecticut. He says his son told him a teacher went to check on the noise, and then came back in, locked the door and had the kids huddle in the corner until police arrived. One teen who raced to the school to check on his sister says the 9-year-old told him she had heard a scream come over the intercom at one point.

1:56pm: - The White House says President Barack Obama has been briefed on a shooting at a Connecticut elementary school Friday morning

1:53pm: Latest updates as police respond to a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

1:51pm: State police: Students and staff among victims at Conn. elementary school, shooter dead.

- 27 Dead, Including 18 Children, At Sandy Hook School Shooting In Newtown

- State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance say the shooter is dead, and the situation is secure

1:43pm: WFUV suspends winter membership drive out of respect for the victims in the Connecticut school shooting,

12:56pm: (AP) Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says he's spoken with federal officials who have offered to provide help to the state and the Newtown community in the aftermath of a deadly grade school shooting. Malloy arrived in Newtown on Friday afternoon, hours after a shooting that left the gunman dead and at least one teacher wounded. The shooter was killed and apparently had two guns. The governor's office said several state agencies, including emergency management, public health and the Department of Children and Families, will be coordinating the state's response. In addition, Malloy says State Police are coordinating law enforcement work with federal and local authorities.  It wasn't clear how many people were injured at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. Danbury Hospital said it has admitted three patients.    

- (UPI Report) Up to 27 dead in shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Con

9:40am: A shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Ct