Elementary school shooting reported in Newtown, Conn.

[Barrister]

It's an elementary school.  What the fuck is wrong with some people.

I'd rather this fuck had lived, so he could have that on his conscience for 60 years (or until he fried on death row).

[lustindarkness]

sad

[merithyn]

They're just babies. At that age, they really are just babies. I just can't imagine how their parents/families are going to ever deal with this.

[Queequeg]

Horrifying.  Haven't felt this terrible about an attack since Beslan. 

[Malthus]

I gotta admit, I'm morbidly curious as to what motivates someone like this. I know there is never going to be a good answer, of course. Sadism? Desire for notoriety? Profound mental illness and delusions? Some of all of the above?

My own kid's in grade 2 right now, so I can somewhat-sort of imagine the horrors the parents are going through.

[sbr]

I gotta admit, I'm morbidly curious as to what motivates someone like this. I know there is never going to be a good answer, of course. Sadism? Desire for notoriety? Profound mental illness and delusions? Some of all of the above?

My own kid's in grade 2 right now, so I can somewhat-sort of imagine the horrors the parents are going through.

One of the articles says the dead gunmen may have been the father of a student.  I hate to speculate at times like this but I would guess custody battle gone terribly wrong.

[Queequeg]

I wouldn't be totally surprised if there was something like a brain tumor involved, like Charles Whitman.

[merithyn]

I wouldn't be totally surprised if there was something like a brain tumor involved, like Charles Whitman.

I think you give the shooter an out he doesn't deserve.

Someone said that two other people were taken into custody. They had been out in the woods behind the school.

[Malthus]

Reports say his mother was a teacher at the school and he may have killed his dad first. 

[Valmy]

Wow.

[viper37]

29 dead now.

[merithyn]

More than two dozen people, mostly children, were shot and killed at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school this morning by a heavily armed man who was killed inside the building, federal and state sources tell ABC News.

"The shooter is deceased inside the building," Connecticut State Police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance said at a news conference. "The public is not in danger."

The gunman has been identified as Ryan Lanza, 24, of New Jersey. A dead body has also been found in his home, officials said. Sources said Lanza was armed with four weapons and wearing a bullet-proof vest when he opened fire in the elementary school.

Among the dead was the gunman's mother, found in the school, sources told ABC News.

Authorities initially believed that there were two gunmen and were searching cars around the school. It is currently unclear whether there is still a suspect at large.

[Kleves]

Reports say his mother was a teacher at the school and he may have killed his dad first.

That's what I'm seeing.

The gunman, identified as Ryan Lanza, 24, was also found dead at the scene, a federal law enforcement official said. Lanza's mother is a kindergarten teacher at the Newtown school.

Some killings (in like domestic disputes or something) you can almost understand what the guy was thinking. Something like this... it's just incomprehensible.

[garbon]

Some killings (in like domestic disputes or something) you can almost understand what the guy was thinking. Something like this... it's just incomprehensible.

Yeah.

[merithyn]

Official Count:
20 kids dead - 18 on scene, 2 at the hospital
6 adults dead
1 dead in the shooter's house (in Newtown, not New Jersey as originally reported)
1 shooter

Total dead: 28

Shootings took place in one section of the school, in two rooms.