Updated 3:12 p.m.

Police did not discharge their weapons at any time when responding to Friday’s mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. However, he could not confirm whether the suspected shooter — who died at the scene — killed himself, saying that would have to be determined by the medical examiner.

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Updated 3:02 p.m.

A third weapon was found at the scene of Friday’s mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, a law enforcement source told CNN. Officials have now recovered a .223 Bushmaster, a Glock and a Sig Sauer.

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Updated 2:55 p.m.

The mother of the alleged gunman in Friday’s mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school appeared to be the primary target, a federal law enforcement source told CNN. She was a teacher at the school.

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Updated 2:50 p.m.

Friday’s mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school happened in one section of the school, a state police spokesman said.

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Updated 2:49 p.m.

Friday’s mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school left six adults and 20 children dead, a state police spokesman said. Eighteen students were pronounced dead at the scene, and two others died at the hospital, said Lt. Paul Vance of the Connecticut State Police. The six adults died at the scene. In addition, the shooter was killed.

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Updated 2:48 p.m.

Friday’s mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school left six adults and 20 children dead, a state police spokesman said. Eighteen students were pronounced dead at the scene, and two others died at the hospital, said Lt. Paul Vance of the Connecticut State Police. The six adults died at the scene. It wasn’t clear if that toll included the shooter, who also died.

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Updated 2:44 p.m.

Principal Dawn Hochsprung, killed in Friday’s shooting at her Connecticut elementary school, recently installed a new security system to ensure student safety.

In a letter this fall to parents at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Hochsprung said that every visitor would be required to ring the doorbell at the front entrance after the doors locked at 9:30 a.m.

Staff began a visual monitoring system to determine entry.

Parents and visitors then had to report directly to the main office and sign in. Parents would also be asked for photo identification if staff didn’t recognize them.

In a letter addressed to “Members of our Sandy Hook Family,” she asked parents to be patient with the school district’s new system in all elementary schools.

“Please understand that with nearly 700 students and over 1,000 parents representing 500 SHS families, most parents will be asked to show identification,” Hochsprung wrote.

On Friday, the district’s webpage featured a gallery of school photos with the caption “Safe School Climate.”

In 2010, a community newspaper profiled Hochsprung as one of the Newtown School District’s new principals. She entered Sandy Hook Elementary with 12 years of administrative experience, and she had recently been a principal at Regional School District 14 serving the Connecticut communities of Bethelem and Danbury, the Newtown Bee said.

She had also worked as an assistant principal in the Danbury, Connecticut, Public Schools District, the paper said.

Hochsprung, of Waterbury, Connecticut, was raising two daughters and three stepdaughters, and she was excited about becoming Sandy Hook’s new principal, she told the newspaper.

“I don’t think you could find a more positive place to bring students to every day,” Hochsprung told the Newtown Bee.

In her letter about the new security system, Hochsprung said glitches would be inevitable, and parents may have to wait to be buzzed inside the school because office staff is often busy on the phone, in the copy room or handling student concerns.

“Though they will work diligently to help you into the building as quickly as possible, there may be a short delay until someone can view you on the handset and allow you to come in electronically,” Hochsprung said.

“We continue to encourage and value your presence in our classrooms and are counting on your cooperation with the implementation of this safety initiative,” she wrote.

As Sandy Hook principal, she maintained an active Twitter account, posting messages and photos about possible new books and a student rehearsal for a fourth-grade winter concert.

“Setting up for the Sandy Hook nonfiction book preview for staff … Common Core, here we come!” she wrote on Thursday, her most recent tweet. A photo depicted several children’s books, including “Alligator or Crocodile? How Do You Know?”

Another photo shows a choir of boys and girls dressed in white shirts and black pants or skirts being led by the music teacher. The audience was all students.

“Sandy Hook students enjoy the rehearsal for our 4th grade winter concert – a talented group led by Maryrose Kristopik!” Hochsprung tweeted Wednesday. Kristopik is listed as music teacher on the school’s website.

Hochsprung received a bachelor’s degree in special education from Central Connecticut State University in 1993 and a master’s degree in special education from Southern Connecticut State University in 1997, according to the News-Times of Danbury, Connecticut.

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Updated 2:43 p.m.

The perpetrator of Friday’s mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school is dead and so is an individual that the suspect lived with, said Gov. Dannel Malloy. He called the mass shooting “a tragedy of unspeakable terms.”

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Updated 2:25 p.m.

A brother of Ryan Lanza, the suspected gunman responsible for Friday’s mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, was found dead in a residential location searched in Hoboken, New Jersey, a senior law enforcement official familiar with the investigation said. In addition, the mother of the alleged shooter was found dead in the elementary school, the source said.

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Updated 2:24 p.m.

President Barack Obama said Friday that the children killed in the Connecticut school shooting and other tragedies “are our children,” and the nation must come together to prevent such incidents “regardless of the politics.”

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Updated 2:23 p.m.

President Barack Obama wiped away tears and paused to collect himself Friday as he spoke of “beautiful little children” killed in the Connecticut school shooting, saying: “Our hearts are broken today.”

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Updated 2:11 p.m.

The mother of Ryan Lanza, the suspected gunman responsible for Friday’s mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, was shot and killed at that Connecticut school where she was a teacher, according to source close to the investigation. Lanza also died at the scene.

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Updated 1:57 p.m.

NEWTOWN, Connecticut (CNN) — The sound of gunfire, confusion, a lockdown and then an evacuation. Witnesses, students and parents told frightening stories Friday about a school shooting that a law enforcement source said left close to 30 people dead, most of them children.

Many details of the attack remained unclear, but the sight of dozens of emergency vehicles and police spread across the wooded campus made it clear Sandy Hook Elementary School has become the nation’s latest infamous crime scene. Authorities said the school had been secured and that danger had passed.

Parents, who had rushed to the school after hearing the news, reunited with their children, clutching them and then hurrying away, while police checked nearby houses and buildings. The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are on the scene.

In front of a nearby firehouse where children were evacuated, an American flag flew at half-staff.

Outside the school, Lynn Wasik wrapped her arms around her 8-year-old daughter, Alexis, cloaked against the cold in an oversized jacket. The girl described her ordeal after police and teachers barged into her third-grade classroom and ordered her and her classmates to hide in a corner.

“Everybody was crying,” Alexis said. “And I just heard the police officers yelling.”

Her mother said she first learned about the emergency through an automated phone call message. She said the message wasn’t clear about the school where the incident had occurred. In a panic, she raced to Sandy Hook, eventually finding Alexis unharmed.

“My heart is in a million pieces for those families,” said Lynn Wasik. “Who could do something like this? It’s just sickening.”

Like Wasik, other parents wrapped their arms around their children as they hurried away from the scene.

The FBI presence became much more evident in the afternoon. Several federal officers in tactical gear were coordinating with state and local law enforcement.

“I was in the gym at the time,” student Brendan Murray told CNN affiliate WABC. “I heard screaming and I thought a custodian was knocking down things. Police came in, teachers yelled to get to a safe place. Police were knocking on the doors — police were at every door, leading us down, quick, quick.”

Brendan said he later joined classmates and ran to the firehouse “really quick. We were all really happy that we were all alive.”

‘Why? Why?’

Teary-eyed parents continued to emerge from the firehouse. Some were talking on cell phones, using words like “chaotic” and “devastating.”

Others were openly weeping into their phones as they walked up a wooded roadway leading away from the school.

“Why? Why?” one woman cried as she walked away.

Earlier, a woman who lives near the firehouse described seeing “a bunch of children with a bunch of adults” apparently evacuating toward a nearby park. “I seen five children running up through our back field,” the woman told CNN. “And by God, those poor little guys were running.”

Breaking news photos from outside the school showed adults leading children away from the school. The youngsters, wearing no coats and dressed in brightly colored clothing, walked one behind another, with their hands resting on the shoulders of the ones in front of them.

Temperatures hovered just above freezing.

After an initial report that “close to 20 people” were killed in the school, a federal law enforcement source in Washington told CNN that the number was closer to 30, and most of those killed were children.

A local TV station reported 600 children are enrolled at the school, spanning kindergarten through grade 4.

‘Pop, pop pop’

In a terrifying account, a parent who was inside the school at the time of the shooting described hearing a “pop, pop, pop,” sound around 9:30 a.m. Also in the room were the school’s principal, vice principal and the psychologist. All three left the room and went into the hall to see what was happening. The parent ducked under the table and called 911.

“I cowered,” she told CNN’s Meredith Artley. The shooter “must have shot a hundred rounds.”

Later the parent said she saw two adults lying dead in the hallway, in a pool of blood.

Although school shootings have become sadly familiar in 21st century America, violence is not common in this picturesque 300-year-old town of about 27,000.

“I can’t believe — in a small town like this — we’ve never had anything like this happen,” a father of a Sandy Hook student told local CNN affiliate WTNH. “I was pretty shaken up. I did not know who or what happened.”

“It doesn’t seem possible,” said another parent. “You have something happen so close to home. … I guess I’m still in shock.” .

Other officers, some in tactical gear, stood around the school with guns drawn, CNN affiliate WFSB reported.

All schools in the city were on lockdown Friday as police assessed the situation, state police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance said.

Mike Branchwell, who has lived in the area since 2005, told CNN the district’s schools are “very highly rated,” and are a big attraction for many of the people who move to the area, including his family, which includes two in high school.

Just a few weeks ago the town — about 60 miles outside New York City — was recovering from Hurricane Sandy, which downed trees and knocked out power to most customers. A year before, residents suffered through Hurricane Irene.

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Updated 1:50 p.m.

President Barack Obama will deliver a statement to reporters at 3:15 p.m. Friday ET, the White House said.

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Updated 1:43 p.m.

At least 27 people were killed — including 18 children — as a result of Friday’s mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, a federal law enforcement source told CNN, citing information from FBI officials and others at the scene.

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NEWTOWN, Connecticut — In one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, a gunman opened fire Friday in a Connecticut elementary school, killing nearly 30 people — most of them children, a law enforcement official receiving information from the scene told CNN.

At least 10 of the dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School were students, a different law enforcement source familiar with the investigation said.

“Why? Why?” one woman wailed as she walked up a wooded roadway leading from the school.

At a news conference Friday afternoon, state police Lt. Paul Vance declined to put a number on the deaths. He would say only that there had been “several fatalities.” Police were waiting to notify families before releasing details, but he reassured nervous residents that the school was secure, the danger past.

The gunman is dead, his body in a classroom, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN. A law enforcement identified the suspected shooter as Ryan Lanza, who was in his 20s. Police have recovered two weapons from the suspect, a Glock and a Sig Sauer, the source said. It’s unclear if police killed the suspect.

Police were questioning another man but are not calling him a suspect, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN.

Despite the danger being past, federal officers in tactical gear were on the scene Friday afternoon, coordinating with state and local authorities. At least four ambulances remained at the school.

Hospital officials in neighboring Danbury said they were treating three people wounded in the shooting. Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said the victims were in “very serious” condition.

Police and teachers rushed students from the building as police swarmed the area shortly after the first calls came in, around 9:40 a.m. ET. Officials moved students to a nearby firehouse, where parents frantically sought information about their children.

Third-grader Alexis Wasik said police and teachers barged into her classroom and told students to hide in the corner.

“Everybody was crying,” she said. “And I just heard the police officers yelling.”

Aerial images from CNN affiliate News 12 New Jersey showed police officers armed with rifles following a dog into woods near the school.

Other officers, some in tactical gear, stood around the school with guns drawn, CNN affiliate WFSB reported.

All schools in the city were on lockdown Friday as police assessed the situation, Vance said.

Gov. Dan Malloy is “horrified” by what happened, a spokesman said. Malloy was meeting with families Friday afternoon, the spokesman said.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the Obama administration feels “enormous sympathy” for affected families and pledged federal support for state and local law enforcement. Obama was expected to address the shooting on Friday.

If the number of fatalities holds up, the Newtown shooting would be the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, behind only the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech that left 32 people dead.

The 1999 Columbine High shooting in Littleton, Colorado, is the deadliest at a U.S. elementary, junior or high school. In that incident, two students shot 13 people to death before killing themselves.

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Updated 1:28 p.m.

NEWTOWN, Connecticut (CNN) — The sound of gunfire, confusion, a lockdown and then an evacuation. Witnesses, students and parents told frightening stories Friday about a school shooting that a law enforcement source said left close to 30 people dead, most of them children.

Many details of the attack remained unclear, but the sight of dozens of emergency vehicles and police spread across the wooded school campus made it clear Sandy Hook Elementary School has become the nation’s latest infamous crime scene. Authorities said the school had been secured and that danger had passed.

Parents, who had rushed to the school after hearing the news, reunited with their children, clutching them and then hurrying away, while police checked nearby houses and buildings. The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are on the scene.

An American flag in front of the Sandy Hook firehouse, where children were evacuated, flew at half staff.

Outside the school, Lynn Wasik wrapped her arms around her 8-year-old daughter, Alexis, cloaked against the cold in an oversized jacket. The girl described her ordeal after police and teachers barged into her third-grade classroom and ordered her and her classmates to hide in a corner.

“Everybody was crying,” Alexis said. “And I just heard the police officers yelling.”

Her mother said she first learned about the emergency through an automated phone call message. She said the message wasn’t clear about the school where the incident had occurred. In a panic, she raced to Sandy Hook, eventually finding Alexis unharmed.

“My heart is in a million pieces for those families,” said Lynn Wasik. “Who could do something like this? It’s just sickening.”

Like Wasik, other parents wrapped their arms around their children as they hurried away from the scene.

The FBI presence became much more evident in the afternoon. Several federal officers in tactical gear were coordinating with state and local law enforcement.

Teary-eyed parents continued to emerge from the firehouse. Some were talking on cell phones, using words like “chaotic” and “devastating.”

Others were openly weeping into their phones as they walked up a wooded roadway leading away from the school.

“Why? Why?” one woman cried as she walked away.

Earlier, a woman who lives near the firehouse described seeing “a bunch of children with a bunch of adults” apparently evacuating toward a nearby park. “I seen five children running up through our back field,” the woman told CNN. “And by God, those poor little guys were running.”

Breaking news photos from outside the school showed adults leading children away from the school. The youngsters wearing, no coats and dressed in brightly colored clothing, walked one behind another, with their hands resting on the shoulders of the ones in front of them.

Temperatures hovered just above freezing.

After an initial report that “close to 20 people” were killed in the school, a federal law enforcement source in Washington told CNN that the number was closer to 30, and most of those killed were children.

A local TV station reported 600 children are enrolled at the school, spanning kindergarten through grade 4.

A parent who was inside the school at the time of the shooting described hearing a “pop, pop, pop,” sound around 9:30 a.m. Also in the room were the school’s principal, vice principal and the psychologist. All three left the room and went into the hall to see what was happening. The parent ducked under the table and called 911.

“I cowered,” she told CNN’s Meredith Artley. The shooter “must have shot a hundred rounds.”

Later the parent said she saw two adults lying dead in the hallway, in a pool of blood.

Although school shootings have become sadly familiar in 21st century America, violence is not common in this picturesque 300-year-old town of about 27,000.

“I can’t believe — in a small town like this — we’ve never had anything like this happen,” a father of a Sandy Hook student told local CNN affiliate WTNH. “I was pretty shaken up. I did not know who or what happened.”

“It doesn’t seem possible,” said another parent. “You have something happen so close to home. … I guess I’m still in shock.” .

Other officers, some in tactical gear, stood around the school with guns drawn, CNN affiliate WFSB reported.

All schools in the city were on lockdown Friday as police assessed the situation, state police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance said.

Mike Branchwell, who has lived in the area since 2005, told CNN the district’s schools are “very highly rated,” and are a big attraction for many of the people who move to the area, including his family, which includes two in high school.

Just a few weeks ago the town — about 60 miles outside New York City — was recovering from Hurricane Sandy, which downed trees and knocked out power to most customers. A year before, residents suffered through Hurricane Irene.

—–

Updated 1:14 p.m.

The suspected gunman behind Friday’s shooting at a Connecticut elementary school has been identified as Ryan Lanza, in his 20s, law enforcement source told CNN. He died at the scene.

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Updated 1:09 p.m.

The death toll in Friday’s shooting at a Connecticut elementary school is closer to 30 than 20, and most of the fatalities are children, a federal law enforcement source in Washington told CNN. He also said the suspected gunman, who is dead, had a connection to the school. At a news conference hours after the shooting, state authorities would not confirm a death toll, saying the priority is making sure the families of the victims are informed first. The federal official is in touch with authorities on the scene.

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Updated 1:02 p.m.

The death toll in Friday’s shooting at a Connecticut elementary school is closer to 30, a federal law enforcement source in Washington told CNN. He also said the suspected gunman, who is dead, had a connection to the school. The source is in touch with authorities on the scene.

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Updated 12:59 p.m.

NEWTOWN, Connecticut — Nearly 20 people died Friday in an elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN.

At least 10 of the dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School were children, the source said. At a news conference Friday afternoon, state police Lt. Paul Vance would say only that there had been “several fatalities.”

The school was secure, and the public was not in danger, Vance said.

“Why? Why?” one woman wailed as she walked up a wooded roadway leading from the school.

A parent who was inside the school at the time of the attack said she heard what sounded like at least 100 rounds being fired. She said she saw two school employees who had died.

Hospital officials in neighboring Danbury said they were treating three people wounded in the shooting. Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said the victims were in “very serious” condition.

The shooter is dead, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN’s Susan Candiotti. The suspect’s body is in a classroom at the school, the source said.

A law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation said a male was being questioned but he is not being called a suspect.

Federal officers in tactical gear were on the scene, coordinating with local and state police. At least four ambulances remained at the school Friday afternoon.

Police have recovered two weapons from the suspect, a Glock and a Sig Sauer, the source said. It’s unclear if police killed the suspect.

Police and teachers rushed students from the building as police swarmed the area shortly after the first calls came in, around 9:40 a.m. ET. Officials moved students to a nearby firehouse, where parents frantically sought information about their children.

Third-grader Alexis Wasik said police and teachers barged into her classroom and told students to hide in the corner.

“Everybody was crying,” she said. “And I just heard the police officers yelling.”

Aerial images from CNN affiliate News 12 New Jersey showed police officers armed with rifles following a dog into woods near the school.

Other officers, some in tactical gear, stood around the school with guns drawn, CNN affiliate WFSB reported.

All schools in the city were on lockdown Friday as police assessed the situation, Vance said.

Gov. Dan Malloy is “horrified” by what happened, a spokesman said.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the Obama administration feels “enormous sympathy” for affected families and pledged federal support for state and local law enforcement.

Newtown is about 60 miles north of New York.

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Updated 12:55 p.m.

The suspected gunman in the Connecticut school shooting was 20 years old, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation said.

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Updated 12:48 p.m.

A male is being questioned by investigators in connection to Friday’s shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN. However, he is not being called a suspect.

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Updated 12:47 p.m.

There were several fatalities at the scene in Friday’s elementary school shooting in Connecticut, both students and staff, a state police spokesman said. However, he didn’t say how many people were killed.

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Updated 12:30 p.m.

An assault weapons ban “does remain a commitment” of President Obama, White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

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Updated 12:29 p.m.

President Barack Obama spoke by phone Friday with FBI Director Robert Mueller and Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy to express condolences for the deaths and concerns for the families of victims in the school shooting, the White House said.

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Updated 12:24 p.m.

Nearly 20 people died Friday in a school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN.

At least 10 of the dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School were children, the source said.

A parent who was inside the school at the time of the attack said she heard what sounded like at least 100 rounds being fired. She said she saw two school employees who had died.

Hospital officials in neighboring Danbury said they were treating three people wounded in the shooting. Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said the victims were in “very serious” condition.

The shooter is dead, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN’s Susan Candiotti. The suspect’s body is in a classroom at the school, the source said.

Police have recovered two weapons from the suspect, a Glock and a Sig Sauer, the source said. It’s unclear if police killed the suspect.

Police and teachers rushed students from the building as police swarmed the area shortly after the first calls came in, around 9:40 a.m. ET. Officials moved students to a nearby firehouse, where parents frantically sought information about their children.

Third-grader Alexis Wasik said police and teachers barged into her classroom and told students to hide in the corner.

“Everybody was crying,” she said. “And I just heard the police officers yelling.”

Aerial images from CNN affiliate News 12 New Jersey showed police officers armed with rifles following a dog into woods near the school.

Other officers, some in tactical gear, stood around the school with guns drawn, CNN affiliate WFSB reported.

All schools in the city were on lockdown Friday as police assessed the situation, state police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance said.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the administration feels “enormous sympathy” for affected families and pledged federal support for state and local law enforcement.

Newtown is about 60 miles north of New York.

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Updated 12:06 p.m.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said he and President Obama “feel enormous sympathy” for the families of the children where the Connecticut school shooting occurred Friday. Asked about gun control policies, he said, “there is, I am sure — will be rather — a day for discussion of the usual Washington policy debates but I don’t think today is that day.”

The suspected gunman’s body was found in a classroom inside a Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school where authorities say as many as 20 were killed, including 10 children, a source close to the investigation told CNN’s Susan Candiotti.

A law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation says “close to 20” people have been killed in a school shooting in Connecticut. That number includes at least 10 children, the source says.

President Barack Obama has been informed of the school shooting in Connecticut and will receive regular updates throughout the day, the White House said on Friday.

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Updated 10:06 p.m.

State police responded Friday to reports of a shooting at a southwestern Connecticut elementary school.

The Hartford Courant, citing police, said an unspecified number of people had been shot at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.

The nature of their injuries was unclear, the newspaper said. But it cited police in saying one person had “numerous gunshot wounds.”

All schools in the city were on lockdown Friday as police assessed the situation, state police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance said.

Newtown is about 60 miles north of New York.

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Connecticut State Police and local authorities are responding to a shooting at an elementary school in southwestern Connecticut, officials said. Sandy Hook Elementary School is on lock down, and students are not being evacuated, a Newtown police spokesman told CNN.