28 killed in US school shooting

28 people that included the gunman himself were killed in a horrific massacre that shocked the town of Newtown in Connecticut on Friday morning, December 15. 20-year-old Adam Lanza used a Bushmaster .233 rifle – also used in military assaults – to kill 20 children studying at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. Police officials said 6 adults, including the school principal, were also killed. The gunman also shot and killed his own mother before breaking into the school. After his shooting spree, Lanza killed himself apparently in a suicide. The children were shot at between 3 and 11 times, investigators said. 16 of them were 6-year-olds and four were 7-year-olds; 12 of them were girls and 8 were boys. By Saturday, bodies had been cleared from the two rooms where Lanza concentrated his shooting. President Barack Obama, aghast over the tragedy, struggled to maintain his composure as he spoke on Saturday about the tragedy and called for solidarity to prevent similar occurrences in the future. He met with victims’ families and emergency service workers in Newtown on Sunday, US time. Obama said, “These tragedies must end, and to end them we must change.” The incident has also reignited calls for stricter gun control.

Read the full story on Rappler. 

A related story is also on Rappler.

A story about Obama’s visit is on BBC News.