TORONTO – A gunman killed 26 people, including 20 young children, at a U.S. school where his mother worked Friday morning in one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history.
The horrific event started just after 9:30 a.m. local time Friday morning, and police have still not officially named the gunman as of 5:30 p.m. ET.
We walk you through a timeline of how the information came out below. Times are approximate, as reported by The Associated Press.
9:40 a.m. – A call comes into local police in Newtown, Connecticut of an emergency at Sandy Hook Elementary School. On and off duty officers arrive soon after and begin a “shooter search” of the school, according to police. Students and faculty are evacuated from the school and moved to a safe area nearby.
10:30 a.m. – Breaking news media reports begin coverage of the shooting, without being able to confirm injuries. A photograph is posted by the Newtown Bee local paper of young students being evacuated, escorted by adults through a parking lot in line.
11:00 a.m. – A dispatcher at the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps says a teacher was shot in the foot, but it is unclear whether that is the only injury.
11:30 a.m. –An anonymous official says a gunman in the shooting had been killed.
1 p.m. – The official reports that 27 people are dead, including 18 children. (This number later changes to 28 to include the shooter himself).
1:25 p.m. – An unnamed law official says the shooter is a 20-year-old man with ties to the elementary school. (The age of the attacker is later changed to 24).
1:54 p.m. – Local police make announcements that both students and staff are among those dead, but do not confirm the number of victims.
3 p.m. – The Associated Press reports that the gunman’s mother is among those killed in the shooting. She allegedly worked as a teacher at the school.
3:11 p.m. – The Associated Press reports that the suspect is 24-year-old Ryan Lanza, and that his younger brother is being held for questioning as a possible second shooter. (The AP later says a law official had transposed the brothers names, and that Adam is the name of the shooter). Reports name Nancy Lanza as the boys’ mother, who worked at the school, and suggest Lanza’s girlfriend and another friend are missing in New Jersey.
3:15 p.m. – A tearful President Barack Obama makes a public address, saying the children killed were between five and 10 years old, and extends his sympathy for the families involved.
4:00 p.m. – Police say 27 people were killed in the school shooting including the gunman, and that one person died at another scene. Eighteen children are confirmed to have been found dead at the school, and two others died later in hospital. The gunman killed himself, and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says someone who lived with him is also dead. The name ‘Ryan’ is dropped or redacted from some news reports.
4:14 p.m. – An Associated Press source now says the shooting suspect is 20-year-old Adam Lanza, and that his older brother, Ryan, is being questioned by police. The AP says an earlier report from a law official mixed up the brothers’ first names. Reports continue to say the boys’ mother, Nancy Lanza, is among those killed.
4:55 p.m. – Police speak to media again without identifying the shooter. They say they will release his name “at the appropriate time.”
6:06 p.m. - Officials tell The Associated Press that Ryan Lanza, of Hoboken, New Jersey, is still being questioned but is not in custody and is not believed to have any connection to the school killings.
7:00 p.m. - Several hundred people turn out for a memorial mass held at St. Rose Church to remember the victims of the school shooting.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
3:00 a.m. - Newspapers and websites report that images of a tearful Barack Obama have made their way around the world, with many hoping that America’s latest school massacre would prompt strengthened gun control.
6:30 a.m. - Authorities say they may be able to release the identities of the victims by Saturday morning. State police say they’re “cautiously optimistic” that they could have all the identities down by the morning.
8:30 a.m. - Law enforcement officials say that the shooter brought three guns into the school; firearms that were registered to his slain mother. The official says a Glock and a Sig Sauer, both pistols, and a .223-calibre Bushmaster rifle were found in the school after the massacre. A fourth weapon was found outside the school.
10:00 a.m. - Police say the gunman forced his way into the building. State police Lieutenant Paul Vance says the gunman was not voluntarily let into Sandy Hook Elementary School. He shot his mother then drove her car to the building.
11:30 a.m. - U.S. authorities are visiting local gun ranges in Conn., but find no evidence that the gunman trained for the attack or was an active member of the recreational gun community.
12:00 p.m. - Town officials say the school’s principal, Dawn Hochsprung, was gunned down while lunging at the gunman as she tried to overtake him. She had worked at the school for two years.
12:30 p.m. - Police say they found “very good evidence” they hope will answer questions about the motives of the 20-year-old gunman. At this point, the bodies of victims are still inside the school. Police promise to release their names later in the day.
3:30 p.m. - The victims in the shooting were shot multiple times by a rifle, the medical examiner said. Dr. H. Wayne Carver said at a news conference that he believes they were shot “up close” and “everybody was hit more than once.”
5:00 p.m. - A full list of the victims is released, most of them just 6 or 7 years old. Profiles on the victims slowly emerge.
Sunday December 16, 2012
9:30 a.m. President Barack Obama will attend an evening vigil in Newtown, Conn., to mourn with a town still seeking to comprehend the unimaginable massacre of its children and teachers.
With files from The Associated Press
© Global News. A division of Shaw Media Inc., 2012.