US mulls gun control as youth shoots down 26 at school
15 Dec 2012
A young man wielding two guns went on a rampage inside a school in Connecticut, in the US, killing his mother and 24 others, including 20 children, prompting calls for urgent legislation to control gun culture.
The incident prompted several politicians to seek a review of American gun laws. This is the third shooting spree in the US after another shooting incident in a school and a shoot-out at a Gurudwara in Wisconsin.
An emotional US President Barack Obama choked up several times as he said "our hearts are broken today" before the White House press corps.
The shooter, 20-year-old Ryan Lanza, first opened fire at his mother, Nancy Lanza, a teacher at the Sandy Hook Elementary School school at Newton, Connecticut, and then fired indiscriminately at students and staff, killing 26 people in the school, before killing himself.
Newtown is about 95 km northeast of New York City and the school has about 600 students.
A New York Times report said Lanza walked up to his mother Nancy Lanza in her classroom loaded with two 9mm handguns and wearing all black, and opened fire, killing her and 24 other adults and children.