NEWTOWN, Conn. – Official reports now from the Associated Press, have confirmed 27 dead, including 18 children in a Connecticut school shooting. The gunman was found dead, with two firearms. A law enforcement official in Washington said the attacker was a 20-year-old man with ties to the school and that one of the guns was a .223-caliber rifle. Details are still not clear as investigation is still under way.

It wasn’t clear how many people were injured in the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. The superintendent’s office said the district had locked down schools in Newtown, in western Connecticut about 100 kilometers northeast of New York City.

Update as of 10:30 PM Eastern – 20 children confirmed dead in gruesome massacre. The 20-year-old gunman, now identified by law enforcement sources as Adam Lanza.

State police said Newtown police called them around 9:40 a.m. A SWAT team was among the throngs of police to respond. Children were seen running away from the school still crying, and people gathered in a parking lot.

The White House said Barack Obama was notified of the shooting and his spokesman Jay Carney said the president had “enormous sympathy for families that are affected.” This tragedy is one of many just this year that has again sparked new concerns on current gun control laws in the United States.