Gunman kills 26, including 20 children, at US school

NEWTOWN, Connecticut (AFP) - Twenty small children and six teachers were massacred on Friday when a young gunman walked into a quiet surburban Connnecticut school armed with sophisticated handguns.

Connecticut State Police spokesman Lieutenant Paul Vance said 18 children were killed inside Sandy Hook Elementary School and that two more died of their wounds in hospital.

Six adults at the school were killed, including its principal, before the killer was shot – either by his own hand or police.

There were very few non-fatal injuries reported, indicating that once targeted, there was rarely any chance of escape, and that the gunman was unusually accurate in his fire.