A heavily-armed gunman opened fire on school children and staff of a Connecticut, United States' elementary school on Friday, killing at least 26 people, including 18 children.
The shooting was the latest in a series of rampages that have tormented the US this year.
The gunman was later found dead inside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, a policeman, Lt. Paul Vance, told a news conference.
“The shooter is deceased inside the building,” said Vance at a news conference outside the school.
He, however, declined to confirm the number of deaths.
“There were several fatalities at the scene, both students and staff,” he told reporters.
Police were called to the school at 9:30 am local time, Vance said.
The holiday season tragedy followed a series of shooting rampages in the US this year that have killed multiple victims, and it was certain to revive a debate about the US gun laws.
The principal and the school psychologist were among the dead, CNN said.
Witnesses reported hearing dozens of shots with some saying as many as 100 were fired. The suspected shooter was armed with four weapons and wore a bullet-proof vest, WABC reported.
There were unconfirmed reports of a second shooter. Another person was being held in police custody after he was detained in the woods near the school wearing camouflage pants, CBS reported.
Connecticut State Police said its officers were at the scene with local police but provided no additional details.
Newtown, with a population about 27,000, is in northern Fairfield County, about 70 km south-west of Hartford and 130 km north-east of New York City.
The US has experienced a number of mass shootings this year, most recently in Oregon, where a gunman opened fire at a shopping mall on Tuesday, killing two people and then himself.
The deadliest attack was in July at a midnight screening of a Batman film in Colorado, where 12 people were killed and 58 wounded.
