NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) - The gunman behind the Connecticut elementary school massacre stormed into the building and shot 20 children at least twice with a high-powered rifle, executing some at close range and killing adults who tried to stop the carnage, authorities said Saturday.
He forced his way into the school by breaking a window, officials said. Asked whether the children suffered, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. H. Wayne Carver paused. "If so," he said, "not for very long."
An official with knowledge of the situation tells The Associated Press three weapons were found inside the school and fourth weapon was found outside. The murder weapon was a high-powered rifle with a high capacity, popular with law enforcement and the military.
Police shed no light on what triggered 20-year-old Adam Lanza to carry out the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, though state police Lt. Paul Vance said investigators had found "very good evidence ... that our investigators will be able to use in painting the complete picture, the how and, more importantly, the why." He would not elaborate.
Friday's massacre has elicited horror and soul-searching around the world.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says the "innocent little boys and girls" were "taken from their families far too soon."
Investigators have questioned the gunman's older brother, who's not believed to have been involved in the rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary in prosperous Newtown, 60 miles northeast of New York City.
