Connecticut shooting: 20 schoolchildren among the 28 dead

The toll in the Connecticut shooting stands at 28 dead, including 20 children and the gunman, Connecticut State Police said Friday.

Speaking at a televised news conference from Newtown, Conn., State Police spokesman Paul Vance confirmed the death toll, making this the deadliest shooting since the Virginia Tech rampage in 2007.

According to Vance, the gunman entered the school and fired at students and staff in one section – two rooms – at the school, he said.

PHOTOS: Shooting at Connecticut elementary school

Eighteen children were pronounced dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. Two pupils were taken to hospitals and pronounced dead there.

Six adults were dead at the scene as was the gunman. Another person was found dead at what Vance described as “a secondary crime scene” in Connecticut, bringing the total to 28.

One person was injured.

None of the victims were identified pending identification, Vance said.

“It’s still an evolving crime scene and it’s just hours old,” Daniel Curtin, a FBI special agent in Connecticut, said. “And it’s obviously very tragic. All we’re saying is that the FBI and our agents have a presence there to assist in any way possible. Because right now it’s a Connecticut state and local investigation at this point. But in times of trial like this we work together.” A weapon was recovered at the scene.

According to sources, the event began with an argument with the principal. Some of the staffers were shot first, then the gunman advanced on a classroom, shooting.

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The incident began at about 9:40 a.m. EST at the school in Newtown, a town of about 27,000 people.Stephen Delgiadice told reporters that his 8-year-old daughter heard two big bangs and teachers told her to get in a corner. His daughter was fine.

“It’s alarming, especially in Newtown, Conn., which we always thought was the safest place in America,” he said.

michael.muskal@latimes.com