The United States is in shock after a mass shooting left 28 people in Connecticut dead, including 20 children.
More details are starting to emerge about the carnage, which also claimed the lives of seven adults and the suspected gunman.
Here is what is known so far about the events which began on a seemingly ordinary Friday morning, only weeks away from the Christmas holiday.
14 December 2012 morning
The suspect's mother Nancy Lanza is believed to be the first killed, just before the rampage at the school
The suspect, widely reported to be 20-year-old Adam Lanza, shot and killed his mother Nancy Lanza at their home in Yogananda Street in Newtown, an affluent town of 27,000 people about 60 miles northeast of New York City.
It is still not clear why Lanza killed his mother, who had divorced Lanza's father Peter in 2009.
A parent told AP that Nancy Lanza was a substitute teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School, but this is not confirmed. A search of Connecticut's educator certification system revealed no-one by that name, and school employees have said Mrs Lanza did not work there.
Journey to school
After killing his mother, Lanza drove her car to the school, which has about 700 pupils aged between 5 and 10.
He was armed with at least three weapons and dressed in black fatigues.
It is unclear what sort of weapons the gunman carried with him and whether any were left in his car.
Entry into school
Visitors to the school have to be buzzed in by a member of staff. But at about 09:30, Lanza forced his way into the school, police now say, contrary to earlier reports that he had been let in.
Shooting begins
Children hid in classrooms during the shooting
Newtown police were notified of shooting at the school over their radios at 09:36.
"Caller is indicating she thinks someone's shooting in the building," a police dispatcher said.
A school employee ran through the halls, warning of a gunman on the loose, and someone switched on the intercom, alerting people in the building to the attack by letting them hear the mayhem in the school office, a teacher told AP.
One young survivor said the gunshots sounded like pots and pans falling to the floor.
Teachers locked their doors and ordered children to huddle in a corner or hide in cupboards as shots echoed through the building.
The victims were all shot by a high-powered rifle, medical examiner H Wayne Carver said on Saturday.
The seven dead children he personally examined had been shot between three and 11 times each, and two of those were shot at close range.
"The bullets are designed in such a fashion that the energy is deposited in the tissue and so the bullet stays in," Dr Carver told reporters.
"This is a very devastating set of injuries."
Abrupt end
The authorities say the shooting only lasted a few minutes and took place in two rooms.
"The shooting appears to have stopped," the police dispatcher radioed at 09:38, according to the New York Post. "There is silence at this time. The school is in lockdown."
The police respond
The shooting has shocked the town of 27,000
Fearful the gunman could still be at large, police swarmed into the building, breaking windows to enter at several points, Lt Paul Vance of the Connecticut state police said. Meanwhile, other officers searched and secured the woods surrounding the school, police said in a statement.
Inside the building officers encountered a horrific scene: 18 children and six adults shot dead, including popular principal Dawn Hochsprung, 47. Two more children would later die from their wounds.
The officers went from room to room removing surviving children and staff from classrooms.
A library clerk who had ordered 18 children into a storage room before locking and barricading the door gave the children paper and crayons to keep them occupied. The police arrived at the door within an hour, the clerk, Maryann Jacob, told the Associated Press.
"One of them slid his badge under the door, and they called and said, `It's OK, it's the police,"' she said.
The schoolchildren were escorted hand-in-hand and were told the shut their eyes as they passed the principal's office, believed to be the scene of much of the carnage.
They were taken to Sandy Hook fire station, where worried parents began to gather.
Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy went to the fire station.
"Evil visited this community today and it's too early to speak of recovery," he said later.
"But each parent, each sibling, each member of the family has to understand that Connecticut - we're all in this together. We'll do whatever we can to overcome this event".
culled from the bbc news
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