Connecticut State Police lead children from the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., following a shooting there Dec. 14, 2012, in this picture provided by the Newtown Bee. / AP Photo/Newtown Bee
Updated at 1:27 p.m. ET
At least 18 children were killed Friday in a shooting at a Connecticut elementary school that left a total of 27 people dead, officials told CBS News.
CBS News senior correspondent John Miller said that the death toll was preliminary and likely to change. At least eight adults were killed in the shooting. The gunman also died. At least one teacher was wounded.
School shooting: Possible second gunman in custody
It is unclear if there was more than one gunman at the school. Miller reports authorities have an individual in custody who investigators said may be a possible second shooter.
Law enforcement sources told Miller that preliminary and unconfirmed information indicates that the gunman was the father of a student. Officials also told Miller that the suspect is around 20 years old who apparently drove to the school from New Jersey.
The shooter was killed and apparently had two guns, a person with knowledge of the shooting told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was still under way.
Connecticut elementary school shooting
White House spokesman Jay Carney said President Obama was informed of the shooting at 10:30 a.m. ET. by homeland security adviser John Brennan.
CBS Hartford affiliate WFSB-TV reports around 600 students attend the school.
Connecticut State Police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance described the situation to CBS New York station WCBS-AM as a "very serious school shooting."
A dispatcher at the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps said a teacher had been shot in the foot and taken to Danbury Hospital.
Conn. school shooting: Student says teacher saved him
An 8-year-old student told WCBS-TV he was on his way to the school's office when he saw the gunman.
"I saw some of the bullets going down the hall and then a teacher pulled me into her classroom," the boy said.
Stephen Delgiadice said 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, Connecticut, which we always thought was the safest place in America," he said.
Lisa Bailey, a Newtown resident with three children in Newtown schools, told CBSNewYork.com, "Newtown is a quiet town. I'd never expect this to happen here. It's so scary. Your kids are not safe anywhere."
The superintendent's office said the district had locked down schools in Newtown, about 60 miles northeast of New York City. Schools in neighboring towns also were locked down as a precaution.
State police said Newtown police called them around 9:40 a.m.
A photo posted by The Newtown Bee newspaper showed a group of young students  some crying, others looking visibly frightened  being escorted by adults through a parking lot in a line, hands on each other's shoulders.
Students were taken to a nearby firehouse to be reunited with their parents, CBSNewYork.com reports.
Estudiantes en el club de ajedrez de la escuela Sandy Hook. 


Veinte personas, entre ellas, diez niños, murieron esta mañana en un tiroteo en una escuela rural en Newtown, Connecticut.

Una fuente de la policía asegura que el tiroteo en la escuela rural Sandy Hook dejó 26 muertos, 20 de ellos niños, luego de que durante horas se manejó cifras mucho menores.

El asesino fue un hombre de unos 20 años al cual hallaron muerto en la escuela, aunque no está claro si fue abatido por la policía o si se suicidó. La policía parecía haber detenido a otro sospechoso vestido con traje de fatiga, el cual permanecía dentro de un vehículo policial mientras revisaban las colinas cercanas a la escuela en busca de alguien más o de evidencia.

La policía recuperó dos armas en la escena del crimen —una pistola Glock y otra Sig Sauer— y las imágenes de la televisión mostraban un automóvil negro a la entrada de la escuela, que parecía ser del interés de la policía.

Un reporte del hospital Danbury, a unos 15 kilómetros de la escuela, aseguró haber recibido a tres personas heridas.

Los angustiados padres de los escolares se acercaron a la escuela para reunirse con sus hijos tan pronto como fueron advertidos de la emergencia por medio de correos electrónicos y llamadas telefónicas de parte de las autoridades escolares.

El ataque ocurrió a las 9:41 a. m. Newtown está situado a unos 72 kilómetros al sur de la ciudad de Hartford y 128 kilómetros al norte de Nueva York. La escuela Sandy Hook atiende a unos 600 niños en edades de 5 a 10 años, desde parvularios hasta el 4º grado.