Friday morning took a turn for the worst when news quickly spread about a shooting in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. In heartbreaking news, the Associated Press (News - Alert) has confirmed 27 are dead, including 18 children. This is the worst school shooting in U.S. history.
The shootings reportedly happened at 9:41 a.m. The gunman, who was masked, is now confirmed dead.
There were two handguns recovered but it has been confirmed the gunman was the only one. The federal government is already involved and President Barack Obama has reached out to Connecticut’s Governor Dannel Malloy. A news conference will be held by police later today.
Technology has played a key role in getting this news across to the world. Within minutes of the shooting, real-time, on-demand information was available across multiple media: live update streams, live videos and social media feeds have been overwhelmed with news and responses.
Twitter (News - Alert) trending topics include #Connecticut, #Newtown, #PrayForNewtown, 27 Dead and Sandy Hook. Tweets are streaming in by the hundreds from news sources and users sharing their prayers, thoughts and opinions on the tragedy.
Live streaming updates include:
Danbury Hospital has released a statement via its Facebook (News - Alert) page about updates on the situation and their condolences.
News sources took to Google (News - Alert) maps for satellite images of the elementary school and photos of the scene have been updated all morning.
Sandy Hook has an enrollment of about 600 students. Other schools in Fairfield County were put on lockdown.
Prayers and thoughts go out to all of those involved. We are a long way from learning about many unanswered questions about this tragedy, but stay tuned to these technology sources for the latest information.