CARNAGE \\ A gunman named by Connecticut Police as Adam Lanza, 20, shot and killed his mother Nancy Lanza at their home in Newtown, an affluent town of 27,000 people about 60 miles north-east of New York City and then went to his former school, Sandy Hook Elementary School to go on a killing rampage where he shot 20 children and six adults at close range in December. It is still not clear why Lanza killed his mother who was a school teacher, but Connecticut education officials say that have found no links between her and Sandy Hook Elementary School, which has about 700 pupils aged between five and 10. Lanza was dressed in black fatigues and was carrying an assault rifle, which police say was the main weapon used during the shooting, as well as two handguns loaded with high-capacity magazines. Police say a fourth weapon, a shotgun, was later found in his car parked outside the school. About 9:30am, Lanza shot his way into the school, as children hid in classrooms during the shooting. Newtown police were notified of shooting at the school over their radios at 09:36am. Most students were saved by the staff and teachers. One school employee ran through 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 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. Connecticut medical examiner Dr H Wayne Carver said on Saturday that 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,” he added. Authorities allege that the shooting lasted a few minutes and took place in two rooms. At 9.38am a police dispatcher radioed that there was “There is silence at this time. The school is in lock down.” Fearful that the gunman could still be at large, police swarmed into the building, breaking windows to enter at several points. As officers searched and secured the woods surrounding the school, inside the building, officers found 18 children and six adults shot dead, including principal Dawn Hochsprung, 47. Two more children later died from their wounds. The latest shooting to happen in American schools shook the entire nation. As parents and families resorted to prayers, reports of bravery also poured in. The police, who did not fire their weapons during the search, found the body of Lanza, who appeared to have killed himself.