The gunman in America's worst school shooting blasted his way through a locked glass door, climbed through and carried out the massacre, the Connecticut governor said.
Adam Lanza, 20, opened fire with a high-powered rifle inside Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday morning, killing 26 people. Twenty of the victims were children, all aged six or seven, including British boy Dylan Hockley.
Governor Dan Malloy revealed that the gunman committed suicide as the first responders closed in.
"He shot his way into the building. He penetrated the building by literally shooting an entrance into the building. That's what an assault weapon can do for you," he said.
"He discharged to make an opening and then went through it, went to the first classroom ... went to the second classroom.
"We surmise that it was during the second classroom episode that he heard responders coming and apparently at that, decided to take his own life."
The shooting has plunged Newtown into mourning Police had said Lanza forced his way into the school - which had just installed a new security door where visitors could be viewed by video camera and buzzed in - in the picturesque town of Newtown, but it was not clear he used a gun to do so.
Before arriving at the school, Lanza shot dead his mother, Nancy Lanza, at the home they shared, then drove to Sandy Hook in her car with at least three of her guns.
Initial reports suggested Lanza used two handguns in his spree, but officials revealed that his main weapon was a .223 calibre Bushmaster.
Mr Malloy said there was still little clue to Lanza's motivation, but that a picture of his mental state would eventually emerge. So far, police have not said whether they found a suicide note or any other documents.
"Clearly he was troubled. You have to be deranged to carry out this kind of crime," Mr Malloy said.
"This was a troubled individual ... I'm sure we'll come to know more about him, his problems, his family."
Later Sunday, US President Barack Obama was due to arrive in the leafy town to address an interfaith vigil. The White House said Mr Obama would also meet with families of victims and first responders who were sent to the carnage.
Adam Lanza killed himself as police closed in All the victims at the school were shot with a rifle, at least some of them up close, and all were apparently shot more than once, Chief Medical Examiner Dr H Wayne Carver said. There were as many as 11 shots on the bodies he examined.
All six adults killed at the school were women. Of the 20 children, eight were boys and 12 were girls.
After police released the names of the gunman's 27 victims, one father paid an emotional tribute to his murdered six-year-old daughter.
Robbie Parker said his final conversation with Emilie was in Portuguese, the language he was helping to teach her.
"She told me 'good morning' and asked how I was doing, and I said that I was doing well," he told reporters.
"She said that she loved me, and I gave her a kiss and I was out the door."
Headteacher Dawn Hochsprung and school psychologist Mary Sherlach both died as they tried to confront the gunman.
The shooting happened shortly after school had happened Ms Hochsprung is also believed to have switched on a loudspeaker system in the school to alert students and staff to the danger.
"She was just an amazing woman ... the kids loved her. It's a huge loss for our school and our town," said assistant librarian Maryanne Jacobs.
Another hero was said to be first-grade teacher Vicki Leigh Soto, 27, described by police as someone who "put herself between the kids and the gunman's bullets".
Her body was found huddled with the students in a classroom closet, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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