Residents from Newtown, Connecticut are reeling today after a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that claimed 27 lives, including 20 children.

The shooter who was dead on the scene was identified as 20-year-old Adam Lanza. He wore all-black, carried four weapons, and entered the main building at approximately 9:40 am. Among the victims were children and school staff, one of which was the suspect’s mother.

Police have recently revealed that the weapons used in the attack were purchased legally and under the suspect’s mother’s name.

In a White House briefing today, the President was in tears as he spoke.

“Our hearts are broken today,” he said. “As a country we’ve had to endure this too many times, whether it was an elementary school in Newtown, or a shopping mall in Oregon, or a temple in Wisconsin, or a movie theater in Aurora, or a street corner in Chicago. These neighborhoods are our neighborhoods and these children are our children and we’re going to have to come together to prevent more tragedies like this regardless of the politics.”

This has been noted as the country’s second-deadliest school shooting, following the Virginia Tech incident in 2007, which left 32 people dead.

Thoughts and prayers with the victims and families of this horrible tragedy.