[Video] A Tearful President Obama, Addresses Connecticut School Shooting

By now, you’ve heard the tragic news. A man opened fire inside the Connecticut elementary school where his mother worked Friday, killing 26 people, including 18 children, and forcing students to cower in classrooms and then flee with the help of teachers and police.

The death toll — 26 victims plus the gunman — was reported via Associated Press. Parents flooded to Sandy Hook Elementary School, about 60 miles northeast of New York City, looking for their children in the wake of the shooting. Students were told to close their eyes by police as they were led from the building. Students and staff were among the victims, state police Lt. Paul Vance said a brief news conference. He also said the gunman was dead inside the school, but he refused to say how many people were killed. A law enforcement official briefed on the shooting said the gunman died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and that one of the victims was the man’s mother, a teacher. The official wasn’t authorized to speak about the investigation. A law enforcement official in Washington said the attacker was a 20-year-old man armed with a .223-caliber rifle. The official also said that police were searching a location in New Jersey in connection with the shootings. Friday afternoon, a tearful President Barack Obama says the country’s leaders must “take meaningful action” regardless of politics in response to the mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school. The president teared up, as he addressed the nation from the White House. He also paused repeatedly as he struggled to keep his composure while speaking of the children — ages 5 to 10 — who had died and the life milestones they now would miss. Here’s a clip from his speech:

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