NEWTOWN, Conn. — An official with knowledge of a shooting at a Connecticut elementary school says 27 people are dead, including 18 children.

Another official says the gunman is among the dead.

The killings happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, about 60 miles northeast of New York City.

State police say Newtown police called them about 9:40 a.m. A SWAT team was among the throngs of police to respond.

Photographs from the scene showed young students — some crying, others looking visibly frightened — being escorted by adults through a parking lot in a line, hands on each other’s shoulders.