27 People Dead, Mostly Children, at Connecticut Elementary School Shooting

My heart positively aches for these families.....WHY????


http://gma.yahoo.com/breaking-conn-school-district-locked-down-shooting-report-151955384--abc-news-topstories.html

More than two dozen people, mostly elementary school children, were shot and killed at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school this morning, federal and state sources tell ABC News.

The massacre involved two gunmen and prompted the town of Newtown to lock down all of its schools and draw SWAT teams to the school, authorities said today. 

One shooter is dead and a manhunt is on for a second gunman. Police are searching cars. One shooter was described as a 24-year-old armed with four weapons and wearing a bullet vest, sources told ABC News. 

It's unclear how many people have been shot, but 27 people, mostly children are dead, multiple federal and state sources tell ABC News. That number could rise, officials said.

President Obama was briefed on the shooting by FBI Director Bob Mueller. 

It is the worst shooting in a U.S. elementary school in recent memory and exceeds the carnage at 1999 Coumbine High School shooting in which 13 died and 24 were injured.

The Newtown shooting comes just three days after masked gunman Jacob Roberts opened fire in a busy Oregon, mall killing two before turning the gun on himself.

Today's shooting occurred at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, which includes 450 students in grades from kindergarten through fourth grade. The town is located about 12 miles east of Danbury. 

State Police received the first 911 call at 9:41a.m. and immediately began sending emergency units from the western part of the state. Initial 911 calls stated that multiple students were trapped in a classroom, possibly with a gunman, according to a Connecticut State Police source. 

A photo from the scene shows a line of distressed children being led out of the school.

LIVE UPDATES: Newtown, Conn., School Shooting
 
Three patients have been taken to Danbury Hospital, which is also on lockdown, according to the hospital's Facebook page.

"Out of abundance of caution and not because of any direct threat Danbury Hospital is under lockdown," the statement said. "This allows us simply to focus on the important work at hand."
CLICK HERE for more photos from the scene.
 
Newtown Public School District secretary of superintendent Kathy June said in a statement that the district's school were locked down because of the report of a shooting. "The district is taking preventive measures by putting all schools in lockdown until we ensure the safety of all students and staff."

State police sent SWAT team units to Newtown. All public and private schools in the town are on lockdown."We have increased our police presence at all Danbury Public Schools due to the events in Newtown. Pray for the victims," Newtown Mayor Boughton tweeted. 

State emergency management officials said ambulances and other units were also en route and staging near the school.A message on the school district website says that all afternoon kindergarten is cancelled today and there will be no mid-day bus runs.

Why

For the past couple years I've regularly read or watched in the news horror stories about our public school system.   While I'm sure there are many great teachers and safe schools out there (and I know a few wonderful teachers myself), the news doesn't lie:  scandals, cheating, bullying, failing grades, suicides, gunmen, hard-core drugs, revisionist history texts, and more are rampant in this country's schools, even the good ones.  Sad but true.

It's easy to read these articles, think about them for a while, then forget.  For a while I've wanted to have a place to keep track of all these stories, because they reassure me of the rightness of our decision to lovingly and safely educate our kids at home.  We made this decision after many months of consideration and prayer; it was not a decision made as a reaction to one specific thing or event.  So I thought maybe a blog might be the answer to keeping track of all these stories I read about our nation's schools.

This blog is not an open attack forum for those who don't understand or agree with home education.  For those that think I'm sheltering my children, I only have this to say:   What will you accuse me of next - feeding and clothing my kids?  Of course I shelter them, and will do so for as long as it makes sense to do so!  Being exposed to drugs or bullying in elementary school doesn't prepare my child for the "real world".  It only exposes them to situations that they're ill-equipped to handle on their own.  By choosing home education, my children can learn safely and mature into the people God intends them to be without a lot of "junk" getting in the way of that.  When they're mature enough to handle "the real world", I know they'll be ready.  Till then, I'll keep reminding myself of why I'm doing this for them......