Obama to attend memorial for school massacre victims

U.S. President Barack Obama will be in Newtown, Conn., today as the community mourns for the victims of Friday's horrific school massacre.

He will attend an interfaith memorial service in the evening at a local church, where he is to meet with relatives and first responders.

A gunman killed 20 children, ages 6 and 7, and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on Friday morning before taking his own life. A medical examiner says the victims were shot multiple times.

Signs around town read, "Hug a teacher today," ''Please pray for Newtown" and "Love will get us through."

"People in my neighbourhood are feeling guilty about it being Christmas. They are taking down decorations," said Jeannie Pasacreta, a psychologist who was advising parents struggling with how to talk to their children.

A woman identified as the gunman's mother was shot and killed at her home in New Jersey before the school massacre.

Those killed at the school included Ana Marquez-Greene, a six-year-old girl whose family lived in Winnipeg before they moved to Connecticut this year. Ana was the daughter of a professional jazz musician and she herself loved music. Ana's 9-year-old brother also was at the school, but escaped.

Connecticut Chief Medical Examiner H. Wayne Carver talked of a very devastating set of injuries after the names of victims were released. (Jared Wickerham/Getty)

The adults killed included the school's principal, school psychologist and four other faculty members, all of them women.

Amid the sorrow in Newtown, stories of heroism have emerged, including an account of the principal, Dawn Hochsprung, and school psychologist Mary Sherlach, who lost their lives lunging at the gunman in an attempt to overpower hiim.

"The principal and psychologist ran down the hall trying to intercept the gunman," CBC's Melissa Kent said, reporting from the town of 27,000.

First-grade teacher Victoria Soto reportedly died trying to shield her students from harm. She was attempting to get the children into a closet when the gunman entered the room.

Police say the gunman, whom they have not officially identified, forced his way into the school. He appears to have gained entry by breaking a window, Lt. George Sinko of the Newtown Police told ABC News.

Reports naming the suspect as Adam Lanza, 20, say he carried a pair of semi-automatic handguns.

Shortly after Friday's massacre, a shaken Obama told the nation the U.S. has "been through this too many times." He talked about the tragedy again in his weekly radio and internet address on Saturday, saying it's time to "take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this," but did not offer any more details.

With files from The Associated Press

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