[Marc]

A shooting at a US elementary school has reportedly killed at least 27 people - including 18 children.

The death toll at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown, Connecticut was reported by AP, which cited unnamed officials.

It is also being reported that the shooter, the father of a pupil, has been killed.

Meanwhile, local newspaper the Hartford Courant said an entire classroom was unaccounted for. It reported sources as saying many of the shootings took place in a kindergarten classroom.

Staff at Danbury Hospital say they did not expect to receive more patients than the three they were treating.

A White House spokesman said President Barack Obama was monitoring the situation.

Local media initially reported there were two shooters, while police reportedly said a gunman was in the main office of the school and that a person in one room had "numerous gunshot wounds".

A dispatcher at the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps said a teacher was shot in the foot and taken to Danbury Hospital.

But State Police are reportedly saying that the school is no longer an "active shooting scene".

Crying pupils were seen being escorted from the school, which has children aged between five and 10 years old.

Disgusting

Why aren't guns banned?