this is the newtown united methodist church. this where a lot of media camp out.lasses, ages two to six. there's the church behind me. it's been opened now for 24 hours. it will be open for 24 fours for as long as they need it some of the members of the church died and anyone who wants to come by and pay their respects to the people who died. anyone who needs help from this church, they can come here and get it. for more information on how you can help those affected by the shooting, you can go to cnn.com/impact. that's a live makeshift member yat, a vigil for the people who lost their lives. this one is not far from where i am. you see the police car right there on the hill. that's the school. that's the road that leads to the school here. and there are 26 candles for every person who died inside of that school. you're looking at a square it newtown, connecticut, live pictures right now. trying to make sense of a massacre, we're going to look at the quiet, affluent neighborhood of sandy look and talk with people who knew the young man who is accused of doing all

let's go to jason carroll at the newtown united methodist church. that church has provided a spir out tether of sorts for a community awash in grief. what role does this church play today? >> reporter: well very important role this morning and this is where the church is going to be ringing the bell 2 times. everyone in the community is going to be listening as that happens. it's an ancient ritual that's taken place over decades. it used to be traditionally a call to worship but today as you know it's a call to remember. three pastors will take turns ringing the bell 28 times. i spoke to one of the pastors, past oor jane sibley. this is very personal for her. it's especially personal to pastor sibley, her family is directly connected to the school and she had an important message she wanted to get out to the survivors living here in newton. >> my grandsons give me the joy of being able to laugh for a moment and i'm refusing to allow that -- >> reporter: chase kowalski, one of the little boys who died in the shooting, went to this church here and his

. >>> that is the newtown united methodist church where bells tolled 26 times. fire fighters were overcome with emotion during the moment of silence at the newtown fire house and many had responded to the scene at the school a week ago. a large group gathered in prayer at the national cathedral in washington, d.c. the nasdaq put up a sign that said moment for sandy hook on their digital display outside the building. [ female announcer ] food, meet flavor. flavor, meet food. it's time for swanson flavor boost. concentrated broth in easy to use packets. mix it into skillet dishes, for an instant dose of... hell-o! [ female announcer ] get recipes at flavorboost.com. hell-o! excuse me, sir i'm gonna have to ask you to power down your little word game. i think your friends will understand. oh no, it's actually my geico app...see? ...i just uh paid my bill. did you really? from the plane? yeah, i can manage my policy, get roadside assistance, pretty much access geico 24/7. sounds a little too good to be true sir. i'll believe that when pigs fly. ok, did she seriously

this is the newtown united methodist church and where a lot of the media are camped out.y give preschool classes, ages two to six, sadly some of those kids have died there's the church behind me. it's been opened now for 24 hours. it's going to be open 24 hours for as long as they need it here. some of the members of that church died and anyone who wants to come by and pay their respects to the people who died, anyone who needs help from this church, they can come here and get it. after this shooting inside sandy hook elementary school, the safety issue will now be front and center at schools across the country. do classrooms need to be changed into panic rooms or as i've been saying earlier, can we make classrooms into mini prisons? it seems like what we may have to make our schools in order to be safe. i want to bring in lou palumbo. he is a former police officer and now the director of a lead intelligence based security firm some schools already have roaming officers, metal detectors, officers roaming the hallways. what can we do to make our schools safer? do we need a

this is the newtown united methodist church and where a lot of the media are camped out.re's the church behind me. it's been opened now for 24 hours. it's going to be open more 24 hours for as long as they need it here. some of the members of that church died and anyone who wants to come by and pay their respects to the people who died, anyone who needs help from this church, they can come here and get it. after this shooting inside sandy hook elementary school, the safety issue will now be front and center at schools across the country. do classrooms need to be changed into panic rooms or as i've been saying earlier, can we make classrooms into mini prisons? it seems like what we may have to make our schools in order to be safe. i want to bring in lou palumbo. some schools already have roaming officers, metal detectors, officers roaming the hallways. what can we do to make our schools safer? do we need all of these measures in place? >> well, apparently based on this incident that took place up here yesterday, i guess you could support that argument. it's just unfortunat

this is the newtown united methodist church and where a lot of the media are camped out.he church behind me. it's been opened now for 24 hours. it's going to be open more 24 hours for as long as they need it here. some of the members of that church died and anyone who wants to come by and pay their respects to the people who died, anyone who needs help from this church, they can come here and get it. after this shooting inside sandy hook elementary school, the safety issue will now be front and center at schools across the country. do classrooms need to be changed into panic rooms or as i've been saying earlier, can we make classrooms into mini prisons? it seems like what we may have to make our schools in order to be safe. i want to bring in lou palumbo. some schools already have roaming officers, metal detectors, officers roaming the hallways. what can we do to make our schools safer? do we need all of these measures in place? >> well, apparently based on this incident that took place up here yesterday, i guess you could support that argument. it's just unfortunate to t

margaret brennan is at the newtown united methodist church with more on that. good morning, margaret. >> reporter: good morning anthony. there are only a few homes here and now 27 lives to put to rest. only two children made it to the hospital before dying. the rest died at the school alongside their teacher and principal. 47-year-old dawn hochsprung was shot and killed alongside the children she cared for at sandy hook elementary school. parents remember her as a friend to the students. >> she was wonderful. always good to the kids always a smile on her face made you feel good when you were there. >> reporter: she joined the school in 2010. she kept an active twitter account posting updates on the school. she tweeted safety first at sandy hook. it's a beautiful day for our evacuation drill. so far we know the identities of three of her students. 7-year-old. emily parker who moved to connecticut with her family just a year ago and chase kowalski survived by his parents rebecca and steve. also among the dead school psychologist mary sherlock 56 years old. she pl

the united methodist church in newtown rained church bells 26 times in honor of those who lost theirast week. >> the president has called on congress to pass legislation that bans the sale of military assault style weapons and high capacity ammunition clips. he also asked the vice president biden to come up with a proposal by january to keep children safe. this includes addressing mental health and school safety. >> i wanted take a minute to respond and to let you know that we do here which you are same. like the majority of americans i do believe that the second to admit does allow you to bear arms. the fact is that most gun owners in america are responsible. they buy them legally and they use them safely. it is encouraging that a lot of gun owners have stepped up to prevent more tragedies like the one in newtown. the >> the president is calling on congress to ban the sale of assault style weapons and ammunition clips. he was abiding to try, with this by january. >> wall street, they joined arrest of the nation in a moment of silence. this is the same from the floor at the new york

special edition of "world news" in newtown, connecticut, the site of a mass shooting and gunfire aimed at elementary school children. we're in front of the united methodist church where people are gathering all even long as details are still pouring in. 27 victims, 20 children, seven adults and we heard all day about the incredible response by teachers inside the school which is considered one of the leading schools in the nation. and also tonight, we have a new image of the suspected shooter, as we tell you everything we know about who did it, what kind of weapons and why. and we begin all of this with between between anchor chris cuomo and he's here with me. >> almost unimaginable scene. what we know so far is inside this elementary school, young kid process tektd by their teachers and there was one deranged man who decided to take it all away. >> this morning, the school was filled with kids concerned about christmas. then shots rang out. >> the individual i have on the phone is continuing to hear what what he believes is gun fire. >> reporter: inside, little kids are uner attack. >> we heard all this racket. >> horrible things are happening. teachers