Phl extends sympathy to families of school shooting victims

MANILA, Philippines -- President Benigno Noynoy Aquino III earlier expressed sympathy over the shooting that took place in an elementary school in the US that killed 20 children including 7 adults.

"At this time of the deepest mourning over the tragic loss of life in Connecticut, I extend the deepest sympathy and solidarity to the families of those who lost loved ones in the Sandy Hook Elementary School," Aquino said in a statement.

The President added: "Together with the entire Filipino people, we stand beside you with bowed heads, yet in deep admiration over the manner in which the American people have reached out to comfort the afflicted, and to search for answers that will give meaning and hope to this grim event."  

Aquino said Filipinos pray for healing, and that such heartbreak will never be visited on any community ever again.

According to reports, the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza first killed his mother in their house in Newtown then drove to the school and went on a shooting spree and later committed suicide.

The school shooting is considered to be the second deadliest in US history, after the 2007 massacre at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, which claimed 32 lives.