Washington:
US President Barack Obama has been informed of a shooting rampage which reportedly killed 27 people at a Connecticut elementary school and is monitoring the situation, the White House said on Friday.
Asked whether the outrage would push the issue of gun control up the president's agenda, White House spokesman Jay Carney said: "I don't think today is that day" to discuss usual Washington policy debates.
Carney said Obama was told of the shooting at 10:30 am by his top anti-terror and homeland security advisor John Brennan in the Oval Office.
"I think it's important on a day like today to view this, as I know the president as a father does, and I as a father and others who are parents certainly do, which is to feel enormous sympathy for families that are affected," Carney said.
Obama's spokesman added that the White House would do everything it could to support state and local law enforcement and "to support those who are enduring what appears to be a very tragic event."