Tributes to principal and two teachers: They died trying to save the children

Principal Dawn Hochsprung and two others teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School ran selflessly towards the sound of gunfire

The heroic head teacher of the US primary school devastated by a shooting rampage died trying to stop the gunman.

Dawn Hochsprung - principal of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut - ran selflessly towards the sound of gunfire when a school staff meeting was cut horrifically short.

Two other members of staff also died trying to protect youngsters at the school.

School therapist Diane Day said she and several other teachers were in a meeting when they heard the terrifying sound of a gun being fired.

"We were there for about five minutes chatting and we heard, 'pop pop pop'," she told the Wall Street Journal.

"I went under the table. The principal and the school psychologist had other ideas. They jumped out of their seat and ran toward the sound of the gunfire."

School psychologist Mary Sherlach, 56, died in the tragedy while first grade teacher 27-year-old Victoria Soto threw herself in front of her students when she came face to face with the gunman.

Victoria's cousin Jim Wiltsie said police told him her first instinct - and her final act - had been to try and save her pupils.

"She put herself between the gunman and the children and that's when she was tragically shot and killed," he told ABC News.

"I'm just proud that Vicki had the instincts to protect her kids from harm.

"It brings peace to know that Vicki was doing what she loved, protecting the children and in our eyes she's a hero."

Police say the suspect in the shootings, Adam Lanza, killed his mother at their home before driving her car to the school where he went on the rampage.

Lanza's mother Nancy was a teacher at Sandy Hook, where the 20-year-old killed another 26 people, including 20 children, before shooting himself dead.

Newspapers in the US have reported that the head teacher Ms Hochsprung had written a letter earlier this year outlining new safety measures - including locked doors during school hours.

The 47-year-old principal was described by a local councillor as having "an extremely likable style".

She had been head at Sandy Hook Elementary since 2010, and frequently tweeted photos from her job and wrote upbeat tweets about what was going on at the school, he said.

Tragically, Ms Hochsprung buzzed Lanza into the school, bypassing the newly-installed security system, because she recognised him as the son of Nancy Lanza.

Lanza attended Newtown High School, and local news clippings from recent years mention his name among the school's honour roll students.

State police said 18 children were found dead at the school and two died later in hospital. Six adults - including the gunman - were found dead at the scene.

They said the shootings occurred in one section of the school but did not give details.

In New Jersey, Lanza's older brother Ryan, 24, of Hoboken, told investigators his brother was believed to suffer from a personality disorder and be "somewhat autistic".

Three guns were found at the scene of the massacre. Detectives suggested they might have belonged to Ms Lanza.

Hundreds of people attended a church vigil in Connecticut last night to remember the victims of the shooting.

With the St Rose of Lima church in Newtown filled to capacity, hundreds of people stood outside, some holding hands in circles and saying prayers, while others lit candles and sang Silent Night.

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