Seventh-day Adventist Church President Ted N. C. Wilson last night offered a message of condolence following a mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, United States. News agencies reported that a 20-year-old man shot to death 26 children and adults before taking his own life.

"The tragic killing of young children and others in Connecticut fills us with great sympathy and enormous sadness,” Wilson said from Germany, where he is attending a youth meeting.

“On behalf of the world family of Seventh-day Adventists, we share our profound sympathy and condolences with the families who suffer such terrible loss,” he said. “We are praying for the parents, students, teachers, and the rest of the affected community.”