Worshippers flee church as bomb scare rattles Newtown

NEWTOWN, Connecticut (AP) — Worshippers hurriedly left a church Sunday, saying they were told there was a bomb threat not far from the elementary school where 20 children and six adults were massacred.

At least a dozen police in camouflage gear and carrying guns arrived at the St. Rose of Lima Church. An Associated Press photographer saw police leave carrying something in a red tarp.

Guns drawn, they surrounded the rectory across the parking lot from the main church building. A large crowd of parishioners gathered outside.

There was no official report from police about the threat or evacuation.

Shooter Adam Lanza, his mother and eight of the child victims attended St. Rose of Lima. It is a Roman Catholic Church with an adjacent school, which Lanza attended briefly.

It’s not clear if there actually was a threat or whether it was a hoax or the result of a community on edge.

The church hosted overflow crowds at all three morning Masses Sunday.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.