Neighbour found six terrified shooting survivors in his garden

Retired psychologist Gene Rosen in his home in Newtown, Connecticut Credit: APTN

A retired psychologist has described the moment he found six terrified children hiding at the end of his garden, after fleeing Sandy Hook elementary school last Friday.

Gene Rosen said he knew something "horrible" had occurred as the children were out of breath and clearly traumatised, before the began to describe the gunman, and blood coming out of the mouth of their young teacher, Victoria Soto.

Mr Rosen also described a distressed mother arriving at his house, desperately hoping her dead child was with him. ITV News correspondent Emily Morgan reports.

27-year-old Victoria Soto has been hailed as one of the heroines of the massacre after she hid some of her pupils in a cupboard when the gunman burst into her classroom.

Some of the children survived, but she was shot dead. She will be buried later today.

Read More: The victims of the Sandy Hook massacre