President Barack Obama walks to his car after arriving at Bradley Air National Guard Base to attend an interfaith vigil for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown on Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012 in East Granby, Conn. A gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Conn., on Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
UPDATE (4:35 p.m.) — President Barack Obama has arrived at Bradley Air National Guard Base.
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama departed the White House Sunday afternoon under dreary skies on his somber mission to console the Connecticut families who lost their children or loved ones in the mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.
Obama, wearing a dark suit, was joined on Air Force One by Reps. Rosa DeLauro of New Haven and John Larson of East Hartford, presidential aides Valerie Jarrett and David Plouffe and speech writer Cody Keenan.
Earlier Sunday, Obama had traveled by motorcade to suburban Maryland to attend his daughter Sasha’s dance recital.
— Charles J. Lewis, Hearst Washington Bureau
More on the service, which is closed to the public: Obama coming to Newtown