Obama to speak at vigil mourning victims of Connecticut school shootings LIVE VIDEO - An interfaith vigil was being held for families of the victims and other students at Sandy Hook Elementary School. President Barack Obama was scheduled to speak about 8:15 p.m. ET, but the vigil was delayed as he met with families and first responders. Updated at 7:45 p.m. ET: President Barack Obama, the father of two daughters, arrived Sunday in Newtown, Conn., to visit with the parents of the 20 boys and girls who were killed Friday in their elementary school classroom. Police said Adam Lanza, 20, killed his mother before driving to Sandy Hook Elementary School, where he killed the children and six other women before committing suicide Friday. Obama was meeting privately at Newtown High School with the families of the victims and with the emergency crews who responded. Later, he was to speak at an interfaith vigil. The president's remarks, which are expected to last 10 to 15 minutes, were to have begun about 8:15 p.m. ET, but the vigil was delayed as he extended his meetings with the families and first responders. At the high school, the auditorium was already filled to its capacity of about 900. Hundreds more streamed into the gymnasium, which was being used for overflow. In the auditorium, a simple podium adorned with the presidential seal was set up before a plain black backdrop on a black stage. The only other color was provided by the U.S. and Connecticut flags standing in the background. President Barack Obama watched daughter Sasha's dance rehearsal before heading to Connecticut. A White House official said Obama, who made no comment as he left the White House, personally wrote most of his planned remarks. He was accompanied aboard Air Force One by Reps. John Larson and Rosa DeLauro, both D-Conn. The president was like thousands of other parents who have been drawn to Newtown from all over the country after the shootings. "We can always pray for the goodness of people to just come out and try to bury this evil that's happened and hug our children a little better," Terry Polvay of Newtown said Sunday. Tom Winter and Jay Gray of NBC News contributed to this report.