In a voice choked with emotion, President Barack Obama offered condolences to the victims of the mass shooting Friday at an elementary school in Connecticut, saying the country has “endured too many of these tragedies.”

“Each time I learn the news, I react not as a president, but as anyone else would - as a parent,” Obama said, wiping away tears. “That was especially true today. I know there’s not a parent in America who doesn’t feel the same overwhelming grief that I do.”

“Our hearts are broken today,” President Obama, struggling to maintain his composure, said at the White House. He called for “meaningful action” to prevent such shootings. “As a country, we have been through this too many times,” he said.  The president also vowed that “it is time to take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics,” an indication that the president could be prepared to confront gun control.

Obama said among the victims were “beautiful little kids between the age of 5 and 10.”

“They had their entire lives ahead of them,” the president said. “Birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own.”

Obama paused repeatedly to wipe tears from his eyes, visibly shaken by the news. He said that this evening, he and first lady Michelle Obama would “hug our children a little tighter,” but mourned that “there are families in Connecticut that cannot do that tonight.” “Our hearts are broken today for the parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers of these little children, and for the families of the adults who were lost,” Obama said.

The president said that he had been in contact with Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy and FBI Director Robert Mueller, along with chief counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, as details of the shooting emerged. He emphasized that the federal government would work to support local law enforcement efforts.

“I offered Governor Malloy my condolences on behalf of the nation and made it clear he will have every single resource that he needs to investigate this heinous crime, care for the victims, counsel their families,” Obama said.