Sandy Hook parents release harrowing video showing children use back to school 'essentials' to escape gunman

A harrowing video put together by family members of children killed in the Sandy Hook mass shooting shows pupils using back to school “essentials” to help them escape a gunman.

Sandy Hook Promise, led by those affected by the Connecticut elementary school shooting in 2012, released the chilling public awareness advert called “Back to School Essentials” on Wednesday.

In the video, children inside a school are seen smiling as they show off their standard back to school items like scissors, pencils, trainers and skateboards.

However, it soon becomes clear they are using them to help them to run away from a gunman.

“These news socks? They can be a real lifesaver,” one girl in the advert says as she tied a pair of socks around the injured leg of another young pupil to stem the blood flow.

“My parents got me this skateboard I wanted, it’s pretty cool,” a boy says as he smashes a window to escape.

Two other pupils are seen in an art class hiding while armed with scissors and colouring pencils.

“I finally got my own phone to stay in touch with my mum,” the final girl concludes through tears while texting “I love you”, shortly before a door creaks open and the gunman’s footsteps are heard.

The advertisement aired during NBC's Today Show and has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times online.

It aims to bring awareness to Sandy Hook Promise's school violence prevention program "Know the Signs," which teaches how to recognise warning signs and intervene to prevent mass shootings.

The advert ends with the message: “It’s back to school time and you know what that means. School shootings are preventable when you know the signs.”

Adam Lanza, 20, killed 26 children and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown in the deadliest public school shooting in US history on December 14, 2012.