WASHINGTON - President Clinton asked Americans today to pray for the Littleton, Colo., students, teachers and parents terrorized today by gunfire and explosions inside Columbine High School.

The president opened a Roosevelt Room announcement on the economy with an acknowledgment of the news that dominated national television since the first shots were heard in the suburban Denver school this afternoon.

"We all know there has been a terrible shooting in a high school in Littleton, Colorado,'' Clinton said. "Because the situation - as I left to come out here - apparently is ongoing, I think it would be inappropriate for me to say anything other than I hope the American people will be praying for the students, the parents and the teachers.

"We'll wait for events to unfold and then there will be more to say.''

The president called attention to the recent years' spate of school shootings when he traveled to Springfield, Ore., last summer to visit the Thurston High School cafeteria. There, police said, a 15-year-old student opened fire, killing two classmates and wounding 22 others.