20 Kids Shot And Killed In New England Elementary School

[pdogg]

RIP to these innocent kids.

Adam Lanza of Newtown, Connecticut was a child of the suburbs and a child of divorce who at age 20 still lived with his mother.

This morning he appears to have started his day by shooting his mother Nancy in the face, and then driving to nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School armed with at least two handguns and at least one semi-automatic rifle.

There, before turning his gun on himself, he shot and killed 20 children, who President Obama later described as between five and 10 years of age. Six adults were also killed at the school. Nancy Lanza was found dead in her home.

Family friends in Newtown also described the young man as troubled and described Nancy as very rigid.

[Kahuna]

Shot his mama in the face in her home and then headed over to the school where she taught and opened fire

on those innocent children...

The weapons he used belonged to his mother...The two 9mm and the AR-15...She also owned two other weapons...What does a kindergarten teacher in a small quiet and safe New England village need with 5 weapons...I suppose we will never know...

The shame of it is after he savagely murdered those innocent children and 5 adults at the school he then ended his own life...He should still be alive...

He should still be alive so all those who are wounded in body and in mind and in heart can have their revenge...If revenge was ever deserved to be taken, this is the time...

[pacman]

20 children killed for what? Innocent kids who had nothing to do with this guy's problems. Tragedy doesn't begin to describe it. Half a world away here in Oz & we are also in shock. The world is so small now, this was all over our news service at the same moment it hit the US.

Family friends in Newtown also described the young man as troubled and described Nancy as very rigid.

A mother who owned five guns & was the first person shot pretty much says it all. Mothers who emasculate their sons will always trigger a reaction. I am sure more of the story will be revealed but Freud would have plenty of material to work with when a son shoots his mother. And just to make clear how much he hated her, he goes to her school & shoots some of her students.

If I was a betting man I would say she mentally tortured him for years. But to pay her back like this? Words fail me. God rest their souls.

[SiamSam]

Guns, guns, guns. Don't get me going on guns!!!

[JaiDee]

The weapons he used belonged to his mother...The two 9mm and the AR-15...She also owned two other weapons...What does a kindergarten teacher in a small quiet and safe New England village need with 5 weapons

good question......perhaps her little New England village was TOO safe, too Hi-so ......average median income for Newtown is well over 100K per year, houses average about 400K; perhaps she figured she needed to protect herself from the bad guys from Danbury, a rough city only 15 miles away? They also have a federal prison there, she may have been worried about a break-out someday.

I literally got moist around the eyes last night when I was watching the images of the small kids being taken away and held by their parents, extra-tight......I have little nieces and nephews that age and would have hugged them harder than ever if they were lucky enough to survive the carnage. I was also thinking about how many parents were at home last night with their kids who did survive; how the hell does an emotional 30-year old lady keep it together in front of her young girl or boy knowing how close they were to being lost forever? And yet they had to.....for the sake of their little kids they had to be the strong ones.

I agree with Sam, Guns are foolish.........the founding fathers wrote in the 2nd amendment in a time when wild indians roamed the forests and plains of the USA and when it was A-OK to hold slaves and even whip them into submission. A lot has changed in 240 years, we need to amend the constitution to keep up with the times.

[SiamSam]

I am not looking for a scrap or unrelenting debate over "...the right to bear arms" and usually will slide away from the subject because it is like debating religion or politics. Simply a waste of time and energy. However every time this type of craziness occurs where innocent lives are ended and the lives of the folks connected to them destroyed, diminished and seriously impacted forever more (primarily because a mentally deranged person had easy access to firearms) I get outraged!!! What does it take for the the educated and enlightened of the US to wake up and get with the program?!!?

We have had our fair share of violence in Canada at the hands of nut-bars who killed with guns (usually long arms) but believe me they are few. If there were easier access to firearms I assume there would be more violence as witnessed during these last few years in major cities like Toronto where illegal handguns are being smuggled into Canada from the US. There will aways be crazy people who want revenge, attention, martyrdom, or simply lash out due to whatever problem they've not been able to work out in their lives. But why give them easy access to a lethal instrument to carry out their craziness? WHY?!!?

Look at it this way. The nations of the world are extremely concerned about allowing potentially nut-bar rogue nations like Iran and North Korea to develop nuclear technology (weapons). There is a concerted effort to contain their developmental evolution in this area because we are not convinced they are stable enough to to handle the responsibility that comes with possessing a weapon of this kind. What is the difference when it comes to firearms and the individual? Why does any nation need or have a right to own a nuclear bomb that can end life as we know it on this planet? AND why does any person need or have a right to possess a firearm that can end the life of another and destroy all those people connected to them? On the surface one is macro and the other micro however everything and everybody is 7 degrees away. It is all the same same.

All nations want to be able to protect themselves with the same arsenal as the nations (they feel threatened by) possess. And all individuals want the same. If there are nuclear bombs, all nations aspire to having one. If there are easily accessible firearms, well I suppose everyone wants one also. This is the problem.

In my lifetime nations have been negotiating and trying to reduce the nuclear arsenal in this world because everyone knows it is madness not to do otherwise. IMO, we as countries should be doing the same when it comes to allowing citizens to have firearms, or the right to bear arms. It is also an escalating madness. When a 20 year old disturbed man can go home, easily access 3 (out of 5) firearms lodged in the household, kill his mother, then go off to a school to slaughter 20 innocent children, Jesus, we need to ask ourselves a serious and sober question:

On this day, at this time of his despair, if he did NOT have easy or ANY access to an arsenal of firearm destruction, what other thing would he/could he have done to express his distraught state? What would he have done? Beat up his mother? Put his fist through the wall? Burn down the house? Scream? Take his own life with pills or whatever? What could he have done when his dam burst? Whatever options he would have had at his disposal would not/could not have succeeded in the carnage or destroyed lives that the access to firearms afforded him.

I understand the above opinion may upset others but it is not my intention to provoke debate. I simply wanted to express my take on the event.

[Kahuna]

I understand the above opinion may upset others but it is not my intention to provoke debate. I simply wanted to express my take on the event.

You can't post all those thoughts Sam and not expect someone to reply...That's patently unfair...But I'm not gonna argue for or against gun control I only want to state what I believe any reasonable person should know...

And that is that all the laws, statutes, codes, and rules in all the World piled one on top of another will not cure evil insanity...

Evil insanity has always existed and will always exist even in the most enlightened of societies...There are no laws that Connecticut or Oregon or Colorado or Arizona or Toronto or Norway could have written or enforced that would have prevented their tragedies...Despite all existing and any new laws, the real tragedy is that the tragedy of yesterday will be repeated again tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow...And there is nothing...not one fucking thing...we can do to stop it...

Not even with nuclear weapons...

[SiamSam]

Kahuna,

With all sincere respect to you, please take pause, a step back and ponder. You are right about evil, sick, mental illness insanity. It will always exist and always be with us. My point is simply to limit the instruments they can access to do harm to the rest of us. Be it macro nuclear or next store neighbor guns.

If some countries have nuclear bombs other countries will want them. This is the natural human reaction to protect what is sacred to them and their nation. If some people have guns than of course others will want to have them since it is the natural human reaction to protect what is sacred to them as property, family and loved ones. This all makes sense if you support the existing premise. My point is to change the premise much like most of the enlightened world is trying to do with nuclear development in North Korea and Iran. Nuclear bombs are stupid. Guns are also. Nuclear weapons can destroy ALL we have as a species. Firearms will destroy all you have as a person not unlike the 20 families grieving this weekend and henceforth forever more.

As I said this topic is sensitive and will provoke fireworks on both sides of the slate. I have no interest in being part of it. I only wanted to say what I feel.

[pacman]

I understand the above opinion may upset others but it is not my intention to provoke debate. I simply wanted to express my take on the event.

As I said this topic is sensitive and will provoke fireworks on both sides of the slate. I have no interest in being part of it. I only wanted to say what I feel.

Sam, you don't have to be so 'Canadian', who are you worried about offending? Gun lovers who think this is an acceptable cost of having the right to bear arms? FUCK THEM!

The NRA & their financial supporters & enablers, the arms industry? FUCK THEM!

I have nothing against guns. They have been enormously beneficial over the centuries in helping the side of right to gain sway.

I have nothing against gun owners. A family man wanting one in the house for safety reasons seems OK to me.

But I do object to a gun lobby that has been hi-jacked by the arms industry all in the name of 'freedom'. The same arms industry that is currently making record profits.

I wonder what they will have to say about the news that each child was hit by multiple bullets from an assault rifle capable of firing 100's of rounds a minute? Who in their right mind thinks a gun like that is OK to be kept in a house with someone with a personality disorder? (A polite way of saying he's off with the fairies)

I think Obama is going to go after the gun lobby & move to ban automatic weapons. He's given a rhetorical hint in his latest speech that something needs to be done. If I was a parent in the US today, I sure as hell would hope he does. Otherwise, as Kahuna says, this is just going to go on & on. More shootings, more deaths, more insanity.

[Kahuna]

I apologize for my post Sam...It's your stage...

[SiamSam]

I don't give a rat's ass about offending anyone. I just do not want to get drawn into a endless debate just because I elected to express my outrage over the latest events of access to guns in our society today.

20 innocent children are dead. Their families and friends are and will be forever more heavily destroyed due to the act of one deranged person who was able to spray his destruction so definitely because he had easy access to the means to do so. GUNS!!! Simple.

Just get rid of the damn guns. Outlaw them. It will take 100 years perhaps but the sooner the better. Every day we don't there will be more and more of them. AND as a result there will be more and more of what happened to those 20 kids. Jesus it is not a mystery. People will always kill people. People will always drive drunk until you take their keys away. Just take the fucking guns away. Same same.

Thanks for tolerating the rant. :-)

[pacman]

I don't give a rat's ass about offending anyone.

That's more like it! Good to see a little passion. God knows we should all be outraged by what happened.

I just do not want to get drawn into a endless debate just because I elected to express my outrage over the latest events of access to guns in our society today.

No one gets drawn into anything, we elect to get involved. And we walk away when we want to. But I understand your point & your reluctance to start criticising the gun lobby & gun lovers generally. Somehow I don't think you need worry, I suspect they won't wish to identify themself on a day when there is so much anger about what happened.

Just get rid of the damn guns. Outlaw them. It will take 100 years perhaps but the sooner the better.

It didn't take 100 years to take them away here in Oz. We had one massacre & laws were passed bilaterally & they were handed in all over the country. Millions of them. A few complaints from farmers but we never hear a thing about it now. And after this tragic shooting in Connecticut everyone is happy they are gone.

Two things though, criminals keep getting caught trying to import them into the country. They stop most of them but if anyone has a handgun here, they are not carrying it because they obey the law. At least they aren't interested in shooting children.

And the other thing, I think the genie is out of the bottle in the US. Estimates put the number of guns held by the citizens in the 100's of millions. And so many Americans would resist handing them over. The best plan is to stop the spread of military assault rifles, no one can argue for the need to own an AK-47.

Thanks for tolerating the rant. :-)

If ever we are going to rant about guns, today's the day. The biggest gun lovers in America would not be getting too defensive about their hobby today. They might get shot.

[thaibound]

RIP to these innocent kids.

pdogg can you redact that asshole's name?

he should never be heard of again.

period.

if someone's going to put a bullet thru their own brain, it should be their first bullet.

and only then should we publish his name -- and thank him for going first. and alone.

[RocketSquirrel]

Clearly Obama was very affected by this event. He comments were really touching - emotional and from the heart...however, he did not hint at what he might do only that something needs to be done.

Also today, an 18 year old was found in Oklahoma with plans to blow up a school AND a man was arrested outside a California mall having fired 50 rounds. Not a good weekend at all...but very telling

As one who feels that the 2nd amendment has been grossly distorted since its writing, I cannot help but note that the young man apparently attempted to purchase a rifle at a Dick's Sporting Goods store. He would have been required to wait 14 days for security check. If his mother (portrayed as an innocent, caring, community minded, model citizen by the press so far) didn't have a fucking arsenal at her home, this plan might possibly have been postponed long enough so that something might have gotten in the way of it from happening.

I just spent 3 months working in America's bible belt in one of the most pro-gun States in this country. Many of these people should not have guns regardless of the Constitution! They're f'kn nuts! To them, events like Newtown only prove their point.

At this stage of the game, we must do what is best for the country. Among other things, it's time to launch a war on the NRA and it's corporate sponsors.

The right to bear arms did nothing to prevent any of these events this weekend.

[williethepimp]

Its gonna happen again ,,,,,and again and again unless something is done about american's gun laws.I remember seeing ,a bank in america was offering a free gun to every new account opened ...i think it was on a Michael Moore documentary......what sort of a society is that?

[Patrick]

Getting rid of the guns won't get rid of evil doers, but it is a bit harder to stab twenty odd people than to shoot them with automatic weapons.

The US has more guns in the hands of civillians than any other country on the planet (by a long way)and when these multiple killing stories make the news it seem that 90% are from America.

To the rest of the world and I would hope a lot of Americans, it is a no brainer gun controls will save many lives in years to come.

Obama has his second term, he is clearly pro some sort of gun contol, it's time he grew a pair and made this the fight that defines his presidency.

The gun control Lobby are very powerful, but more powerful than a government?

Even if he were not able to achieve much the fight would still be a heroic failure and one worth having.

Just my two bobs worth.

[SiamSam]

I apologize for my post Sam...It's your stage...

No apology necessary Mr. Kahuna. Happy holidays.

Will we be seeing you during GOTC lll season?

[JaiDee]

I just spent 3 months working in America's bible belt in one of the most pro-gun States in this country. Many of these people should not have guns regardless of the Constitution! They're f'kn nuts! To them, events like Newtown only prove their point.

Man, am I happy I grew up in New England and not with those hillbillies down south........these are the kind of NRA freaks who say "not unless you pry it from my cold, dead hands". I'd love to get the chance!

You're right, these people will NEVER give up their right to bear arms, no matter what the Govt says or if we repeal the 2nd ammendment, which will never happen anyway. I even saw a few posts on far right-wing websites this week which said something about how not only should teachers be allowed to carry guns, but the students should also! What the hell is that? I live in a small town similar to Newtown and only about 3 hours away from there and trust me, 90% of the docile, friendly teaches around these parts would have no clue how to HOLD a gun, forget fire one! People want to arm teachers? Then what, give them classes on how to use them? Where does it all stop?

Sometimes I am thankful I only have another 30 years or so on this rock.....who knows what is coming our way in 100 years or so but I think I'd rather not be around to see it.

[Tomas]

I read on a Irish news website that an automated message from the school went out to all the parents saying there was a possible shooting at the school.

Seriously America must be the only country in the world were its schools have automated messages about shootings.

[RocketSquirrel]

Also just yesterday...

Alabama Hospital Shooting: St. Vincent's Gunman Wounds 3 Before Being Killed By Police

AP | Posted: 12/15/2012 12:30 pm EST |

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/15/alabama-hospital-shooting-wounded-gunman-killed_n_2307505.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

[SiamSam]

We are human. We are of human stuff. Nothing more. It is fragile. If the below does not provoke you to BE the CHANGE you WANT to SEE then nothing will. Be the change you want to see!

NEWTOWN, Conn. - The gunman in the Connecticut shooting rampage committed suicide as first responders closed in, the governor said Sunday, raising the spectre that Adam Lanza had planned an even more gruesome massacre and was stopped short.

Lanza blasted his way into the building and used a high-power rifle to kill 20 children and 6 adults, including the principal who tried to stop him, authorities said.

As President Barack Obama prepared a visit and churches opened their doors to comfort a grieving town Sunday, federal agents fanned out to dozens of gun stores and shooting ranges across Connecticut, chasing leads they hoped would cast light on Lanza's life.

Among the questions: Why did his mother, a well-to-do suburban divorcee, keep a cache of high-power weapons in the house? What experience did Lanza have with those guns? And, above all, what set him on a path to go classroom-by-classroom, massacring 6- and 7-year-olds?

Speaking on ABC's "This Week," Gov. Dannel Malloy said Lanza shot himself as police entered the building.

"We surmise that it was during the second classroom episode that he heard responders coming and apparently at that, decided to take his own life," Malloy said.

Malloy offered no possible motive for the shooting and a law enforcement official has said police have found no letters or diaries left behind that could shed light on it.

All the victims at the school were shot with a rifle, at least some of them up close, and all were apparently shot more than once, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. H. Wayne Carver said. There were as many as 11 shots on the bodies he examined.

All six adults killed at the school were women. Of the 20 children, eight were boys and 12 were girls.

Asked whether the children suffered, Carver said, "If so, not for very long." Asked how many bullets were fired, Carver said, "I'm lucky if I can tell you how many I found."

Parents identified the children through photos to spare them some shock, Carver said.

The terrible details about the last moments of young innocents emerged as authorities released their names and ages — the youngest 6 and 7, the oldest 56. They included Ana Marquez-Greene, a little girl who had just moved to Newtown from Canada; Victoria Soto, a 27-year-old teacher who apparently died while trying to hide her pupils; and principal Dawn Hochsprung, who authorities said lunged at the gunman in an attempt to overtake him.

The tragedy has plunged Newtown into mourning and added the picturesque New England community of 27,000 people to the grim map of towns where mass shootings in recent years have periodically reignited the national debate over gun control but led to little change.

Residents and faith leaders were sure to reflect Sunday on the mass shooting and what meaning, if any, to find in it. Obama planned to attend an interfaith vigil — the fourth time he will have travelled to a city after a mass shooting.

On Saturday, overflow crowds packed St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church. The Rev. Richard Scinto, a deacon, gave a homily.

"In the past 48 hours I've said the phrase 'I don't know' about 1,000 times," he said. "That not knowing has got to be the worst part of this whole thing."

At St. John's Episcopal Church, 54-year-old Donna Denner, an art teacher at an elementary school in nearby Danbury whose classroom was locked down after the shooting, said she feels the same way she did after 9-11 but isn't sure the rest of the country does.

"I don't know if the rest of the country is struggling to understand it the same way we are here," she said. "Life goes on, but you're not the same. Is the rest of the country — are they going about their regular activities? Is it just another news story to them?"

In the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI told pilgrims and tourists Sunday that he is praying for the families of the victims.

"I assure the families of the victims, especially those who lost a child, of my closeness in prayer," the pope said. "May the God of consolation touch their hearts and ease their pain."

The gunman's father, Peter Lanza, issued a statement Saturday relating his own family's anguish in the aftermath.

"Our family is grieving along with all those who have been affected by this enormous tragedy. No words can truly express how heartbroken we are," he said. "We are in a state of disbelief and trying to find whatever answers we can. We too are asking why. ... Like so many of you, we are saddened, but struggling to make sense of what has transpired."

The rifle used was a Bushmaster .223-calibre, according to an official with knowledge of the investigation who was not authorized to speak about it and talked on condition of anonymity. The gun is commonly seen at competitions and was the type used in the 2002 sniper killings in the Washington, D.C., area. Also found in the school were two handguns, a Glock 10 mm and a Sig Sauer 9 mm.

A law enforcement official said Saturday that authorities were investigating fresh leads that could reveal more about the lead-up to the shooting. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Ginger Colbrun, spokeswoman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said earlier there was no evidence Lanza was involved in gun clubs or had trained for the shooting. When reached later in the day and asked whether that was still true, she said, "We're following any and all leads related to this individual and firearms."

Dean Price, director of the Wooster Mountain State Range — a shooting range in Danbury — said two ATF agents visited the range Friday night and stayed into the early morning looking through thousands of names on sign-in logs.

He said that he had never seen Adam or Nancy Lanza there and that agents told him they did not find their names on the sign-in sheets.

Law enforcement officials have said they have found no note or manifesto from Lanza of the sort they have come to expect after murderous rampages such as the Virginia Tech bloodbath in 2007 that left 33 people dead.

Education officials said they had found no link between Lanza's mother and the school, contrary to news reports that said she was a teacher there. Investigators said they believe Adam Lanza attended Sandy Hook many years ago, but they had no explanation for why he went there Friday.

Authorities said Adam Lanza had no criminal history, and it was not clear whether he had a job. Lanza was believed to have suffered from a personality disorder, said a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Another law enforcement official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said Lanza had been diagnosed with Asperger's, a mild form of autism often characterized by social awkwardness.

People with the disorder are often highly intelligent. While they can become frustrated more easily, there is no evidence of a link between Asperger's and violent behaviour, experts say.

The law enforcement officials insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the unfolding investigation.

Richard Novia, the school district's head of security until 2008, who also served as adviser for the school technology club, of which Lanza was a member, said he clearly "had some disabilities."

"If that boy would've burned himself, he would not have known it or felt it physically," Novia said in a phone interview. "It was my job to pay close attention to that."

Amid the confusion and sorrow, stories of heroism emerged, including an account of Hochsprung, 47, and the school psychologist, Mary Sherlach, 56, rushing toward Lanza in an attempt to stop him. Both died.

There was also 27-year-old teacher Victoria Soto, whose name has been invoked as a portrait of selflessness. Investigators told relatives she was killed while shielding her first-graders from danger. She reportedly hid some students in a bathroom or closet, ensuring they were safe, a cousin, Jim Wiltsie, told ABC News.

"She put those children first. That's all she ever talked about," a friend, Andrea Crowell, told The Associated Press. "She wanted to do her best for them, to teach them something new every day."

There was also 6-year-old Emilie Parker, whose grieving father, Robbie, talked to reporters not long after police released the names of the victims but expressed no animosity, offering sympathy for Lanza's family.

"I can't imagine how hard this experience must be for you," he said.