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Subscribe to RSSThe small Connecticut town of Newtown is grieving in the aftermath of Friday's deadly school shootings. NBC's Anne Thompson reports.
Updated at 7:19 p.m. ET: The 20 children and six adults killed in the Newtown school massacre were all shot multiple times, many with a rifle, Connecticut’s chief medical examiner said Saturday.
The children – 12 girls and eight boys – were all 6 or 7 years old, Dr. H. Wayne Carver said at an afternoon news briefing.
“This is a very devastating set of injuries,” Carver said. “I believe everyone was hit more than once.”
He said all the victims at Sandy Hook Elementary died of gunshot wounds and all the deaths have been classified as homicides.
Carver said he personally performed seven autopsies and those children had between three and 11 wounds each. Two were shot at close range, the others at a distance.
Asked whether they suffered, he grimly replied, “Not for very long.”
He said he will perform an autopsy Sunday on the suspected gunman, Adam Lanza, 20, who is believed to have killed himself. He will also do an autopsy on Lanza’s mother, Nancy Lanza, 52, who was found dead in her Newtown home.
President Barack Obama will travel to Newtown on Sunday to meet with the victims' families and thank first responders, the White House announced Saturday night. The president will also speak at an interfaith vigil for families of the victims as well as families from Sandy Hook Elementary School.
The motive for the mass killing, the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, was unknown.
“We’ve been doing everything we need to do to peel back the onion, layer by layer, and get more information,” Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance said earlier.
"Our investigators at the crime scene ... did produce some very good evidence in this investigation that our investigators will be able to use in, hopefully, painting the complete picture as to how - and more importantly why - this occurred.”
Connecticut Chief Medical Examiner H. Wayne Carver provides an update to the media after he and his team examined the victims' bodies at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown following Friday's shootings.
Four doctors and 10 technicians, plus a college student working her first day with the medical examiner’s office, toiled into Friday night to identify the victims.
They took photos of their faces and then showed the pictures to families of the 12 girls and eight boys, all first graders. “It’s easier on the families when you do this,” Carver said.
He said that he managed to maintain professional composure during the work, but it was a challenge.
“I’ve been at this for a third of a century and my sensibility may not be the average man’s, but this is probably the worst I’ve seen,” Carver said.
At the end of the briefing, authorities handed out a list of the victims, who included the school principal and school psychologist.
Newtown’s first selectman, Patricia Llodra, pleaded for privacy for the grieving families, each assigned their own trooper.
“We are a strong and caring place. We will find a way to heal so that all of our residents young and old find peace,” Llodra said. Please know that we have suffered a terrible loss and we need your respect on this terrible journey.”
Although the bodies were removed from the suburban hilltop school, authorities said it would take at least two more days for investigators to finish combing over the crime scene.
Police have determined that the gunman was not buzzed into Sandy Hook, where he was once a student.
“He forced his way into the school,” Vance said. He did not provide specifics and said that broken windows at the school may have been shattered by police who responded to the emergency.
Emmanuel Dunand / AFP - Getty Images
The second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history sent crying children spilling into the school parking lot as frightened parents waited for word on their loved ones.
In the confusing aftermath of the shooting, law-enforcement sources gave out conflicting information about what transpired.
Several media organizations, relying on information provided by law-enforcement sources, initially reported that the shooter had been identified as Lanza’s older brother. Officials later corrected that mistake.
There was also conflicting information about what type of weapons Lanza had.
At one point, law enforcement officials told NBC News that Lanza had four handguns while he stalked the halls of Sandy Hook, but that could not be confirmed. It appears he carried at least two 9mm handguns, in addition to the rifle, which was the primary weapon.
Officials also told NBC News that Lanza unsuccessfully tried to buy a rifle at a Dick’s Sporting Goods store in Danbury three days before the slaughter, but later said they could not confirm the report, which was based on tips from members of the public.
Investigators and former classmates of Connecticut school shooter Adam Lanza say he was bright, but extremely shy and remote. NBC's Pete Williams reports.
Police provided little information about the shooter’s state of mind. Lanza’s brother told police the gunman had a history of mental problems, though a classmate from Newtown High School recalled him as a generally happy person.
“We would hang out, and he was a good kid,” Joshua Milas, who had not seen Lanza in a few years, told The Associated Press. “He was probably one of the smartest kids I know. He was probably a genius.”
Newtown Police Lt. George Sinko said the entire town of 27,000 – a New England bedroom community some 60 miles from New York City and known for its good schools – was reeling.
“We never thought this would happen here,” Sinko said. “Our hearts are broken for the families of these victims.”
Of the many questions surrounding the tragedy, none was more poignant than those posed by the parents of the dead children, who shared their worst fears about their children’s final moments with clergy consoling them.
“They were wondering whether the children knew what was happening to them, whether they were afraid,” said Monsignor Robert Weiss of St. Rose of Lima Church, who met with the families.
The Newtown school superintendent, Janet Robinson, said the body count would have been even higher if not for staff who rushed to protect their young charges.
“A lot of children are alive today because of actions the teachers took,” she said.
Below is the list of the victims' names released by the chief medical examiner's office.
Children:
- Charlotte Bacon, 6
- Daniel Barden, 7
- Olivia Engel, 6
- Josephine Gay, 7
- Ana M. Marquez-Greene, 6
- Dylan Hockley, 6
- Madeleine F. Hsu, 6
- Catherine V. Hubbard, 6
- Chase Kowalski, 7
- Jesse Lewis, 6
- James Mattioli, 6
- Grace McDonnell, 7
- Emilie Parker, 6
- Jack Pinto, 6
- Noah Pozner, 6
- Caroline Previdi, 6
- Jessica Rekos, 6
- Aviele Richman, 6
- Benjamin Wheeler, 6
- Allison N. Wyatt, 6
Adults:
- Dawn Hochsprung, 47
- Rachel Davino, 29
- Anne Marie Murphy, 52
- Lauren Rousseau, 30
- Mary Sherlach, 56
- Victoria Soto, 27
Related content from NBCNews.com:
- Lives saved by teachers, custodian and even kids
- Quiet town wonders, 'How can we be protected'?
- Bulldog and owner hope to heal Newtown one hug at a time
- Vigils, services honor school shooting victims
- Video: 'Our hearts are broken,' Obama says
- Gunman's mother owned weapons used in massacre
- 'Screams were coming over the intercom'
- Traumatized nation reels from 'day of sadness and grief'
- Video: School shooting reignites gun control debate
- How to talk to kids about the school shooting
- Massacre leaves America shocked and grieving ... again
- Connecticut school shooting is second worst in US history
- Authorities ID gunman who killed 27 in elementary school massacre
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I hope they fully examine Lanza's brain. He may have had a brain tumor or lesion. If so, that would put him in the same league as Charles Joseph Whitman (the UT tower killer), a man whose violent impulses eventually became too overwhelming to control.
This quote is taken from an earlier post. Connecticut has this ban in place. The state passed the so-called assualt weapons ban after the Federal law expired. The Connecticut law has the same restrictions as the Federal law had.
What I find troubling is that MANY people say blame it on the Atheists. That is all I have to say.
yea, the god fearing crowd has NEVER done anything like this.
give me a @!$%#ing break.
I don't blame it on the atheists. I blame it on evil. Just as a point, most of the atheists I know, all two of them, are very good, decent people. Actually more caring than some Christians I know, they just don't believe in God. They still live their lives with the intent of doing the most good they can while they are here.
Sheila...give me a break....."all 2 of them". There are far more people in this world than you realize that are intelligent enough to not to buy into your fantastical fantasies.
See Rob, I was being nice and you come up with bs. I only know 2 self-avowed atheists.
"being nice" how benevolent of you.
your bull@!$%# religion and all the others like it are responsible for a billion Sandy Hooks over our sorry tragic past.
I was being nice to YOU.
Once again .........speechless................
We're always hearing about second amendment rights. What about our first amendment rights? We cannot wait to have a discussion about this later. It's always later and in the mean time, thousands more die. THE TIME IS NOW!!!!
the second amendment rights guarantee the other rights, from other people and an abusive government. that's why it's there. and it also provides a means of self-protection of your own life, which doesn't need to be enumerated anywhere, it's a basic human responsibiity. just because some whackos deprive other people of their rights, doesn't mean society needs to restrict everyone else's rights. what's next, your freedom against self-incrimination? i mean, criminals don't have to tell on themselves, even though we all know they did it...
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin
Sorry, you're right. I should have said the Declaration of Independence. I mean the right of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Any reasonable person knows that assault weapons weren't on the minds of the founding fathers. You don't need weapons like this to "protect" yourself. What do you mean about a "little temporary safety?" Thousands of people die each year because of guns and even more will die because the gun manufacturers are making "better" guns each and every year. What the hell good is "liberty" if you're dead??!!
look at the ages of those victims. oh my god. We already knew they were young kids, but to see the age next to the name.....it's just heart breaking.
for the love of god.....why?
We are never going to know that, but I can't imagine how someone could just do that to babies who were surely crying and scared. I can only guess it is what separates humans from some as to yet unknown species.
Because Adam Lanza was a coward, that's why. Instead of having the decency to just take his own worthless life, he decided to take 26 more with him.
God bless them all. Now, can we have a logical, reasonable discussion about balancing gun rights and gun responsibility? I didn't think so.
No, because to the gun fetishists, ANY attempt, no matter how limited, to regulate ANY part of the internal arms trade, no matter how mildly, is exactly equivalent to banning all guns and taking them all away...
You sound like a reasonable person. How come you haven't moved out of country yet?
I do not know anything about guns BUT I can not understand WHY a hunter needs a gun that has 30 rounds in it???? No one is trying to outlaw guns but just trying to get laws that are on the books enforced. There is NO reason to own an assault weapon unless you are in the military or law enforcement. While I am on the subject---there is toooo much violence on TV and in songs---not to mention the killing games on x-box. To all out there who are over 50-----remember how things were. Looking back, things were hokey BUT not violent.
Our prayers are with these families.
What a tragedy! The first thing I thought of when I heard the terrible news was that "...this kid must've been really pissed at his mother...". The next thing I thought of was "...why did it take the killing of suburban whites (for the most part) to make it a continuing news story?...". Where is the outrage over the murders in Chicago recently? What about Philadelphia? Los Angeles? Atlanta? Newark? Isn't that the same thing? Or, as a friend of mine said "...same old stuff. They don't care about us...".
We are all outraged when babies get slaughtered. Thats just bs. And it is always a national news story when some little one gets killed. Maybe you just haven't been listening.
Geezus, this Medical Examiner press conference is creepy. This guy should not be doing a press conference. His desire to appear as THE MAN is coming off as arrogant and detached. His nervous laughter and "jokes" are grossly inappropriate, but he probably can't help that, all the more reason a spokesperson should be handling this. He's terrible. IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU MAN!
Right now, it is. He has the hated job of releasing the details. Do you really think he enjoys the limelight? I can't imagine how the college student is handling this.
I am so heartbroken over this. I wish nothing but peace those affected by this tragedy. I composed a musical piece "For Sandy Hook", dedicated to those who have suffered from these tragic acts of violence.
"For Sandy Hook" composed and performed by Sarah Hubbard
I'm a retired kindergarten teacher and I also taught first grade. These children were babies. I've had some very small six and seven year olds and the thought of what the bullets did to their bodies.................
This madness has got to stop!!!! Yes, we do need more mental health services but we also need support and back up for teachers and mental health professionals who want to refer and help students. I don't know how the shooter's parents felt, but not all parents want to hear that their child may need to go to counseling. A few years ago I had a very disturbed child who desperately needed help but one of the parents didn't want to hear it. We did everything that we could for the child and it was a real "dance" with the family, but because of one parent's resistance, the child has gone untreated for many years. I don't believe this child will do anything like this, rather I see them being victimized down the line by somebody else.
As far as gun laws are concerned, I do believe we need to look at the laws we have and do some reassessing. I like the idea of plain clothes guards on campus but not arming teachers. Having a gun in the class with 30 5 and 6 year olds would not have worked for me. The liability issues alone would be enormous and if such a program were instituted, would the teachers be mandated to participate? The unions and many of the teachers wouldn't go for it.
My condolences to the citizens of Newtown and everybody who's been effected by this tragedy.
Peace.
How about just a discreetly armed guard at the door, and maybe one or two in the corridors, depending on the size. And a professional, not just a minimum wage employee from the local security firm.
...more guns...that's the answer /sarcasm
Besides who'll pay for it. Repubs already cut billions from Mental Health care and education in the US. Currently the PRISONS are the largest mental health institutions here. Thing is Dems have it right, education and social programs solve problems like this. Repubs just want more guns and wars...
Capital idea, Sheila! I totally agree, a thoroughly trained, well paid professional. The schools are also going to have to consider high gates and fences if they don't have any, some schools are very "open" with how they're designed and built and possibly being on "lockdown" from the start of the school day until the end. I don't know what the answer is, we'll have to work together for the best possible outcome.
Peace.
Bob, don't blame the repubs, that's just an ignorant political barb. dems own guns too, and many would oppose laws and restrictions on their constitutional rights too. the person to blame here is the irresponsible mom who failed to lock the guns away from a mentally ill child. period. its not the country, the prisons, or the mental health system.
Hey there Bob, I agree with you. The Republican solution of guns and more guns isn't working. If the Democrats are advocating for more mental health then let's join with them and support any legislation they may propose. I see a lot of "street people" , for example, who obviously need these services as well as the schools. I don't believe that arming everybody is the answer. People need to be trained in how to use a gun properly, how to store a gun properly, the legalities of owning a gun and what you could be liable for if for example, your minor child gets a hold of the gun and accidentally shoots their friend.
Being armed appears to be more than a notion.
Bob, clearly education and social programs did not prevent this. We have a very smart young man, with professional parents one would guess able to afford quality health care, and it still happened. I think if we are going to send our kids out into public schools, then those schools are going to have to be equipped to handle these once in a lifetime, or in the US cases, once in a decade crimes.
Shiela, yes our de-funded and defunct educational and social programs didn't work. We need more. Schools should be better equipped. Maybe teachers should concealed carry? Or better yet...the kids. Load up your tot with a lunchable and a 9mm and send her off to school.
By the way, we've had 62 MASS Shootings (4+ victims and a shooter) in the last 30 years in the US. How quickly we forget.
A tragic event in China that day too. A man stabbed a teacher and 22 kids with a knife. They all survived. There may be other factors involved but a major difference in the death toll was the weapon used.
Bob, I wouldn't support teachers carrying concealed weapons. I taught kindergarten and interacted with 40 children everyday. I shared my room with another teacher. With the way our room was set up and all of the parent volunteers etc. who were in and out, having a concealed weapon wouldn't work. Besides, what teachers would do this? Teachers who volunteer or could the teachers be mandated to participate? Among other things, there would be the tremendous liability that the districts and the teachers would have to face. Funds are already stretched in districts as it is. Who would pay for the training, weapons and liability insurance?
Peace.
Make it like the Federal Flight Deck Officer program started after 9/11. Its worked.
The leadership of the NRA should be court-ordered to view these children's bodies, so they can see first hand what their policies have wrought.
its not their policies, its the US constitution. don't like it, change it (good luck!) or move. mexico is gun free, warm, cheap cost of living, and safe too....lol
Deflect, deflect, deflect. The media keeps giving grisly details, the nut cases out there get more and more frenzied and the real issue of mental illness as well as leaving our loved ones unprotected and at the mercy of loons continues.
when will the GOVERMENT step in ???????
don`t worry don`t worry... arms sales not in danger, tks
I understand from CNN reports that the mother was a gun collector and had regularly taken her sons target shooting. Although I'm an advocate of strong gun control, neither of those things strike me as the origin of this sort of hellish violence. These facts simply go to the availability of the particular weapon used...a problem in itself, but a secondary one. I am far more interested in the "why"... and although I'm also staunchly opposed to censorship, I'd really like to know what video games were found in the perpetrator's room and how much time he spent playing them. I'll rest much easier if I can confirm that he wasn't often glued to a screen, "playing" the violent training films now posing as games. While guns have arguably been in commerce since the 1600s, the activity in which young people sit for hours, alone and completely immersed in the realistic simulation of killing, is a completely modern phenomena--and I hope we are not now witnessing its effects.
If I'm not mistaken his kill ratio is 100%. (I have yet to hear of any wounded)
That takes some practice.
You have to look at all the people who play games or watch movies, and thats world wide. This phenomenom is American. So I think its something closer to home, than video games or TV. Otherwise it would be more widespread.
I agree about the media violence, rather it by tv, games or songs.
Gun violence has always been more prevalent in America, but only since the late 80s/early 90s has this school shooting thing really taken off....which is strangely when the first person shooter video game started to become mainstream and popular.
I enjoyed games like Halo and Doom when they came out, but I was also a rational adult playing them who could separate reality from fantasy. When I hear about seven and eight year olds playing games like Call of Duty, watching shows like The Walking Dead I get disturbed. And then I ask the question "Where the f**k are these kids' parents??". These games are played across the world, yet you don't hear about these types of mass shootings nearly as much as you do here. Why is that?
I like millions of people have played many violent games in my time, seen many violent movies and tv shows, witnessed many disturbing images of slaughtered souls on the internet yet I am not psycho and ever picked up a gun and went on a shooting rampage. Yet when 1 guy with loose screws in the head with a house full of guns goes on a rampage we have to blame something as the cause maybe video games?, movies? maybe his family who knew he was disturbed and capable of flipping out.
This guy was a nut job and you will never know why he did it because you can't read his mind. So don't blame it on something based on fiction, a video game cannot make someone into a killer. Someone has to have a f'ed up head to kill innocent kids.
life is so F'ed up you don't know when you are going to die or how you are going to die.
At 6/7 taking a bullet and bleeding out.. I can't even imagine what that must feel like.
When someone like Adam has mental problems, lock them up in the looney bin at least then if they hurt anyone it will only be themselves.
Using terms like "looney bin" probably makes people like Adam less likely to seek psychiatric help.
Thats what enforced commitment is for, right?
First..PRAYERS !!! Second..ANY, ANY politician that does not get on board for immediate and effective change of out-dated laws should be re-called immediately !!! NO EXCEPTIONS !!! ANY politician that does not work their azzes off to change this murderous environment should have their names burned across every news feed in the world untill they resign in shame and go into hiding pensionless !! The time for political gamesmenship should NOT be tolerated by the voting or non-voting public !! This is ENOUGH !! ANY elected b*stard that goes home for the holidays without doing their job first should be put on this list as well !! When, as a nation, are we going to STOP accepting this bulls*it from the soul-less houses of government that our dumb azzes keep electing ??
We must never take guns from average Americans.
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government"-- Thomas Jefferson, 1 Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334
We MUST however start having ARMED people in schools to prevent these tragedies. It's the ONLY reasonable answer.
I suppose you'd be in favor of having armed people in churches, beauty salons, movie theaters, and shopping malls too.
When my kids have to start attending school in an armed facility, I'm moving to Canada.
Too late! Some states allow guns in church, bars, and schools.
Tom, armed people already are in those places, you may just not realize it. But if it makes you feel safer to imagine no one around you has a gun, have at it...
Rack, i graduated from a high school with a full time armed police officer on duty. and that was 25 years ago...
What is your opinion, whether you're anti-gun or pro-gun about this?
There are some that have proposed 'smart guns' which would incorporate RFID, fingerprint recognition, or magnetic ring technology. The gun would only function for the registered owner or owners.
Something like this would prevent someone from stealing other people's guns & using them. Or a bad guy getting the upper hand during a struggle & taking the good guy's gun away & then using it on the good guy.
But the technology would need to be 100% reliable. It wouldn't be any good if you needed to use your gun in a self defense situation & the damn thing didn't fire because it didn't recognize you as the owner.
so do you let people trade in their old guns for a new one of these?
I don't know. But maybe it has some merit. I'm a gun owner & I wouldn't have an issue with smart gun technology, if it worked correctly. I don't see why the anti-gun folks would have a problem with it either. At least it is semi-reasonable as opposed to bans etc....
A smart gun wouldn't stop someone buying a gun legally & then going on a killing spree. However, it would have prevented this guy from taking his mom's guns & gunning down 20+ kids in the school.
Pure and simple, all of this is the governments fault for #1 refusing to punish criminality and #2 for shutting down the nut houses and allowing the crazies unrestricted flow in society. But, afterall, they are too damned worried with taking care of the rest of the world, to hell with the mother country AND it's people.
ccw solves this problem
how does ccw solve this? (concealed carry weapon) for those who don't know. you going to require all teachers ccw? then everyone knows, so they might as well open carry. and wouldn't that be nice for the kiddies?
come on dude, seriously? and i ccw all the time...
Who cares about the gun control issue right now... let's just worry about the children and their families
TOGETHER and then we can go back to fighting between gun rights and public safety. Please. We have parents right now asking if it hurt and were they scared. The need a unified outpouring of love and support... then we can argue over our own agenda's. I pray for them all and for us all to be better people. A small bit of kindness or a simple smile can change someone else's life so very much. Please let's talk about how to help them first.
I care about the gun control issue right now. Fortunately for me, my child is still alive and I don't want some gun wielding fanatic shooting up my 6 year old's school. My heart breaks for the parents of these slain children but the time to strike on an issue like this is when the iron is hot. If exploiting the deaths of these innocent children to save the lives of others is how it has to be than so be it. Nothing I can do will help these families bring back their children. However I can do everything in my power to keep it from happening like this again.