E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSInvestigators and former classmates of Connecticut school shooter Adam Lanza say he was bright, but extremely shy and remote. NBC's Pete Williams reports.
Updated at 8 p.m. ET: A picture of Adam Lanza slowly emerged Saturday, as acquaintances said his behavior included pressing up against walls to avoid others and clutching his briefcase. Investigators, meanwhile, said they hoped that "very good evidence" found at his home would shed light on what pushed him to kill 26 children and teachers as well as his mother.
Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance said Saturday that investigators had found "very good evidence ... that our investigators will be able to use in painting the complete picture, the 'how' and, more importantly, the 'why this occurred.'"
Adam Lanza
But he would not elaborate and the mystery deepened as education officials in Newtown, Conn., 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 Lanza, 20, attended Sandy Hook Elementary many years ago, but they had no explanation for why he went there on Friday.
Lanza shot and killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, at the home they shared, then drove to the school in her car, forced his way inside and opened fire in two classrooms, authorities said. Within minutes, he killed 20 children, six adults and himself.
Authorities said Lanza had no criminal history; it was not clear whether he had a job.
His father, who learned about the shooting from a reporter at the Stamford Advocate, said in a statement that he was in a "state of disbelief and trying to find whatever answers we can." Lanza said he has cooperated with law enforcement and will continue to do so.
Meanwhile, acquaintances described the former honor student as smart but odd and remote.
"We would hang out, and he was a good kid," Joshua Milas told The Associated Press. He said he had not seen Lanza in a few years. "He was probably one of the smartest kids I know. He was probably a genius."
"(His mother) pushed him really hard to be smarter and work harder in school," Tim Arnone told Reuters. He first met Lanza at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
"He was very different and very shy and didn't make an effort to interact with anybody" in his 10th-grade English class at Newtown High School, Olivia DeVivo told the AP. DeVivo, now a student at the University of Connecticut, said Lanza always came to school toting a briefcase and wearing his shirt buttoned all the way up.
"Now looking back, it's kind of like 'OK, he had all these signs,' but you can't say every shy person would do something like this," she said.
Richard Novia — who until 2008 was the school district's head of security and adviser to the school's technology club, of which Lanza was a member — described Lanza to the AP as "a loner."
"You had yourself a very scared young boy, who was very nervous around people," he added.
Novia said Lanza had extreme difficulties relating to fellow students and teachers, as well as a strange bodily condition: "If that boy would've burned himself, he would not have known it or felt it physically."
Lanza would also go through crises that would require his mother to come to school to deal with them. Such episodes might involve "total withdrawal from whatever he was supposed to be doing, be it a class, be it sitting and reading a book," Novia told the AP.
When people approached Lanza in the hallways, he would press himself against the wall or walk in a different direction, clutching his black briefcase "like an 8-year-old who refuses to give up his teddy bear," said Novia, who now lives in Tennessee.
Even so, Novia said his primary concern about Lanza was that he might become a target for teasing or abuse by his fellow students, not that he might become a threat himself.
"Somewhere along in the last four years there were significant changes that led to what has happened Friday morning," Novia said. "I could never have foreseen him doing that."
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Authorities say the man behind one of the worst mass shootings in US history was a 20-year-old whose mother worked at the school and whose brother has told them he had a history of mental problems. NBC's Pete Williams reports.
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
Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook
Leave a Comment:
That his mug-shot or his yearbook picture? Living in the mid-West (and being a gun-owner and a middle-aged white guy, former bully, and NOBODY'S f$%&king liberal), I can't wait to hear from my co-workers (current middle-aged, gun-owning, white bullies who would fire me if they knew who I was), how the planet of the apes, and the minorities and the President are gonna drive the price of shotgun shells (and gas, too, 'cause it's gotta be related somehow) through the roof now on account of this. Get ready you redneck/Jesus freaks! It's time to burn the White House down already 'cause the price of beer's too high!
He probably shot his mother because she told him to move out and get a job. After he offed her he decided to kill himself, but first to eliminate people whom he perceived had wronged him by shooting the school psychologist who had kicked him out to be home-schooled as a child. Then he got carried away with nothing left to live for. Imagine harboring a childhood grudge for that long... but look at his picture... he was a congenital freak of some kind.
I think I said this before, I am not a spammer, but I think it deserves reposting on this topic! Adam was a GOTH! Google it and read it! I believe this explains much about his personality and what he believed in! When i saw trhat on here in the news i knew what it meant! I read about them long ago and that explains alot of his violent behaviour!
Oh, please.
A relative of mine teaches in a middle school. They tell the kids to stay out of sight if possible, but if they can't, to mob the guy. I think this is pretty common now. Might be why this kid chose an elementary school. But I'm sure there is nothing to worry about. The NO WEAPONS ALLOWED sign just wasn't big enough.
Mind Control is a terrible thing to waste, especially when you have an agenda.
i am not a specialist but if it was a mental disorder
he seemed like a very intelligent one
lets wait and see what is really determined
prayers out to everyone involved
You can still have a mental disorder and add two and two.
Jennifer,
I've met MANY people who are bipolar, etc, who are incredibly intelligent. They can go to school/college and get straight As and such. I think their brains are probably "overactive." Something is different.
It's always the "werid loser/loner" that does this @!$%#. I think as a society we need to stop embracing people's differences. If you don't fit in with what the other 99.9% of your peers, you are not "unique" you are an abomination and should be treated as such. Before gun control, we should take a long hard look at going back to simply strapping people like this Adam Lanza character to a bed and forgetting about them before they have a chance to do things like this.
That is one of the most retarded posts I have ever read. I have been called a loner many times and I consider my "uniqueness" my strongest trait. Funny... but I never wanted to kill others.
Sorry guy, but the mad mass killers are almost always loners.
And male.
Yes... I know.
Hey, I'm a loner, but not like that.
I don't like huge crowds and noise, but I love my gal friends! I love the people who are close to me. I've always had a few close friends in my life. I think God brings them to me for my well-being.
I prefer to deal with people one-on-one, though. I won't hang out with just anybody. I pick my friends very carefully. If the friendships are not reciprocal and satisfying, they don't happen.
I'm not that impressed with most of the adults I meet. I'm very prissy. Women who do not take care of themselves (let themselves go), don't realize their worth, really get on my nerves. I love my womanhood. I believe in loving who God created me to be and trying every day to get better and better before I go home to meet him.
I don't feel average at all, but I have good sense and I believe in God. My values are based on the Word of God. What the bible tells me about human beings has proven to be true.
One thing the bible says is that it's not good for man to be alone... and it obviously is not.
STOP SHOWING PICTURES OF HIM AND TALKING ABOUT HIM!! When is the media going to finally get it and stop doing this!? These shooters do it partly for the fame they know they will get afterwards; everyone will know who they are. If we stop doing that, we can help to prevent others from having the same idea.
Although I have no sympathy for anyone who harms a child (or children) and I do not have any for this young man either...but the media really has a way of coming up with the worst photos to show someone in the worst light possible. Shame on them, too. For 24 hours they've been relaying unconfirmed reports like they are real only to have to correct or retract information. Now they're spending time on the "why" anyone would do this. FORGET ABOUT THE "WHY". It will not undo what has been done. The Gov. of Connecticut said it best..."Evil visited Newtown"...unspeakable evil. My heart has been breaking from the moment I first heard that 1 child had been killed...20 is unimaginable. My thoughts, my prayers and my tears are for the parents, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles and all those who loved these children and their caretakers. They need all our love right now. Because even if we find out the "why"...it will not make this any easier to understand. @---->--->---
Yes, this "shooter" probably had something like Aspergers and/or major social phobia. He was also of the age where symptoms of more severe mental illnesses become evident. And once again our society fails both a severely troubled young person who stands out (symptomatically) like a sore thumb, and the children and adults who end up his victims. Stop and think about how many supposedly responsible and ethical people crossed this young man's path and looked away thinking "It's not my problem." The list is so, so, so long.............starting with his parents! And I hear the children crying.
The one common denominator that I notice in all these stories is that NO ONE bothered to attempt to befriend this person. To try and bring him into their circle, to include him. I see this repeatedly. You'll get all kinds of reports, AFTER THE FACT, lamenting how he was a loner hugging the walls, hugging his briefcase, stearing away from people etc. Well, as so many people saw this, just what were they thinking? This is a very good question. I'll bet my life that most were thinking how "weird" he was, probably talking behind his back or right in front of him. I'm very sure he was well aware of this kind of treatment which made things worse. I don't want to hear that he couldn't be reached. That is BS! And where was the administration on this? LOL! You mean those SOB's that collect fat paychecks and have all kinds of benefits, security and tenure and go around chatting about "safety for the children". It's all BS. The security guy himself identified the details prior to 08. So what did he do about it? Did he try to help this kid? Noooooo. So just what did everyone think they were going to wind up with years later? The problem is, the mob never thinks beyond their nose. For all the chatter, they don't really have a clue. And these aren't aliens from another planet. This is your FELLOW MAN! And it's all around us every day of the week. I say this....live with it.
Roobear 12 has the perfect answer... "Strap them to a bed and forget about them before they have a chance to do things like this". post #151
Are you Winnie the Pooh?
“If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together... there is something
you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger
than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing
is, even if we're apart... I'll always be with you.”
A.A. Milne
A).how do you know any of this ? pure speculation.
B). Never gives you the right to go shoot up some 1st graders . Take your excuse making elesewhere. tell the kid to shoot up some big people.not little children. I don't care if people spit in his face..taking it out on 6 year olds is not some type of payback/justice to society..just ,makes him a worse bully and scumbag.Sounds like he deserved all his bullying if this was the evil in his heart.
Dan,
You are coming from a very honest, caring place.
But unfortunately, a lot of people are emotionally unstable.
In fact there are women with kindness in their hearts who feel sorry for these geeky loners. Some women have entered romantic relationships with them and ended up "six feet under."
When men are "emotionally off," I do not recommend that women get involved with them. It can turn into a very bad thing. You can't break up with unstable men without some major drama. They are not like normal men who end and enter relationships.
We need help for these people, but I don't think it is as simple as inviting them places. They have a problem with themselves. They isolate themselves. You can invite them everywhere, but they won't feel comfortable. Their thinking has to change.
It's sad, but I do think a lot of it comes from their childhood and/or upbringing. After their personalities are "set," how do you you reach them?
I don't know.
God is there, trying to reach everyone, but if a person totally closes his/her mind to God, God will not be seen.
God has never cured a single case of psychosis.
@stoptheliesnow - you should go back to school and learn how to spell before you start spouting off. You are simply removing all doubt of your ignorance by continuing talking. My advice, shut up already. Its pretty obvious you are not educated enough to even have this arguement let alone tell the readers replying here how you feel in a coherent manner. This is not an insult, it is truth, and the truth hurts.
Every school should have armed guards on duty during school hours. That's all it would take to put an end to this madness. How many children have to die before parents demand that ALL schools keep the kids safe when they're at school. It's really not that complicated to understand that in this day and time our children need to be guarded when they are at school. Anyone that doesn't see that is in denial. Society is never going to go back to the way it was 30 years ago. Times have changed and we have to accept that or continue to lose our precious babies.
Such a plan would add over 2.5 billion to the cost of public schooling each year.
How much is a child's life worth?
We already spent $610 billion so what is another two or ten billion added to that.
Thing is if we place armed officers in the schools, seventy thousand or so would be needed if there were only one per school, we would be gambling on the sanity of seventy or so thousand armed people already in the schools. The issue is too complicated for a quick band-aid type fix.
It's no different than gambling on the sanity of an armed police officer defending the public. They would be trained in much the same way a police officer is trained. Except it would be a more specialized training in a specific area rather than the broad spectrum of training neccessary for a generalized area of law enforccement.
I live in the inner city of chicago, here, our schools are locked once the kids enter and it is locked on time and if you are late you are locked out and must call to gain entrance. On top of that, there are security guards at the doorways at all times, and some of the high schools also have metal detectors. its unfortunate we have to live this way but our kids will live to see another day, maybe the other states and cities will have to adopt this same idea.
I hope not, truly. Not just because it's a damn shame that we have to turn our schools into prisons, but because it makes it more of a challenge for these shooters to gain access. More challenge means more notoriety when they manage to outsmart the system. Perhaps that's even why he chose that particular school; they had publicized the new security system to a limited degree, I'm sure he heard about it.
greengeekgirl-So you're saying we should make it easier for shooters to gain access to our schools....? What good does notoriety do you when your not around to enjoy it? A locked door is hardly a security system when it is not kept locked.
Can we stop discussing the shooter like he's a person of deep mystery and posting his photo around? This is the kind of crap that revs up people who commit these sorts of crimes. Don't treat him like an object of fascination, or we'll get more people who want to be the object of our fascination... and the incidents will get worse, and more extreme, as they try to outdo the ones that came before.
barnesandnoble.com/w/popsicle-toes/anne-vitasek/1100150149?ean=2940011833892
CT authorities first said his mother was a teacher, then a sub, then a volunteer. Now she was not connected to the school at all? First, the psychotic man was Ryan then Adam. First it was two handguns used, now it was just the rifle. First he was buzzed into the school before 9:30AM by Mrs. Hochsprung the principal, now Adam Lanza broke the glass to get in. Disinformation campaign in full swing by the obviously embarassed and seemingly well dressed up for combat but confused CT State police. Bring in an independent agency such as the FBI.
He doesn't looked possessed, he looks like the same weakas$ m0th%rfu&k%r that people in my high school used to beat up every day. What do you people think is going to happen when you raise hell 'cause your spoiled 8th graders basketball team (who's winning 56-11 at halftime) doesn't get a call their way, shot clock runs out, and you stand up ready to start a riot on account of the poor officiating? Maybe there's a guy who'd give anything to be on that team. Maybe he gets beat up every day 'cause he ain't. Maybe in his own mind (and I can't stress that enough) he forms an opinion that what's fair is fair. Maybe his Momma into guns....
Spew it anyway you want, these dam guns have to go. I know people that own guns, have the so called permits, and the first thing they do when an argument or disagreement starts within a family or others is go get their dam guns and want to shoot someone. The Dam Guns Have To Go. Oh, and they are so called "Law Abiding Citizens Too". End of Story
Come and try to take them. You would give the elitist, dishonest weasels in gov't all the power to crush your skull and take your property? Foolish decision on your part proven by history's oppressive and militarist gov'ts.
You just proved my point Doug. They have to go. End of Story
No way I proved your point- if anything you proved that you are a lemming without self preservation in mind. Well, if you are so righteous, then get started taking your neighbor's property- that is, his or her firearms. Go for it.
Poor Doug, without a gun is nobody man. Now go cover up and take your meds Doug, and get some anger management. You need it.
Spot- You must be a teenager without any debate skills and even less knowledge merely resorting to changing the subject as a post.
Oh Doug, you are so smart, and so educated. Give me a break. No need for debate. The dam guns must go, end of story.
One gun in one teacher's desk could of prevented this. The time for real action is now. Tell your Representatives to stop making our schools killing zones for the mentally ill!
Would you recommend adding more water to deal with a flood? How about a fire? Is the way to deal with that by pouring gasoline on it and throwing a couple of matches in?
I totally agree with the comment from @John smith69
This is a spin I thought of yesterday. I may seem far fetched, and it's just a hypothesis.
For the last year there has been a lot of beaching of whales, dolphins; thousands of fish. One report showed thousands of star fish on a beach. It looks like their navigation got haywired.
I've been looking into the solar activity reports put out by NASA in 2006 and 2010; also, about our solar system moving though a photon belt which happens so many thousands of years and which is activating the sun.
Perhaps electromagnetic disturbances detected by some animals and fish is a symptom of a greater problem. These magnetic energies might also affect certain human beings who are sensitive to this energy.
I have been connecting the dots on this subject since the early 80s. The US goverenment knows something is coming down because it has been involved in an underground building project building underground cities for the last 40+ years. The Denver Airport is a portal to this underground infrastructure. What is it they know that we don't?
The beaching of a lot of marine life has taken an alarming turn in 2012. Also, there has been significant shootings by individuals-are they also sensitive to these electromagnetic forces?
Just a hypothesis. One just has to observe, and note unusual activity and take note and ask why. The National Geographic Magazine had an article in June 2012 about super solar storms. Why was that? Was it a warning? The mural painting at the Denver Airport, it is also a warning of a super solar storm coming up? All this marine life beaching, why? Was their navigation system scrambled? Do some human beings also feel these effects and act out in a violent way?
Just some thoughts.
all you people, so reactionary and so willing to judge. Did you know that Adam's father, Peter Lanza, the VP of taxes at GE Capital and partner at Ernst & Young, was preparing to testify in front of the senate banking committee about the LIBOR scandal. Same situation with Dr. Robert Holmes and his son James, who allegedly perpetrated the Aurora, Colorado theater shooting right before Robert could testify and name the names of those who stole the $9.7 trillion of TARP monies and $15 trillion total and he was going to expose exactly whose bank accounts those monies were in because he is the FICO employee who created the software to detect that kind of fraud and trace its electronic trail. For those of you who don't know, GE Capital is affiliated with JP Morgan-Chase and both are under investigation as part of the LIBOR scandal. The main ones who stand to lose are the Federal Reserve Bank (you know, the same establishment that assassinated JFK right after he signed Executive order #11110 which was intended to nationalize our banking system) and JP Morgan, GE and several other banks both domestic and international as well as some government officials here in the US. It is not remarkable that none of this is in the MSM because GE owns a greater portion of the media outlets in the US. The Ernst & Young connection includes Adam's older brother, Ryan, who works for them but the real connection there is the one between Ernst & Young and Enron and dates back to the time of 9/11/2001 when the WTC was attacked and bldg.7 collapsed as well, because it contained all the documents from Ernst & Young that would have destroyed JP Morgan, GE and quite possibly would have created a domino effect in exposure of fraudulent practices that would have indicted most of the major banking heads and many of our own government officials including the Fed and the Rothschild banking and finance group. And what of the fellow dressed in camouflage who was in the woods near the school whose first words to anybody after the police apprehended him were, "I didn't do it". Was he Adam's controller because I find it hard to accept that a bumbling, socially inept young man with no formal weapons training and no real reason to do what he did, would obtain military garb and assault a school that the media claimed his mother worked at but, as it turns out, she was a retired teacher who had taught there years ago and no one at that school even knew who she was. I am curious to hear the story of the fourth individual who allegedly was part of the confrontation at the school with Adam the day before. Something tells me we will never hear from that individual or the camo wearing adult in the woods at the school.
It's obvious this kid had some major mental issues to say the least. Maybe he was one of those i hate everyone kids, maybe he was angry at his parents who knows? Still doesnt excuse the massacre of innocent people let alone young children. I wish he didn't get to take the cowards way out and kill himself. He shouldve had to face justice, and the scorn of those kids parents. Then send him to prison and put him in general population and let prison justice run its course with him. I am a gun owner and absolutely believe in a persons right to own a gun if they so please. That said i am not opposed to tighter restrictions like longer mandatory wait times when purchasing a gun as to allow a more thorough background check. Not allowing anyone on anti psychotic drugs buy a gun. Even bans on 30 round clips for pistols and 100 round drums for rifles i wouldn't argue with. A total outright ban on firearm ownership is where i draw the line. Plus it would never work anyways. Saw a documentary on the evolution of the gun and it said enough handguns in america to give each man woman and child three guns to themselves. thats not counting shotguns, and rifles. So do the math 3 x 330 million people in just handguns. Face it You can never get that many guns off the street. Making it harder to buy a gun? fine, but lets be honest that MOSTLY affects law abiding citizens. The problem is there are so many illegal avenues to obtaining a gun that a person hell bent on getting one will find a way. So unfortunately these types of shootings will continue to happen in america and other places as well. So maybe tighter gun restrictions, tightening loopholes and tighter monitoring of gun shows and certain websites that allow sales of guns to whoever would be a good start. Plus maybe government should invest in proper training of teachers, managers, on being better to evaluate and assess children and young adults who may be prone to or have mental disorders. Basically anti-gun and pro-gun people need to work together and meet somewhere in the middle because an outright ban isnt the answer but there does need to be changes made.
Well said
"(His mother) pushed him really hard to be smarter and work harder in school," Tim Arnone told Reuters. He first met Lanza at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
This is a comment that echoes through my mind!! where are the true Psychiatrist; "OH, I KNOW, THEY ARE SUPPORTING THE FINANCIAL MISSIONS OF THEIR FUNDING SOURCES"!! I know the anguish associated with having a child suffering and then not allowed to adequately acquiese the MH system; especially if the child has an IQ at genius status!! It does not matter the struggles associated with the illness as long as the parents are working and the child does not have to be a burden to the system. I feel for all involved with this situation. Why was this young man allowed to walk the street in this condition; paranoia and apparent agoraphobia!!!!! ???? Does anyone, devoid of the HIPPPA considerations; UGH.. have any information on this????!!!!!!
why would i single mother have a 223 assualt rifle and mutiple handguns in the house, i understand maybe a handgun, thats just strange to me could she actually shoot a assault rifle
man its not as rare as you think. That said i go to the gun range last few years and have seen more and more women graduating from pistols to long rifles such as AR-15's! its becoming quite common amongst women. They're a relatively light easy gun to fire even for women.