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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.
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I think his peculiar behaviors toward other people---attempting to avoid interactions w/ them in the hallways, episodes of total withdrawal from the world, his apparent inability to feel physical pain---sound reminiscent of schizophrenia or schizoeffective disorder, although the overwhelming majority of people w/ such cond'ns never pose a threat to anybody (except maybe themselves). I find it strange that w/ all his strange behaviors, no mental health assessment appears to have been done. Yes, there are shy people out there that are uncomfortable interacting w/ others, but his behaviors took that to a whole new level; most shy people do not need a parent to come to school to help w/ a "crises" that could take the form of total withdrawl from the world.
NO, I am not giving him an excuse for committing this horrid crime, but I have to wonder if some sort of intervention couldn't have saved everyone from this grief. ( I know, hindsight is always 20/20).
Good assessment, Bubbacat.
I hope that sack of @!$%# is raped by the fires of hell till the end of time!!!!!!
and it will go on and on after the end of time.
When will we start talking about the meds this pshyco was on ???? and whether or not the fact that ALL these shooters are on psychotropic drugs has anything to do with their actions? Why blame a hammer for a poor carpentry job?
When people say, "People kill people, not guns" that is BULL@!$%#! this is disgusting. anyone who thinks they are for protection, there is alot of people using them for something besides that. think about that.
The Bible teaches that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom,but the fear of men is a disconnection from God. So God must always come first and gain wisdom,don't fear or worship men,but worship God. Men fear men and go to war out of fear,and kill each other. Politicians use fear to get elected,and fear not getting elected being antiwar,and fear passing unpopular laws like gun control and not getting elected. And people fear politicians passing gun laws taking away their guns,so they stock up on guns,fearing becoming vulnerable to men with guns.So fear rules,which is a disconnction from God,not putting God first,not gaining the wisdom of God not to fear men,to have the perfect love of God,that casts out all fear,as the Bible,God's word says.
@ AL, Agree Fear = evil , It's that simple.
I'm not a church going person, But I do my best to GOD frist in my life!
exactly.
He forced his way in??? They always gloss right past how he got in and what if any security was breached.
i know, this stupid media sucks, because all they do is speculate at first before we know anything of what really went down, just spreading rumors before any solid evidence of anything. like for example, they said his mom was a kindergarden teacher and he stormed into her classroom and shot her in the face and then proceeded to kill the students, when in actuality she was at home when he killed her, before he killed anyone at the school.
At least the worthless woman who (shi)t this monster out is gone too.
I know that when people are mentally fragile, it doesn't take much to push them over the edge. Being surrounded by negativity, rage, hatred and the like can be the trigger that creates crisis. His mother was a gun collector, went to gun shows. Does this mean that she was also a right winger who kept up a running dialogue of hatred for those she perceived as "liberal"? If not, did Adam post on vines like this, reading the hatred, the threats of violence and rage? When someone is deeply disturbed, an environment of threatened violence, rage and hatred may push them over the edge.
He might have been a borderline Aspergers, but other mental disorders can present similar symptomology. It could also be that he had slipped over the line, sometime in the last few years, into paranoid schizophrenia. It could be that his mother was emotionally abusive and, because of his own emotional issues, finally pushed him into this horrible act.
He and his mother were rather isolated. We may never know what really happened. Much of his behavior prior to the attack was unobserved by anyone other than his mother, and she is dead.
We need a much better mental health system, something that provides meaningful intervention for people who may be dangerous. We need to bring back the idea of institutionalization for those who are so ill that they represent a danger to themselves or others. We need to stop calling each other names and broadcasting hatred and conspiracy theories. We really don't know who's reading and listening, and our words may be doing great harm.
Wow. The shooter was shy, quiet and nervous around people. So am I, but it doesn't mean I'm going to do the same thing he did. Why? I possess intelligence that let's me discern right from wrong. Please, don't hand me some of the cliche lines that say he was mentally disturbed. Don't try to feed me pschyobabble BS. (Psychology in nothing more than a liberal Democrat fantasy excuse and a bastard science, that tries to explain away the fact that some individuals choose to do what they do because they simply enjoy it. Some people just want to watch the world burn, thaty have no conscience or morals at all. And PLEASE don't bring some none existant God into this argument. There is no God. God is a creation of HUMANS and humans alone, in an effort to subdue, manipulate and control those with lesser intelligence, and it's worked for thousands of years. Just look at the Muslims if you want proof.)
Killers don't need guns. He could have easily used a backpack sprayer filled with gasoline for a flamethrower, or a samurai sword to chop the kids to pieces. The list goes on.....
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2012/12/14/china-school-stabbings/1770395/
... the difference being that all of those children are still alive.
I can't stop thinking about this young adult who murdered these children. What did he go through in his childhood? Was he abused as a child? Bullied by children at a young age? The story I read above shares some points that should have been addressed at that time, how does a parent not see these signs? Clutching his briefcase as if it were a teddy bear? I can't image. I still cannot believe the news. How does one move forward from such a tragedy? Social Society today has many flaws. People have shorter fuses when they drive, leading to road rage, there seems to be less and less common courtesy in the world. What ever happened to PLEASE and THANK YOU? We expect this from our children, but I never hear an adult say it to others when I am out. If someone holds the door for you, you say "Thank You"..it's very nice to say and very nice to hear. And it becomes contagious. It's become a "ME" society. I fear this person suffered for years and became isolated. I have heard adults critize others for the stupidest things. Change begins with everyone, why wait till something horrible happens to see that something is very wrong. What will be left for our children or their children after?
A wise man once told me:
' Either god can
do nothing to stop catastrophes,
or he doesn't care to,
or he doesn't exist.
God is either:
impotent, evil, or imaginary.
Take your pick, and choose wisely.
-Sam Harris-
@#$# Sam Harris. Atheism is worse than any religion.
That's just it. God doesn't exist. God was a creation of humans, the Bible was written by humans. Why? To control, manipulate and subdue those with lesser intelligence and the truly gullible. Everyone has what they know is right and wrong. There are just some that choose to do what they want to do, no matter what it is. (There is no psychological reason behind it. They just choose to do things. I've read Freud and Jung, and believe their writings about psychology to be pure fantasy and lack any intelligence. It's just their way to explain away a simple fact. That some people just want to watch the world burn. End of story.)
....or maybe man just spits on/doesn't care about God when he needs Him, so God lets the selfish bastard do what he wants.
GetReal-1933218
@#$# Sam Harris. Atheism is worse than any religion.
So basically your a hypocrite or you are just trying to follow the crowd with a statement like that you cant have both so what is it do you believe or not...
Spheria
....or maybe man just spits on/doesn't care about God when he needs Him, so God lets the selfish bastard do what he wants.
So then answer this, Why did all those little kids die? If god gave up on the kid who killed them what happen to them...
You can not have your cake and eat it too..
dmatthews3 well, it pretty much says that in the Bible-
Psalm 81:12: So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
Ephesians 2:3: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
If you want to go on your own and do what you think is best, God will let you. Everyone has a freewill. He can't make you stop like you're some kind of robot. People who don't abide by God hurt others, like these poor children, as well as themselves in the process, so in reality, God isn't the one doing anything evil, for He is God, and incapable of doing evil.It's a bit complicated, but to put it simply, man brings these things upon themselves.
*People can hurt others, like these poor children....
since really anyone is capable of hurting others, even Christians. Christians are still humans, so they can't be perfect either.
He looks like a stupid freak/inbreed, and the other brother does not look that much better, but at least he looks a little more normal. Sounds like the whole family is screwed up. Nut jobs that are withdrawn need to be followed and monitored by the GOVT. Even if you take all guns away he would have brought a bomb to school to blow everyone up. The best way to detect these nuts is to start to mentally screen these nuts at the age of 14 and start following them all through out their school life , and do not give me the BS that we do not have the money, but we give billions to other countries, but let this crap happen here. Its not the best solution, but its a least a start as far as finding these nuts as early as possible.
Everyone keeps saying don't let this happen again... only thing is as a mother of a person with Asperger's I know it's not that easy. For many years I have been pleading with school personnel and teachers to help my son not be socially isolated and they have done nothing. I have taken him to social skill classes, psychologists, etc. but the community... nothing. How can a person be sane when they know there is no one other than their family that cares about them? Watching other kids avoid him everytime he approaches them.... very sad for everyone.
The community only wants to change after the tragedy. No, I am not saying a lonely person should kill anyone ever, I'm just saying that they never have felt any support from the community so don't feel part of it.
And that isolation is a very, very destructive force.
When people say, "people kill people, not guns" that is BULL@!$%#! when people say they are for protection, they are being used for something other than protection. think about the innocent children, men and women who are killed by guns that are not reported in the news, that we don't know about. WE(civilians) ARE BETTER OFF WITHOUT GUNS. Thank you.
Interesting opinion. How is a gun going to go out and kill a person by its self? What are people using their firearms for other then protection? If 2/3rds of the households in the U.S. have at least one firearm why aren't there even more mass killing? Can other objects be used to kill, for example gasoline, fire, or even an automobile?
...where was the liberal left-wing whine when Eric Holder was PURPOSELY giving guns to criminals that were murdering innocent mexican citizens and US Border Agent Brain Terry?....but now when a criminal STEALS a gun and kills...the liberal blogsphere erupts in mob style gun-control...HYPOCRIT LIBERALS.
How did his parents raise him, treat him? Nobody's born this way. Still doesn't excuse his actions. This was pure rage, not mental illness. A shot in the face is intense rage.
Good question !!!!!! But I have to think that it might of been both ...( pure rage, mental illness)
You are not a person who understands Asperger's Syndrome, which can leave you very socially isolated. It can make you feel so much not a part of the community. It is a mental illness that often is accompanied by depression.
Looks like the war has been here in our own back yard ie, mass killings, gang wars, hit and runs, family killings from within,
mental abuse, spousal abuse, not safe to go to church or school because of this kind of attacks.
Media control of all the un exposed violence countrywide of high crime rate. Maybe we should bring our troops back instead of being in someone else's back yard and America can use the money here to keep building America for Americans and help stop the war here to protect within our borders! As I am writing this their is a report on the news Lock down at this very minute in a Orange County Mall (Shots Fired) here in Newport Beach California, So it's never ending high crime here in America.
someone who has these obvious mental issues...how could anyone justify enabling him to have guns? it doesn't make sense to me.
He didn't "walk in the door". He wasn't buzzed in. He forced his way in and shot the people who tried to stop him.
In the good old days, people like him were locked up in an institution. And I can understand why a single woman would want protection, but why not dogs? An alarm system? Pepper spray? I can tell you why - she loved guns. Even though she had a psycho son living in the house with her. I feel no remorse for her death or her son's. This could have been stopped.
Early childhood bullies can leave scars that last a lifetime.
Is it just me or have the shootings increased since Obama was re elected? Could the US Government be behind all this to actually cause more gun violence just to promote Gun Control?
.. funny but i wondered the same thing randall.
As a mother of an Asperger's child I can say that not letting this happen again is harder than it seems. For years I have been pleading for the school personnel and teachers to help my son not be socially isolated. Nothing. I have taken him to social skill classes, psychologists, psychiatrists but the community... nothing. It must be so hard to know that no one outside your family likes you and to watch kids avoid you when you approach them. Terriby lonely and sad. My son says he has no life and my heart breaks for him. No, it's not an excuse to kill, I'm just saying that it takes a community to raise a child but no one in the community really cares. they only care after a tragedy.
Dear God,
Why did you allow this horrible school shooting to happen?
A concerned student
Dear Student,
I'm not allowed in schools anymore.
God
GOD comes in to school every day, with a child !
kitty from buffalo.....Just forget about god he doesn't exist.
Geez. So tragic and so many try and use it for their platform, God in schools, having guns etc. Let's pray for those children and teachers.
I don't understand that: they allow schools to reach the bull@!$%# belief of atheism, but any other religion isn't allowed to be taught? they say teaching other beliefs separates/isolates children from each other, when at the same time brainwashing kids that humans evolved from newts is completely okay because THEY think it's right. disgustingly hypocritical.
ATHEISM is NOT a religion Spheria, get over your god crap
The mentally ill need treatment laws to protect society from them and their individual rights at the same time. This is an issue for the Court and it is time they act. Wake up and realize we have a serious problem and nobody is addressing it. If you have a sick family member you know the problems that face getting them the help they need.That we all need.
Yes, it is hard to get help for our children. Fortunately I have the resources to help my child, but if you don't you are out of luck. Asperger's does not qualify in California Regional Center although as a mother of an autistic and an Asperger's son, I worry more about my Asperger's son. He is very intellingent and does realize that no one likes him and he is shunned at school. How can a person remain sane under these circumstances?