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A nation mourns after the second deadliest school shooting in U.S. history at Sandy Hook Elementary, which left 20 children and six staff members dead.
One of Newtown’s heroic teachers – remembered as a bright light on the darkest of days – was laid to rest Wednesday, with family friend Paul Simon performing the folk song “Sound of Silence.”
Obtained by NBC News
Victoria Soto, 27, first-grade teacher at Sandy Hook elementary. Soto had taught for five years and was known by students as silly and loving.
Mourners who arrived at a church in Stratford, Conn., for Victoria Soto’s funeral were handed ribbons of green, her favorite color.
They spoke of the 27-year-old’s selfless final act: She died trying to protect her first-grade students at Sandy Hook Elementary School from rifle fire during the massacre, according to her family.
“Truthfully, you have been a hero to me for a lot longer than five days,” said her sister, Jillian Soto, according to the Stamford Advocate. "You've been my big sister. The one I always looked up to."
Another sister, Carlee, sobbed as she spoke. "The pain is unbelievable," she said.
Outside, family friend Ryan Ortiz, 27, said he couldn’t help thinking if he would have been as courageous as Soto.
“Mind-boggling what she had to go through,” Ortiz said. “No matter how many times I sit at home and think of what I would have done, you just can't imagine being in that situation.
“In my opinion, she was that light amidst the darkness that was going on that day in that school,” Ortiz said. “There's really no other way to remember her than being that light in that room."
Simon was asked by the Soto family to perform at the service; his sister-in-law, a nurse, is close to Soto’s mother, also a nurse. He came and left without comment.
Soto, who was in her fifth year of teaching, was finishing up her daily morning meeting with the students of Classroom 10 when gunman Adam Lanza began his rampage Friday morning.
NBCLatino: Soto remembered as a hero and a giving soul
Relatives say they were told she hurried the kids she called her "angels" into a closet behind her and tried to shield them from the bullets.
Some of the children in her class managed to survive the slaughter. Many did not.
Funerals were held Wednesday for first-graders Charlotte Bacon, Caroline Previdi and Daniel Barden, and a wake was held for 7-year-old Chase Kowalski – continuing a week of mourning.
A large contingent of firefighters arrived for 7-year-old Daniel’s funeral at St. Rome of Lima church in Newtown, where the strains of bagpipes filled the air.
Two of his relatives are members of the New York City Fire Department, and he dreamed of wearing a uniform when he grew up, according to a Facebook post from a firefighters’ foundation.
"It was one of the hardest funerals I was ever at,” FDNY Lt. Eric Torres told NBCNewYork.com.
#26acts: Neb. woman gives a dollar at a time
Family friend Laura Stamberg, of New Paltz, N.Y., said that on the day of the shooting, Daniel’s father Mark spent precious moments with him, teaching him a Christmas song on the piano.
"They played foosball and then he taught him the song and then he walked him to the bus and that was their last morning together," Stamberg told the Associated Press.
At a funeral where mourners wore buttons with her picture, 6-year-old redhead Charlotte was recalled as a ball of energy who loved the color pink and wanted to be a veterinarian. Caroline was “just a doll,” was just a doll," family friend Pam Fehrs said. "She was happy – dancing and happy everywhere she went."
Later on Wednesday, hundreds attended a wake in Woodbury, Conn., for Sandy Hook Principal Dawn Hochsprung, 47, who also has been hailed as a hero for running toward the sound of gunfire after Lanza blasted his way into the school.
Family: Boy's favorite teacher died cradling him
Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman came to pay their respects at Munson Lovetere Funeral Home, where candles in paper bags, arranged to spell HOPE, were laid out on the front lawn.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan also attended. Earlier in the day, he said Hochsprung and five other staffers killed at Sandy Hook “made the ultimate sacrifice, literally laying down their lives to protect the children they taught and cared for.”
“If it was not for the quick and courageous response of other teachers and staff, even more children and adults might have died,” he said.
Some of the services have been marked not just by tears, but by calls for tougher gun laws. Miguel Padilla, who works with Soto’s father, said he hoped the unity shown in the wake of the tragedy would translate into legislative action.
“With assault rifles, there is no need for those,” he said outside the church. “If you need to protect yourself, a handgun is good enough. That a 20-year old can get his hands on [an assault rifle] is pathetic.
“Something big has to come out of this,” he added. “They have to change the law.”
NBC News' Courtney Hazlett contributed to this report.
As funerals are held for four more Sandy Hook Elementary victims, President Obama will announce that Vice President Biden will spearhead a panel to formulate gun policies in the aftermath of the Newtown tragedy. NBC's Craig Melvin reports.
Related content:
Victims in shooting: Daring principal, fun-loving teacher, 6-year-old twin brother
'If you do good, you'll feel good': Origins of #26Acts of Kindness
Slideshow: Newtown school massacre
Family: Boy's favorite teacher died cradling him
For teachers, classroom security concerns come to the fore
Leave a Comment:
If Americans wants to bear arms, fine let them, but make the ammunition illegal and ration it out to responsible, registered users that have been properly screened, then you haven't taken away thier second ammendment right.
When I first saw the news of this on the internet, I was so shocked I could not breathe. My heart aches for all these kids and teachers. I still cry every time I think about this. When I saw the pictures of Victoria Soto and read what she had done, I wept for her. Such a beautifull young woman. I can not imagine how any human could look a small child in the eye and kill them without mercy or feelings. This goes beyond evil. I pray that God will comfort all the families through this. The joy of Christmas for me has diminished, my only hope is that Jesus Christ will come soon. May God be with all the families in Newtown.
I can see that the actions of this ill person could perpetuate thousands of people from all over the country to become depressed especially during the holidays.
If she were armed she and a lot of others might be alive. But the government gives gun free zones for killers to roam unhindered in.
Texas arms their teachers and no school shootings have happened there.
When moments count, the police are only minutes away!
TEXAS DOES NOT arm their teachers!!! Stop lying!
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/18/stop-school-shootings-by-letting-teachers-fire-back-say-texas-officials/
If guns do not at times help save lives, then why is the President surrounded by armed secret service?
We have had a war on drugs for 40 years and are no closer to controlling it now than when we started.
So, passing laws are going to stop who, the law abiding citizens, because laws are not for the criminals.
They will get their guns and ammo just like their drugs!
You all need to realize that if the gov't bans guns there will be some that will not give them up. If only 1% decide not to, there will be ruby ridge/waco style stand offs 1 million times over. There is no law that could have prevented this tragic event. Lessened the number killed, mabey, but not stopped it from happening.
I absolutely refuse to accept that this was not preventable, and that we should not even try to change things. Maybe you can seep at night knowing how those 6 and 7 year old babies suffered, yet still refuse to let go of your iron grip on your oozie. Good for you. But YOU need to realize, that you and your like-minded cronies are part of a lonely club. You spout off your take-over theories and beat your 2nd Amendment drums. But the rest of the country know that this is UNACCEPTABLE. Ms. Soto and the other 5 incredibly brave women gave their lives for the children at this Elementary School. We will not let their sacrifice be forgotten. We will not forget about their love and their beautiful light. The world lost 26 beautiful souls. Their families left behind deserve for us to collectively stand up for them.
Gun free zones just tells the gunman he is safe to enter without any opposition.
Where is the press when a armed individual is present to STOP this from happening in the first place?
One of Hitler's first acts was to make Germany safer by collecting all the private guns, and look how that turned out for 6 million people!
Thats a fact...the vast majority of mass shootings take place in gun free zones.
And to think that massacres like this could have been prevented, by just passing some laws...
And what laws do you think that will be needed to stop this? A ban on everything that is out there???? Guns knifes dynamite chemicals food, because in all reality this wacko could have done this in alot of ways
could have put poison in the school food
could have developed a bomb(and don't forget no one has been a suicide bomber here yet)
could have had knifes(like china)
Look you can scream all you want bottom line we need added security in all schools bottom line.
there is a school with locked doors and bullet proof windows in every window, and servailance cameras in every place you can imagine and it cost 200,000
so what is a childs life worth to you???? a stupid law that hasn't changed a thing or a $200,000 investment into a childs safety? I say 200,000 is a better choice to me.
IRESPOND-2315268 and others bringing politics into this article, go jump off a cliff. Let the town deal with the sorrow and pain of losing so many innocent souls...give it some time and then you can start with your rhetoric. This article was meant to be a piece about a selfless teacher being buried you ......
ahmen, great post, let these poor people rest in peace and stop the political agenda.
God bless your soul for sacrificing your life to protect those entrusted to you . We pray for you ....Rest in peace Victoria.
All of you are really sick and twisted for bringing politics into this article. May you rot in hell!
RIP Victoria . . . you are a hero!!!!
Do we put the right of the people to "keep and bear arms" over 6 and 7 year olds right of "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness"?
Nice try bill, but the two are not mutually exclusive. You can have both.
Well one is written into the bill of rights and the other is written into the constitution .
Seems like to me that something written into the constitution would take presidents over something written into the bill of rights.
I know you have people to convince, but this constant reporting on this horrible event is starting to be pretty sick......
Teachers should never have to fight so hard for a pay raise. Now I hope that everyone can see just how much these teachers mean to us. They will give their life for any child in their care. I for one will never get over the memories of all those that lost their life.
I never knew you Victoria Soto but I feel tremendous love for you. I only wish these posters could feel it. Victoria Soto you are a true American hero. She should get a purple heart or something of that high order for her bravery in the face of an enemy. My heart is with you.
I agree SWhin, the president should give the hiest civilian honor to those teachers and the principle who stopped this "thing" from killing more innocent children.
Let's start a pool on how long it will be before the media has "milked to death" this matter. I hope it's soon: my stomach can't take much more of this kind of exploitive hypocrisy.
Wake up, people - you're being "had" still another time. It's political propaganda, and the Operation MOCKINGBIRD media is marinating your brain in a sea of emotional nonsense. They want to make you do something really stupid, and one can always determine the degree to which it's stupid by the size of the media campaign being "orchestrated" (the favorite word of the man who invented the idea) to accomplish its end(s).
It is time to stop leaving our schools so vulnerable. This woman that died should have been locked in her room with her students. I do not understand how the gunman got in. The doors lock right? Mega security systems need to be installed and activated during school hours. When classes start, doors lock. How about safe rooms? Oh and right next to the fire extinguisher, a can of tear gas, or mace that shoots far and wide. (The school in my mind would have cross bows and hand grenades too!).
Sadly, I just imagine who will try and "out dark" this kid. Whats next? The infant ward at the hospital? Takes a real sharp shooter to hit a scared 6 year old. I dream of arrows through this villans neck!
Cathrine,
Spot on, there really needs to be better security in schools, and how true I really wonder how long its going to be before the next wack case decides to out do this one.
Not like its not going to happen, we need to be more obvious to the things that are warning signs, If this so called marine knew this guy was a nut case and how his mother had so many weapons, then why didn't he tell the mother to lock her weapons with only her knowing the code? he claimed he knew what was going on, im sorry but I would have brough that issue to authorities ASAP.
Let's see, the GOP has villified those "lazy union teachers" for at least a year now, when this horrible tragedy occurs the teachers are shielding their students and the NRA plays total pussy and takes their Facebook page down.
Teachers=Heroes
NRA=Gutless wimps.
William,
What does the NRA have to do with this tragedy? you need to explain their connection with the loss of life, and don't come up with this crap of ban on assult weapons, again it could have happened in any manner, gun, knife,bomb, poison any thing, stop playing monday night quarterback and blame the responsible ones, THE WAKOS THAT DO THIS, and then blame the ones who friggen know about the wako but don't want to say anything about it to authorities.
Victoria Soto to me is my hero she has taught me that she did what was right aganist someone who did not care about life. Victoria Soto and everyone of those children who gave their lives are the "hero's" they shown everyone what it takes to be a "hero" Everyday I think about all the children,teachers and the principal who tried to save students lives. "These children teachers and the principal did not die in vain and should not have perished from this earth". The are the "hero's". Everyone in this "Great Nation" should have their thoughts and prayers in their hearts everyday, I know I do.
Ernie1...great post....I remember this quote "Mother is the word for God on the lips and hearts of all children". In this case, Mother should be replaced by Teacher. I just hope we can all reach COMMON ground on how to prevent such tragedies occurring ever again.
Ahmen, my families hearts are broken over this sensless tragedy. May they rest in peace.
This woman was incredibly beautiful both physically and spiritually. She had tremendous courage and didn't hesitate to protect her kids. It's so terribly sad and depressing thinking about her and those innocent children and the lives they should have had. This tragedy has really made me appreciate my kids, and has created a whole new sense of gratefullness and patience. Their families will never be the same, may God bless all of those lost and left behind.
I wish the parents of all those slain children would agree to release the forensic photographs. Maybe then all the people here that are afraid their second amendment rights would be taken away would understand. The men that wrote that amendment never imagined the weapons man would invent and use against each other. They were writing about single shot muskets, not a weapon that could shoot so MANY ROUNDS PER SECOND. The answer is not more guns, the answer is more common sense regulations. I wish the honest gun enthusiasts would speak out louder, the hunters know a semi automatic rifle is not for killing deer or rabbits, they were designed to kill people engaged in war. Police need to speak out. There is no right more important than the right those little children and those teacher's right to live. Sleep well knowing you want to make it OK to have those weapons, to make children afraid to go to school, to worry about things they should not even have to think about. It could have been you or yours, think about that. Empathy is something that every parent, every person needs to learn. Apparently your family didn't teach you: THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD GO I.
I appreciate the intent of your post but I think you are a little off base on solutions. The type of weapon used in this terrible tragedy is not the issue. One death is unacceptable, let alone 26. Adam Lanza with two revolvers and a speed loader could of killed as many people as he did with the semi-automatic rifle. Regardless of what weapon was used, its one shot per second, not 'many rounds per second" as you claim. I suppose its your intent to ban all semi-automatic weapons which is not going to happen. The common sense approach is to ban the size of ammo clips. This won't solve the problem, but it will make people feel safer. If the Mom had locked up her weapons in a saef with a fingerprint lock (like in my home) then we would not be having this conversation.
If you are attacked by a group of thugs, how helpfull would a single shot gun be?
Chris, so true, thanks for telling this person who obviously will never accept the facts that weapons don't kill people do. slowing down the rate is not the issue, one life is as tradgic as 26, the friggen mother was as guilty as the son, and this Marine who supposedly knew about the problem playing out, why in the hell didn't he go to authorities??? and why is it so important to mention he was a marine???? I am a recently retired Army soldier, i served for 27 years and have 10 combat missions under my belt, so??? If I see somthing that looks odd my instincts are to bring it to the authorities attention.
@TAJ: The Chris's, Rick's, and Harrington's of the world will never change. They could have been a first responder seeing the carnage first-hand and it would not affect them. Their hearts were hardened somewhere along the way. They don't see a 6-7 year old life as sacred. Deaths of 1st graders and their teachers should be accepted as normal, and an appropriate sacrifice for their own personal freedoms. And even more incredulous, is that they actually expect the rest of the world to believe the same paranoia that they do. And if you challenge them, well they have the means to "take care" of the situation. Guns are necessary to those who can't deal with others disagreeing with them peacefully. They are just as mentally ill as the shooter of the innocent babies.
Rest In Peace Victoria Soto your death will not be in vain. First off I would like to thank you for being someone who cared more about their students than their own life. You are the prime example of what a teacher is suppose to be. I may not have known you, or any of the victims for that matter but my heart aches for the families involved in this tragedy. Every time I see a picture or an article about the victims, I can't help but tear up. So many lives taken from this earth too soon. I will hold my daughter tighter than I have ever held her knowing that someone like you lived in this world.
To those people talking about the NRA and stuff, stop talking about this... Guns don't kill people. People decide to kill people.. the guns did not make them do it... they do it on their own accord... As a matter of fact nothing about the NRA or anything political should be allowed on articles that are there to make a HERO out of a person. That is what she is a HERO, she sacrificed herself so that her students could live. She and countless others paid the ultimate sacrifice for the lives of their students. If I was a parent of one of the students that survived this tragedy I would be fully indebted to them for saving my childs life. and would everyone on the news, facebook , twitter or whatever STOP TALKING ABOUT THE SHOOTER! STOP PUTTING HIS PICTURE UP! ALL YOU ARE DOING IS IMMORTALIZING HIS MEMORY! The people that you should be talking about are those brave souls that died to protect countless others. Rest In Peace you brave Souls. My heart goes out to all of the families involved in this terrible tragedy.
Thank you thank you thank you Andrew, words of wisdom. People just don't want to see it, may these poor people rest in peace.
Dear God Please bless these little soles who have been taken away from there families so harshfully. Bless Victoria Soto for being such a hero, along with all the other teachers. Thank you for all the police and first responders, I cant even imagine what you have to live with from day to day. God Bless the families who have lost there precious children and God Bless the familes of the victims as well. What is wrong with this world??? It use to be safe to send your children to school. And people wonder why they home school there kids more and more everyday. Teachers dont get the respect like they should or the pay to put up with all the b.s that they have to. I hope these poor children that survived this horrifying attack will be able to go back to school. GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU !!!! My heart and prayers go out to ALL OF YOU!!!!!! STAY STRONG
I have a 6 yr old lil girl and I can not imagine my life without her. I can not imagine the pain that these families are going thru and still have ahead of them. My heart goes out to all the families and staff at the school. My thoughts and prayers are with all.
First of all, may I say that Ms. Soto and all the victims will be missed, not only by those who knew and loved them, but also by the millions of us who grieve them terribly. My heart is broken by the events of last week and I fear for the future of our country and human race.
That being said, I am a father of small children and a gun owner. What unfolded last week has me questioning what should be done. I think more thorough background checks (through the FBI and at the cost of the pursuant) and a ban on assault rifles are probably needed. But I don't think that will solve most of the problem.
I believe we need armed guards in every school in the US. Before the comments regarding costs come, ask yourself a few questions:
1. How many schools are in your town/city?
2. How many banks are there in that same town/city?
3. Why is it we find it necessary to protect our money, but not our children with these resources?
If you ask me, I'd gladly give all the money in all the world to protect my children from that sort of situation.
I have read many many posts these past few days from the right, left, and center view. I am astonished at the hatred, remarks, and obsurd ideas on these threads. It's no wonder that society as a whole is messed up. I own guns and mine are in a safe with trigger locks. The blame can go in any direction depending on your own personal views. You can't change one part of the constitution and not others. This young man was by all rights should have been hospitalized years ago. A loaded gun laying on a table is just that an object that can do no harm by itself laying there. In the hands of an unstable person it becomes a weapon. These first person shooting games need to come off the shelves to start with long before gun control. There is a Columbine first person shooter game. WHY? Should we remove from the constitution this freedom of designing a gaame such as this? The answer is complex and the attention needs to be from all sides to focus on the correct measure. Mental health, fewer games of first person shooter, assault rifles with large clips to name a few. The biggest change starts on these threads with everyone coming together as one rather than the name calling and the bickering.