Six months after 20 children and six adults were killed in their classrooms at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the grief-stricken residents of Newtown, Conn., gathered to remember the tragedy.

A moment of silence lasting 26 seconds was held on Friday morning, and included the reading of the names of the victims by relatives. Starting at 4:30 p.m. local time, teachers from Sandy Hook Elementary School planned to begin reading the names of people killed by gun violence to date since the shooting.

Family members of the December shooting’s victims have become crucial to a continued push to pass new national legislation restricting the purchase and ownership of high-power firearms, an effort that has faltered since a bipartisan background check bill fell in the Senate in April.

A handful of states, including New York and Colorado, passed new gun laws after the shooting.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group founded by New York City Michael Bloomberg that lobbies for stricter gun laws, planned to launch a 25-state tour from Newtown on Friday.

Family members took to the steps of Capitol Hill on Thursday to read the names of those killed and petition lawmakers to pass stricter gun-control laws. Those efforts may bear fruit, said Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut.

“Members of the Senate know what the right thing to do here is, and ultimately a whole bunch of them decided to vote with the NRA because they were worried about their political tales, and their heart strings still matter,” Murphy said on MSNBC on Thursday.

“But second, what’s really happened over the course of this whole year is that a political infrastructure has been built around gun violence reform, and there are a lot of senators who are coming up to me on the Senate floor and saying, you know what, I’m not real excited about going up against this movement next fall, is there a way that maybe we can get this bill back on the floor, make it a little better, and try to take a second vote,” Murphy said.

Erica Lafferty, whose mother was the principal of Sandy Hook Elementary, confronted Sen. Kelly Ayotte about her no vote on the background check bill during an April town hall meeting in New Hampshire.

A number of other senators, including Republican Jeff Flake of Arizona and Montana Democrat Max Baucus, faced criticism for voting against the background check bill, which polls show had widespread support among Americans.

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, who headed a gun policy task force put together after the shooting, visited on Thursday with family members of the Newtown victims.

“We want them to know that, as we approach the six-month anniversary of that terrible day, we will never forget and we will continue to fight alongside them,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said. 

Related:

• Newtown families return to Hill as administration restarts gun control push
• Appearing with Newtown families, Dems vow to push forward on gun control
• Gun vote stirs passion at Ayotte town hall meetings

Heavy traffic was reported in southwestern Connecticut on Monday morning after thousands of New York City-bound workers from the suburbs took to the roads because a train crash last week wrecked a section of commuter-rail track.

But fears that roads in the area could turn into one giant “parking lot” -- with the addition of some 30,000 commuters who normally take the Metro-North commuter rail line -- did not appear to have been realized.

The train crash -- just outside Bridgeport on Friday -- injured 72 people. Nine people remained hospitalized on Sunday, with one critical, according to the AP. A 2,000-foot stretch of track was damaged and repair crews are expected to have to work around-the-clock for several days.

Full coverage from NBCConnecticut.com

Connecticut Metro- North Rail Commuter Council, which was set up by the Connecticut state legislature, said in a message on Twitter that traffic was “not bad.” “Buses from stations shuttling half full but slow. Carmagedon avoided?” it tweeted.

And Norwalk Mayor Richard Moccia told the Connecticut Post that traffic was calm around the city Monday morning. On Sunday night, a reverse 911 call was made to city residents asking for them to carpool.

"It is better than I thought it would be. People are heeding my advice and the governor's message to either work from home or carpool to work,” Moccia said.

Get more on travel disruptions, replacement services from NBCConnecticut.com

Sandra Dria, of Waterbury, told the paper that her journey down Route 8 was just like "a normal day.”

However heavy congestion was reported along Interstate 95 and the Merritt Parkway, NBCConnecticut.com said Monday morning.

Jennifer Pascucci and Lisa Zarny, of Orange, who work in food service at Stamford Hospital, told the Post they tried to drive to work, but found the Merritt Parkway was choked at Exit 49, so they parked the car and planned to catch a bus-train. "We can't exactly work at home,'' Zarny said.

Gary Maddin, of Milford, Conn., told The Associated Press that it took him an hour to make what is normally a 20-minute drive from his home to the Bridgeport train station. From there, he planned to board a shuttle bus to Stamford where he could catch a train to Grand Central Station in New York.

"It's a lot," he said. "It's a nightmare just to get into the city today."

A spokeswoman for Connecticut State Police, citing Lt. J. Paul Vance, said just after 9 a.m. Monday that traffic on the relevant stretch of I-95 was “light,” as people appeared to have made other arrangements or avoided the area.

On Sunday, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy warned that he expected the commute to be "extremely challenging."

At a news conference in Hartford Sunday, Malloy said that "residents should plan for a week's worth of disruptions."

He said that if all 30,000 affected commuters took to the highways to get to work, "we would literally have a parking lot," according to the Associated Press. And if a substantial number of affected consumers hit the roads, traffic would be "greatly slowed."

"If you are going to New York and you get to New York or you're transporting yourself to New York you may decide that perhaps you should stay there for the duration of this disturbance," Malloy added.

About 700 people were on board the trains Friday evening when one heading east from New York City's Grand Central Terminal to New Haven derailed just outside Bridgeport. It was hit by a train heading west from New Haven. Both trains were traveling at about 70 mph.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related:

• Conn. train outage expected for days following crash that injured 72
• 'Absolutely staggering': Dozens injured in Connecticut train crash

This story was originally published on Mon May 20, 2013 6:14 AM EDT

Officials toured the scene of a two-train collision in Connecticut that injured dozens of people and halted rail traffic from New York to Boston on Friday.

Area hospitals reported seeing 70 people after the rush-hour collision. Two remained in critical condition on Saturday.

“The damage is absolutely staggering,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal told reporters on Saturday after a tour of the scene. “Ribbons on the sides of cars are torn away like ribbons of clothes. Tons of metal tossed around like toy things. The insides of cars are shattered.”

“We are fortunate that even more injuries were not the result of this very tragic and unfortunate accident,” Blumenthal said.

An eastbound Metro-North train derailed at 6:10 p.m. on Friday and was struck by a westbound train between the Bridgeport and Fairfield stations, National Transportation Safety Board member Earl Weener told reporters on Saturday.

Investigators from the NTSB arrived in Connecticut at about 9 a.m. on Saturday morning and planned to begin documenting the scene of the crash, Weener said. Investigators planned to spend between seven to 10 days on scene, and will conduct interviews with the train’s crew members, passengers, and witnesses.

“We will not be determining the probable cause of the accident while we’re here on the scene, nor will we speculate on what may have caused the accident,” Weener said.

Later on Saturday, investigators said they had zeroed in on a fractured part of the rail line as being of particular interest. It has not been determined whether that fracture happened before or as a result of the accident, they said.

The FBI is no longer a part of the investigation, authorities said.

St. Vincent Hospital in Bridgeport, Conn. said on Saturday that it saw a total of 44 patients, six of whom were admitted for treatment. All those patients remained in the hospital on Saturday and were reported to be in stable condition.

Bridgeport Hospital saw a total of 26 patients and admitted three. Two of those patients were in critical condition a day after the accident, and a third was being held for further treatment.

Passengers who were on the two trains described the rending collision in vivid terms.

“We came to a sudden halt. We were jerked. There was smoke,” passenger Alex Cohen, a Canadian who was riding the westbound train toward New York, told NBC Connecticut.

“People were screaming, people were really nervous,” Cohen said. “We were pretty shaken up. They had to smash a window to get us out.”

A female conductor helped other passengers evacuate the train despite herself sustaining back injuries, authorities said at a press conference late Saturday afternoon.

The Metro-North train that departs New York City’s Grand Central Station for New Haven, Conn., at 4:41 p.m., with an estimated 300 passengers, derailed near the I-95 overpass in Bridgeport, MTA said in a statement. The train that leaves New Haven’s State Street station for Grand Central at 5:30 p.m., carrying about 400 passengers, struck the derailed train, the statement said.

Amtrak service between New York City and New Haven, Conn. remained suspended on Saturday following the accident, Amtrak said in a release. Trains would not run through Sunday, and the train service said it could not give an estimate on when schedules may return to normal.

Amtrak service between New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., remained as scheduled, Amtrak said.

Metro-North, which runs between New York City and its northern suburbs in New York and Connecticut, is one of the busiest commuter rail services in the U.S. There are four tracks on that segment of the New Haven Line, an MTA statement said, but two are out of service for replacement of overhead wires.

There was "extensive damage" to the track and the wire from the collision, MTA said. The train cars will remain in place until the investigation is completed.

NBC News Carlo Dellaverson and M. Alex Johnson contributed to this report.

Related:

• 60 injured, five critically, as trains collide in Connecticut
  

This story was originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 11:31 AM EDT

Sixty people were injured, five of them critically, and rail traffic from New York to Boston was shut down after a Metro-North commuter train derailed and plowed into a second train Friday in Fairfield, Conn., Gov. Dan Malloy said.

An eastbound train derailed at 6:10 p.m. ET and struck a westbound train between the Fairfield and Bridgeport stations, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority official told NBC News.

"We have no reason to think it was anything other than an accident, but that has to be explored," Malloy said.

"We came to a sudden halt. We were jerked. There was smoke," Alex Cohen, a Canadian passenger on the westbound train en route to New York, told NBC Connecticut.

"People were screaming; people were really nervous. We were pretty shaken up. They had to smash a window to get us out," he said.

NBC Connecticut: 60 injured, five critically, in Metro-North train collision

Malloy said 60 people were transported to area hospitals, most of them with only minor injuries. Five, however, were critically injured, one of them very critically, he said.

The Metro-North train that departs New York City’s Grand Central Station for New Haven, Conn., at 4:41 p.m., with an estimated 300 passengers, derailed near the I-95 overpass in Bridgeport, MTA said in a statement. The train that leaves New Haven’s State Street station for Grand Central at 5:30 p.m., carrying about 400 passengers, struck the derailed train, the statement said.

There was no immediate word on what caused the derailment or how fast either train was going. That will be determined by the National Transportation Safety Board, which will lead the investigation.

Amtrak services were suspended between New York and New Haven early Saturday, Amtrak said in a statement. Limited Northeast Regional services were available between Boston and New Haven, and all Amtrak services were operating normally between New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., the statement said.

Metro-North, which runs between New York City and its northern suburbs in New York and Connecticut, is one of the busiest commuter rail services in the U.S. There are four tracks on that segment of the New Haven Line, MTA's statement said, but two are out of service for replacement of overhead wires.

There was "extensive damage" to the track and the wire from the collision, MTA said. The train cars will remain in place until the investigation is completed. MTA gave no estimate for the duration of the investigation or subsequent repairs.

Passengers should expect sharply curtailed service through the weekend and beyond, Malloy said. "We have a very old system on our Connecticut section. We're involved in hundreds of millions of dollars in replacement of that system.

"It will slow the recovery," he said. "Obviously, we don't have alternative tracks to go to."

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Christian Abraham / AP

Emergency workers arrive at the scene of a train collision Friday, May 17, in Fairfield, Conn. Rail traffic is expected to be snarled for several days.

This story was originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 7:18 PM EDT

New Haven Police

Carol Mansfield, 44, of Waterbury, Conn., was arrested outside of her ex-boyfriend's house when she showed up demanding $20, according to New Haven Police.

Ten years after their breakup, a woman showed up on her ex-boyfriend’s porch, demanding $20, according to police.

When police responded and charged her with first-degree criminal trespass and second-degree breach of peace, they served her with four outstanding warrants.

Police responded to Hillside Avenue in New Haven, Conn., at 8:41 a.m. on Thursday after a complaint was made and a 53-year-old man told officers he has been trying in vain to get his ex-girlfriend to leave him alone.

The two broke up in 2003, according to police. They say Carol Ann Mansfield, 44, of Waterbury, Conn., showed up on her ex-boyfriend’s front porch, yelling and demanding $20.

He told her over and over again to leave, which just made her angry, according to police.

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Then, he gave her the money to avoid further disruption for his neighbors and to preserve his failing health, according to a news release.

Mansfield was served with four outstanding warrants with charges including; third-degree criminal mischief, three counts of first-degree criminal trespassing, eight counts of second-degree failing to appear in court, use of a motor vehicle without permission, three counts of probation violation and second-degree threatening.

NBCConnecticut.com

This story was originally published on Fri May 3, 2013 4:02 AM EDT

Boris Delisser, 43, has been accused of stealing chicken wings and other meat from a South Windsor, Conn., company

An employee of a meat and poultry company has been arrested, accused of stealing $10,000 worth of chicken wings and other meat from the company.

The larceny happened at County Distributors in South Windsor, Conn., in February 2012, according to police.

The owner of the business reviewed surveillance footage from his warehouse and noted that an employee, identified as Boris Delisser, 43, of Bloomfield, Conn., had taken products from the warehouse and loaded them into a vehicle, all while there was no sales transaction, according to police. 

When police investigated, they found that Delisser had done this on several occasions and the total loss is estimated in excess of $10,000 worth of chicken wings and meat, according to police.

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Police obtained a warrant charging Delisser with larceny in the first degree, which was served on Tuesday. 

He was released on a $10,000 surety bond and is scheduled to appear at Manchester Superior Court on May 2.

This story was originally published on Thu Apr 25, 2013 5:19 AM EDT

A suspected shoplifter was arrested after trying to steal more than 100 bottles of nail polish from a local CVS, police said.

Marco Gonzalez, 42, entered the store in Middletown, Conn., on Thursday night and stuffed 102 bottles of nail polish into his sweatshirt and pants, police said.

Police confronted him around 9 p.m. at the CVS on Washington Street.

The nail polish bottles, made by Essie and Sally Hansen, cost $8.49 each. Altogether the nail polish totaled $865.98.

More news from NBCConnecticut.com

Gonzalez admitted that he was not planning to pay for the nail polish, police said.

Gonzalez was transported to police headquarters, where he was charged with 5th-degree larceny. He was released on $10,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court May 1.

A CVS senior loss prevention officer said the store plans to press charges.

A mother who lost her 6-year-old son in the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School made an emotional plea for national gun-control legislation in an address from the White House.

Francine Wheeler made her appeal in lieu of the president’s weekly address. Her appearance is the only time President Obama has handed the address to anyone other than Vice President Joe Biden since the two first took office. Wheeler was joined by her husband David.

“I have hear people say that the tidal wave of anguish our country felt on 12/14 has receded, but not for us,” Wheeler said. “To us it feels as if it happened just yesterday, and in the four months since we lost our loved ones, thousands of other Americans have died at the end of a gun.”

The address, taped Friday, comes as several Sandy Hook families have mounted an aggressive effort to get a gun-control bill passed by Congress. Wheeler and her husband wrote the remarks after they were approached, the White House said.

“We have to convince the Senate to come together and pass common sense gun responsibility reforms that will make our communities safer and prevent more tragedies like the one we never thought would happen to us,” Wheeler said.

Jessica Hill / AP file

Francine Wheeler, mother of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victim Benjamin Wheeler, cries as she listens to Vice President Joe Biden speak during a gun violence conference in Danbury, Conn., Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013.

Family members of the Newtown victims were present on Capitol Hill Thursday when Senators voted 68-31 to move forward with the process of debating a gun bill that several Republican lawmakers had threatened to filibuster. Several Republican senators have said that the presence of Newtown families helped contribute to the unexpectedly overwhelming vote to move forward with the bill.

Among the more than a dozen relatives in the gallery was Jillian Soto, whose sister was killed at Sandy Hook.

“The tears that we had weren’t tears of joy, but tears of remembering this is happening,” Soto told NBC News shortly after the vote. “We’re here because of what happened to us.”

During her remarks, Wheeler and her husband wore green pins to commemorate the 20 schoolchildren, including their son, and six adults who died in the December shooting. The Wheelers’ older son Nate, a 4th grader at Sandy Hook, survived the shooting.

“Sometimes I close my eyes and all I can remember is that awful day waiting at the Sandy Hook volunteer firehouse for the boy who would never come home – the same firehouse that was home to Ben’s Tiger Scout Den 6,” said Wheeler, choking back tears. “But other times I feel Ben’s presence filling me with courage for what I have to do for him and all the others taken from us so violently and too soon.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related:

• Newtown passion moves Senate vote on guns
• Newtown Victim's mom to give Obama's weekly address
• Newtown families lobby for gun control

WESTBROOK, Conn. -- A state trooper was shot on Monday afternoon in Westbrook, Conn., while trying to apprehend two suspects in a robbery, and one of the suspects is dead, according to state police.

Old Saybrook police were pursuing suspects in an armed robbery and and asked Troop F for help.

During the pursuit, a state trooper's cruiser and vehicle the suspected robbers were in collided on Route 153 in the area of Docs Hill on the Essex, Westbrook line, police said.

The trooper exchanged gunfire with the suspects and was shot while trying to take the two men into custody.

The chase began with Old Saybrook police near a Days Inn at 1430 Boston Post Road in Old Saybrook just before 3 p.m., according to a witness. The suspects checked into a room at the Days Inn, the witness said.

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There was also another crime scene located at the Heritage Motor Inn, 1500 Boston Post Road. The owner of the inn said that the victims of the armed robbery live at the hotel. Police would not confirm this information.

The trooper suffered severe injuries, though the injuries were described as non-life-threatening, according to state police.

Officials said he was alert and conscious and taken to the Shoreline Medical Center in Essex by another state trooper.

Route 153 was closed in the area for hours.

Lifestar, a helicopter rescue service, sent one aircraft to the medical center and left with one of the injured suspects onboard, according to state police. The suspect was taken to Hartford Hospital, police said.

NBCConnecticut.com

A Connecticut animal control officer was arrested on Monday on a warrant charging her with animal cruelty.

Karen Lombardi, 59, voluntarily surrendered herself at the Woodbridge Police Department on Monday morning and was arrested on an outstanding arrest warrant charging her with one count of cruelty to animals, according to police.

The arrest stems from an investigation into an incident at the Woodbridge Animal Control facility in November 2012, according to police who said they are not releasing additional information now.

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Lombardi was released on a promise to appear in New Haven Superior Court on April 19.