Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., where a gunman killed 20 children and six adults in December, should be torn down and replaced with an entirely new school, the task force charged with determining its future decided Friday night.

The 28 members of the Sandy Hook Elementary Building Task Force, voting unanimously, rejected alternatives under which the current school would have been be renovated or a new school would have been built at a new location, NBC Connecticut of Hartford reported. Voters must approve the plan before it can go into effect.

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Three weeks after the Dec. 14 shooting, pupils returned to classes at a former middle school seven miles from Sandy Hook. Relatives of victims of the shootings and other parents had been vehemently opposed to renovating and reopening the existing school.

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"I will chain my body to it and to protest if they try to reopen it," said Erica Lafferty, daughter of Dawn Hochsprung, the school's principal, who was among those killed, told NBC Connecticut after no decision was made at a meeting last week.

"It should be knocked down," Lafferty said. "There should be some type of long-lasting memorial. I don't want people to walk into the building and say, 'Oh well, that's where Erica's mom got gunned down.' That's not OK."

Officials have estimated the cost of renovating the current facility or building a new school at $47 million to $59 million.

"Just tearing it down and building a new school in the same place is one of the solutions that would make the most sense," said Peter Caracciolo, the father of a Sandy Hook pupil.

Daniel Krauss, whose daughter is a second-grader, told The Associated Press he was pleased by the panel's recommendation.

"It's been a place for learning, for kids to grow up and it's going to go back to that," he said.

Related:

Emotions run high in debate over future of Sandy Hook school

A mental health patient obsessed by the killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School is in custody after escaping from an Orange County facility the day before, authorities said.

Norris Phuoc Nguyen returned to the Royale Health Care Center at Bristol Street and Warner Avenue in Santa Ana at 4 p.m. Saturday, said Anthony Bertagna, spokesman for the Santa Ana Police Department.

Friday afternoon, Nguyen walked away from the Royale Health Care Center, where he has been detained since December 2012.

Police said the 23-year-old told them he visited a friend while he was away from the facility, and it does not appear Nguyen committed any crimes while he was gone.

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Authorities became familiar with Nguyen -- who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and repeatedly detained and institutionalized -- in August 2011. At that time, he walked into the Westminster Police Department dressed in camouflage and holding an assault rifle, saying he wanted to "die by cop," Garden Grove Police Chief Kevin Raney said.

The weapon was not loaded, the chief said, adding that Nguyen did not have a permit for the firearm.

Nguyen was questioned, and police found he was fixated on a teacher at a Garden Grove elementary school that he had attended, Raney said, declining to name the school.

"We have statements and we have the firm belief that he is committed, unfortunately, to harming children at this specific school," Raney said.

Nguyen had been detained periodically since then, Raney said, until it became apparent in interviews with him in December that he was obsessed by the massacre that left 26 dead at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school on Dec. 14, 2012.

Nguyen has spoken repeatedly both about protecting children and endangering them, Raney said.

Nearly two weeks ago, Nguyen's mother, who lives in Huntington Beach, tried to gain custody of her son at a court hearing, but the judge refused to have him released, Raney said.

Related:

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• Guns, paperwork, books flesh out portrait of Newtown killer Adam Lanza
• Investigators: Adam Lanza surrounded by weapons at home; attack took less than 5 minutes

A decision on whether to reopen the Sandy Hook Elementary School building, where 20 first-graders and six staffers were massacred, was stalled Friday as emotions ran high at a town meeting.

A task force of more than two dozen officials had narrowed down the choices to two: raze the existing Newtown, Conn., building and open a new school down the street, or renovate or rebuild on the existing site.

But after a group of Sandy Hook teachers spoke privately to task force members before a public meeting on Friday night, the panel said it could not make an immediate decision and was looking at other options.

When the teachers emerged from a closed-door executive session, some in tears, they declined to say what they had recommended, just that the conversation was "difficult."

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Newtown school board member Laura Roche said those teachers made it clear they never want to set foot in the building again. Task force members said they were re-evaluating their options and a vote won't happen until next week or later.

Some victims' families have said they are horrified at the thought of children returning to the campus where Adam Lanza spilled so much blood during his Dec. 14 rampage.

“I will chain my body to it and protest if they try to reopen it,” Erica Lafferty, the daughter of slain Sandy Hook Principal Dawn Hochsprung, told NBCConnecticut.com before the meeting. “It should be knocked down. There should be some type of long-lasting memorial.“

Janet Zipperstein, mother of a fourth grader and a second grader, said kids should not have to return to the building where their schoolmates were executed or even to a new school nearby.

"My second grader is never gonna step foot in Sandy Hook school," she vowed. "It's never gonna happen."

Others said demolishing the building would send the wrong message.

"It's not the building that was the problem. It was someone in the wrong frame of mind," said Steven Uhde, father of a Sandy Hook second grader.

"I don't want to give someone else that is in the wrong frame of mind this as the precedent -- to say, 'You know what? If I can't take out people, at least I'll wipe out the school.'"

Mike Scarpa, father of two children who attended Sandy Hook, said a renovated building at the site would be a tribute -- "an incredible way to honor the 26 angels that were lost."

Sandy Hook students who survived the shooting have been going to class in a repurposed school building in the neighboring town of Monroe. They can stay there through the 2016 school year as long as the school board approves a new lease.

The task force originally considered 40 locations for a possible new school before narrowing the choices. It will make a recommendation to the school board.

Whatever the decision, there will be precedent for it from other schools that have also been the scene of mass shootings.

Columbine High School in Colorado demolished the library where most of the 12 victims of a 1999 shooting died, but reopened the rest of the facility within months.

At California's Oikos University, where seven were killed in 2012, the classroom in question is now used only for theology classes. Virginia Tech, where 32 died in 2007, turned one of the classrooms into a violence prevention center.

The West Nickel Mines Amish School in Pennsylvania, where five girls were shot dead in 2006, was torn down.

George Colli of NBCConnecticut.com contributed to this report.

 

This story was originally published on Fri May 3, 2013 6:26 PM EDT

Shock waves from the Boston Marathon bombing were felt acutely in Newtown, Conn., which sent a contingent of runners to the iconic race to honor the memories of the 26 students and staff killed in December’s school massacre.

There is no indication that any of the eight runners on the team or others on the sidelines or in the grandstand were injured in the double blast near the finish line, but relatives at home sweated through tense moments until they heard from them.

“It’s terrible to say, but I am just thankful nobody from Newtown was hurt,” said Lisa Abrams, whose husband Tom and nephew Jason Bloom were running.

 

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“Newtown can’t go through another event like this.”

 

Abrams said she was home when her sister texted that there had been a bombing at the race.

“I was in shock. I didn’t process it and then I started to panic,” she said.

Abrams, a teacher, tried to track her husband and nephew’s whereabouts by their race numbers, but while she was doing it, someone texted to say that her husband was fine. Then Tom called and said Jason and his girlfriend were also unhurt.

She said she has never been so grateful that her husband was having a bad day pounding the asphalt.

“Thank god he was slow. Otherwise he would have been right there,” she said.

There were strong Newtown ties to the marathon.

Not only was a team from the town running to raise money for a scholarship fund, the 26th mile was dedicated to the first-graders and school workers gunned down by Adam Lanza on Dec. 14.

Marathon organizers created a custom marker for the 26th mile with the Sandy Hook Elementary school colors and 26 stars circling the town emblem. A 26-second moment of silence was held at the start of the race.

Abrams said the race was supposed to be a healing event.

“But now it has just opened old wounds,” she said.

“I’m very sad about the world.  You can’t go to a movie, you can’t go to school, you can’t go anywhere.”

 

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This story was originally published on Mon Apr 15, 2013 6:03 PM EDT

Lawmakers and families of the victims of the deadly shootings last year at a Connecticut elementary school were divided Monday over compromise legislation that would ban some but not all high-capacity ammunition magazines in the state.

Lawmakers announced Monday afternoon that they had reached a deal on a bipartisan measure designed to limit high-powered weapons, 3½ months after 20 children and six other people were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.

Related: Connecticut lawmakers reach deal on 'most comprehensive' gun limits in US

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The Legislature will convene Wednesday, with a vote expected as early as this week.

The would ban the sale of magazines able to handle more than 10 bullets. Adam Lanza, the gunman in the Dec. 14 shootings, used magazines accommodating 30 bullets.

But in a compromise, the lawmakers included a "grandfather clause" allowing people who already own such magazines to keep them, subject to registration.

Families of the Newtown victims objected, sending a letter to legislative leaders Monday saying more children might have survived had Lanza been carrying smaller magazines.

Lanza "fired 154 shots in approximately 4 minutes, killing 20 children and 6 educators. Miraculously, in the time that it took him to reload in one of the classrooms, 11 children were able to escape and are alive today," they said in the letter, which is reprinted below.

"We are left to wonder, what if the Sandy Hook shooter had been forced to reload not 6 times but 15 times. Would more children, would our children, be alive today?"

Mark Barden, whose son Daniel died in the shootings, said at a news conference Monday in Hartford: "The more times you have to reload, the more opportunities there are to escape and to stop the shooting. In the amount of time — it was somewhere around four minutes — he was able to fire 154 rounds. I think that speaks volumes about reducing the size" of magazines.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy sided with the parents.

"I have been clear for weeks that a ban on the possession and sale of high capacity magazines is an important part of our effort to prevent gun violence — simply banning their sale moving forward would not be an effective solution," Malloy said in a statement Monday. 

"This morning, we heard from victims' families on that very point. They've asked for an up or down vote on that provision and, whether it's in the larger bill or as an amendment, the families, and every resident of our state, deserve a vote."

Following is the letter parents of the Sandy Hook victims sent Monday to Connecticut legislative leaders:

Dear Senators and State Representatives,

We, the parents of children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School together with the parents and spouses of educators killed that day in Newtown, are writing today regarding gun legislation currently under consideration by Connecticut's legislature. We are grateful for your leadership on this issue and for the efforts of the Bipartisan Task Force on Gun Violence Prevention and Children's Safety to craft a comprehensive package of legislation to keep our communities and children safer from violence. We feel strongly, however, that the current proposed action on large capacity ammunition magazines is inadequate and must be strengthened.

We feel a very personal connection to this issue. The Sandy Hook shooter carried 10 magazines that held 30 bullets each. We now know that he left many smaller magazines at home. He fired 154 shots in approximately 4 minutes, killing 20 children and 6 educators. Miraculously, in the time that it took him to reload in one of the classrooms, 11 children were able to escape and are alive today.

We are left to wonder, what if the Sandy Hook shooter had been forced to reload not 6 times but 15 times. Would more children, would our children, be alive today?

The current proposal under consideration in Hartford would allow the sale of magazines with a capacity of 10 bullets or fewer. The proposal, however, grandfathers existing large capacity magazines leaving a gaping loophole on, what we believe, is the most dangerous feature of an assault weapon. Individuals will easily be able to purchase high capacity magazines in other states, bring them to Connecticut and claim to have owned them before the law took effect. Proving that the purchase or transfer took place post-enactment will be difficult, if not impossible.

Additionally, the "grandfathered" possession of large capacity magazines is not in the public interest and exposes our communities to an unacceptable risk of additional mass shootings. We must do more. If there is reason to stop the further sale of magazines that hold more than 10 bullets, a principle with which we wholeheartedly agree, it makes sense to take steps to prevent the potential damage that existing magazines could cause. How can we not remove large capacity magazines from Connecticut if we know that it might save even one more child or teacher or parent?

On behalf of the loved ones who were violently taken from us, please reconsider your approach to large capacity magazines as part of the comprehensive package of gun legislation. We are calling today for an up or down vote on the issue. Thank you for your consideration of our views.

Follow M. Alex Johnson on Twitter and Facebook.

This story was originally published on Mon Apr 1, 2013 8:17 PM EDT

Connecticut lawmakers on Monday said they had reached an agreement on compromise gun control legislation that they said would be one of the toughest in the nation, 3½ months after 20 children and six other people were killed in a mass shooting at an elementary school.

The bill includes a ban on large-capacity ammunition magazines like those Adam Lanza used to fire 154 shots in four 4 minutes Dec. 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, a new registry for existing high-capacity magazines and background checks for private gun sales, NBC Connecticut reported.

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While the measure would ban the sale of ammunition magazines able to handle more than 10 bullets, Gov. Dannell Malloy and parents of the Sandy Hook victims objected to a "grandfather clause" that will allow current owners of such magazines to keep them.

But state Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield, a Democrat representing New Haven, told NBC Connecticut that the bill, which could be voted on as early as Wednesday, would still impose some of the nation's toughest gun control laws on Connecticut residents.

At a news conference Monday, Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, a Republican whose district includes Newtown, agreed that the deal was "the most comprehensive package in the country because of its breadth," The Associated Press reported.

In what was being described as a first in the U.S., gun owners would have to register current magazines accommodating more than 10 rounds with the state by January, The New Haven Register reported.

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The measure would also require universal background checks for all firearm sales — many states don't require them for private sales, such as those between family members or collectors — and would add 34 more weapons to the state's list of banned semi-automatic assault-style weapons. 

The Register reported that the bill would also strengthen penalties for gun trafficking and would expand the Board of Firearms Permit Examiners to include a mental health professional and a retired judge.

House Speaker Brendan Sharkey, a Democrat representing Hamden, told reporters the measure was meant to send a message to Washington that "this is the way to get this job done."

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Related: 'Grandfather clause' in Connecticut gun bill angers Sandy Hook families