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Barron, James. (2012, December 14). Nation Reels After Gunman Massacres 20 Children at School in Connecticut. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/15/nyregion/shooting-reported-at-connecticut-elementary-school.html

BBC News (2012, December 18). Connecticut shooting: How it happened. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-20738998

CNN. (n.d.). Sandy Hook shooting: What happened? Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2012/12/us/sandy-hook-timeline/index.html

U.S. News and World Report. (2013, November 25). Report: Sandy Hook Shooter Adam Lanza Was Obsessed With Mass Shootings. Retrieved from https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/11/25/report-sandy-hook-shooter-adam-lanza-was-obsessed-with-mass-shootings

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This article, courtesy of The New York Times, depicts a positive view of gun control following the Sandy hook Elementary School shooting.

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A 20-year-old man wearing combat gear and armed with semiautomatic pistols and a semiautomatic rifle killed 26 people - 20 of them children - in an attack in an elementary school in central Connecticut on Friday. Witnesses and officials described a horrific scene as the gunman, with brutal efficiency, chose his victims in two classrooms while other students dove under desks and hid in closets.

Hundreds of terrified parents arrived as their sobbing children were led out of the Sandy Hook Elementary School in a wooded corner of Newtown, Conn. By then, all of the victims had been shot and most were dead, and the gunman, identified as Adam Lanza, had committed suicide. The children killed were said to be 5 to 10 years old.

A 28th person, found dead in a house in the town, was also believed to have been shot by Mr. Lanza. That victim, one law enforcement official said, was Mr. Lanza's mother, Nancy Lanza, who was initially reported to be a teacher at the school. She apparently owned the guns he used.

Although reports at the time indicated that the principal of the school let Mr. Lanza in because she recognized him, his mother did not work at the school, and he shot his way in, defeating a security system requiring visitors to be buzzed in. Moments later, the principal was shot dead when she went to investigate the sound of gunshots. The school psychologist was also among those who died.

The rampage, coming less than two weeks before Christmas, was the nation's second-deadliest school shooting, exceeded only by the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, in which a gunman killed 32 people and then himself.

Law enforcement officials said Mr. Lanza had grown up in Newtown, and he was remembered by high school classmates as smart, introverted and nervous. They said he had gone out of his way not to attract attention when he was younger.

The gunman was chillingly accurate. A spokesman for the State Police said he left only one wounded survivor at the school. All the others hit by the barrage of bullets from the guns Mr. Lanza carried died, suggesting that they were shot at point-blank range. One law enforcement official said the shootings occurred in two classrooms in a section of the single-story Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Some who were there said the shooting occurred during morning announcements, and the initial shots could be heard over the school's public address system. The bodies of those killed were still in the school as of 10 p.m. Friday.

The New York City medical examiner's office sent a "portable morgue" to Newtown to help with the aftermath of the shootings, a spokeswoman, Ellen Borakove, confirmed late Friday.

Law enforcement officials offered no hint of what had motivated Mr. Lanza. It was also unclear, one investigator said, why Mr. Lanza - after shooting his mother to death inside her home - drove her car to the school and slaughtered the children. "I don't think anyone knows the answers to those questions at this point," the official said. As for a possible motive, he added, "we don't know much for sure."

F.B.I. agents interviewed his brother, Ryan Lanza, in Hoboken, N.J. His father, Peter Lanza, who was divorced from Nancy Lanza, was also questioned, one official said.

Newtown, a postcard-perfect New England town where everyone seems to know everyone else and where there had lately been holiday tree lightings with apple cider and hot chocolate, was plunged into mourning. Stunned residents attended four memorial services in the town on Friday evening as detectives continued the search for clues, and an explanation.

Maureen Kerins, a hospital nurse who lives close to the school, learned of the shooting from television and hurried to the school to see if she could help.

"I stood outside waiting to go in, but a police officer came out and said they didn't need any nurses," she said, "so I knew it wasn't good."

In the cold light of Friday morning, faces told the story outside the stricken school. There were the frightened faces of children who were crying as they were led out in a line. There were the grim faces of women. There were the relieved-looking faces of a couple and their little girl.

The shootings set off a tide of anguish nationwide. In Illinois and Georgia, flags were lowered to half-staff in memory of the victims. And at the White House, President Obama struggled to read a statement in the White House briefing room. More than once, he dabbed his eyes.

"Our hearts are broken," Mr. Obama said, adding that his first reaction was not as a president, but as a parent.

"I know there is not a parent in America who does not feel the same overwhelming grief that I do," he said.

He called the victims "beautiful little kids."

"They had their entire lives ahead of them: birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own," he said. Then the president reached up to the corner of one eye.

Mr. Obama called for "meaningful action" to stop such shootings, but he did not spell out details. In his nearly four years in office, he has not pressed for expanded gun control. But he did allude on Friday to a desire to have politicians put aside their differences to deal with ways to prevent future shootings.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy of Connecticut, who went to Newtown, called the shootings "a tragedy of unspeakable terms."

"Evil visited this community today," he said.

Lt. J. Paul Vance, a spokesman for the Connecticut State Police, described "a very horrific and difficult scene" at the school, which had 700 students in kindergarten through fourth grade. It had a security protocol that called for doors to be locked during the day and visitors to be checked on a video monitor inside.

"You had to buzz in and out and the whole nine yards," said a former chairwoman of the Newtown board of education, Lillian Bittman. "When you buzz, you come up on our screen."

The lock system did not go into effect until 9:30 each morning, according to a letter to parents from the principal, Dawn Hochsprung, that was posted on several news Web sites. The letter was apparently written earlier in the school year.

Lieutenant Vance said the Newtown police had called for help from police departments nearby and began a manhunt, checking "every nook and cranny and every room."

Officers were seen kicking in doors as they worked their way through the school.

Lieutenant Vance said the students who died had been in two classrooms. Others said that as the horror unfolded, students and teachers tried to hide in places the gunman would not think to look. Teachers locked the doors, turned off the lights and closed the blinds. Some ordered students to duck under their desks.

The teachers did not explain what was going on, but they did not have to. Everyone could hear the gunfire.

Yvonne Cech, a school librarian, said she had spent 45 minutes locked in a closet with two library clerks, a library catalog assistant and 18 fourth graders.

"The SWAT team escorted us out," she said, and then the children were reunited with their parents.

Lieutenant Vance said 18 youngsters were pronounced dead at the school and two others were taken to hospitals, where they were declared dead. All the adults who were killed at the school were pronounced dead there.

Law enforcement officials said the weapons used by the gunman were a Sig Sauer and a Glock, both handguns. The police also found a Bushmaster .223 M4 carbine.

One law enforcement official said the guns had not been traced because they had not yet been removed from the school, but state licensing records or permits apparently indicated that Ms. Lanza owned weapons of the same makes and models.

"He visited two classrooms," said a law enforcement official at the scene, adding that those two classrooms were adjoining.

The first 911 call was recorded about 9:30 and said someone had been shot at the school, an almost unthinkable turn of events on what had begun as just another chilly day in quiet Newtown. Soon, frantic parents were racing to the school, hoping their children were all right. By 10:30, the shooting had stopped. By then, the police had arrived with dogs.

"There is going to be a black cloud over this area forever," said Craig Ansman, who led his 4-year-old daughter from the preschool down the street from the elementary school. "It will never go away."

Correction: December 17, 2012

Correction: December 18, 2012

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sandy hook elementary school (newtown  conn)

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Gunman Kills 20 Schoolchildren in Connecticut

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A 20-year-old man wearing combat gear and armed with semiautomatic pistols and a semiautomatic rifle killed 26 people - 20 of them children - in an attack in an elementary school in central Connecticut on Friday.

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This article, courtesy of U.S. News and World Report, depicts a negative view of implementing gun control following the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting.

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This article, courtesy of BBC News, depicts a neutral view of gun control following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

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Twenty children and six adults died when a gunman rampaged through a primary school in Newtown, Connecticut, firing a semi-automatic rifle before killing himself.

Here is what is known so far about the events which began on a seemingly ordinary Friday morning, only a few days away from the Christmas holiday.

14 December 2012 morning

The gunman, named by police as Adam Lanza, 20, shot and killed his mother Nancy Lanza at their home in Newtown, an affluent town of 27,000 people about 60 miles north-east of New York City.

It is still not clear why Lanza killed his mother, who was found wearing her pyjamas in bed, shot four times in the head with a rifle.

Mrs Lanza, a gun enthusiast who practised at shooting ranges, had divorced Lanza's father Peter in 2009.

Nancy Lanza was a teacher, but education officials say that have found no links between her and Sandy Hook Elementary School - contrary to earlier reports.

Journey to school

After killing his mother, Lanza apparently stole a number of her guns and drove her car five miles (8km) to the school, which he attended as a child.

The school has about 700 pupils aged between five and 10.

He was dressed in black fatigues, reportedly with a utility vest with a number of pockets.

He was carrying an assault rifle, thought to have been a Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle, a civilian version of the military's M-16.

Newtown mourns victims Watch 03.35

'Last talk with my daughter' Watch 00.58

'My teacher saved my life' Watch 01.25

'Heal the broken hearted' Watch 03.44

Parents: 'We got into her bed' Watch 02.46

Town unites for vigil Watch 01.40

Killer had four weapons Watch 01.20

'I thought we were going to die' Watch 03.24

Gunman 'was a loner' Watch 04.56

Police radio recording Watch 02.45

'Worst shooting I've seen' Watch 02.05

A town changed forever Watch 01.57

Police say this was the main weapon used during the shooting, though Lanza was also carrying two handguns loaded with high-capacity magazines.

Police say a fourth weapon, a shotgun, was later found in his car parked outside the school.

Entry into school

Visitors to the school have to be "buzzed in" by a member of staff. But at about 09:30, Lanza shot his way into the school, police now say, contrary to earlier reports that he had been let in.

When the police arrived, they found the school's front windows were shattered.

The head teacher and the school psychologist were shot dead in a corridor as Lanza made his way into the building.

Shooting begins

Newtown police were notified of shooting at the school over their radios at 09:36.

"Caller is indicating she thinks someone's shooting in the building," a police dispatcher said.

A school employee ran through the halls warning of a gunman on the loose, and someone switched on the intercom, alerting people in the building to the attack by letting them hear the mayhem in the school office, a teacher told AP.

One young survivor said the gunshots sounded like pots and pans falling to the floor.

Teachers locked their doors and ordered children to huddle in a corner or hide in cupboards as shots echoed through the building.

They used different methods to calm their students. Some read stories while others pulled out crayons for the children draw.

Some of the teachers sat with their children holding teddies or comfort blankets in huddled silence while others whispered Christmas carols, not pausing when they heard screams or shots over the intercom.

Connecticut medical examiner H Wayne Carver said that the seven dead children he personally examined had been shot between three and 11 times each, and two of those were shot at close range.

"The bullets are designed in such a fashion that the energy is deposited in the tissue and so the bullet stays in," he said.

"This is a very devastating set of injuries."

Abrupt end

Authorities say the shooting only lasted a few minutes and victims were found in two rooms. Lanza apparently shot himself.

"The shooting appears to have stopped," the police dispatcher radioed at 09:38, according to the New York Post. "There is silence at this time. The school is in lockdown."

Police said that when they found the killer's body he was lying with hundreds of unspent rounds.
The police respond
Fearful the gunman could still be at large, police swarmed into the building, breaking windows to enter at several points, Lt Paul Vance of the Connecticut state police said. Meanwhile, other officers searched and secured the woods surrounding the school, police said in a statement.

Inside the building officers encountered a horrific scene: 18 children and six adults shot dead, including popular principal Dawn Hochsprung, 47. Two more children would later die from their wounds.

Paramedics wheeled a wounded woman out on an office chair.

The officers went from room to room removing surviving children and staff from classrooms.

They did not fire their weapons during the search.

A library clerk who had ordered 18 children into a storage room before locking and barricading the door gave the children paper and crayons to keep them occupied. The police arrived at the door within an hour, the clerk, Maryann Jacob, told the Associated Press.

"One of them slid his badge under the door, and they called and said, 'It's OK, it's the police'," she said.

The schoolchildren were escorted hand-in-hand and were told the shut their eyes as they passed the principal's office, believed to be the scene of much of the carnage.

They were taken to Sandy Hook fire station, where worried parents began to gather. Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy went to the fire station.

"Evil visited this community today and it's too early to speak of recovery," he said later.

The gunman

More details about Lanza have begun to emerge.

He studied at Newtown High School, but made few friends. His mother pulled him out of the school and taught him at home because she was unhappy with the school district's plan for his education.

Intelligent but shy and nervous were the most common memories of those who studied beside him.

Richard Novia, who was head of security at Newtown High School, said it was clear Lanza was a "very scared young boy" who had "some disabilities".

He was protective of his personal space and sometimes appeared to completely withdraw into himself or to "take flight", Mr Novia told AP, meaning his mother had to be called in to resolve the problem.

Mr Novia helped to run a technology club, which Lanza attended, and said he had to keep a close eye on him while the club was using soldering equipment or electrical equipment.

"If that boy would've burned himself, he would not have known it or felt it physically," he said.

But the gunman's background suggests no clear motive for the rampage. Investigators have found no letters or diaries that could explain his actions, and he reportedly did not utter a single word during the attack.

After tentatively identifying Lanza, police rushed to the house on Yogananda Street where they found his deceased mother.
Profile: Adam Lanza, friendless gunman
The bodies

Medical examiners arrived about two hours after the scene had been secured, Dr Carver said.

They began taking photographs of the slain children and adults in a temporary facility similar to a military field hospital set up by the school, he said. By 01:00 on Saturday the bodies had been transported to the medical examiner's office in Farmington, Connecticut, where post-mortem examinations were carried out.

Relatives of the victims were shown photographs of the deceased to help in identification - they did not view the bodies, Dr Carver said.
Newtown shootings: The victims
Media confusion

Initial reports about a shooting at the school identified Ryan Lanza, Adam Lanza's older brother, as the gunman after he was mistakenly identified by a police official.

Ryan Lanza, 24, apparently posted Facebook updates on Friday afternoon that read, "It wasn't me" and "I was at work".

In northern New Jersey, where Ryan Lanza works at an accounting firm, police took him into custody for questioning.

A construction worker who witnessed Ryan Lanza's initial encounter with police said he was handcuffed but remained calm, the Record newspaper reported.

He was said to be co-operating with investigators, was not suspected of having a role in the attack, and had not been placed under arrest.

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Twenty children and six adults died when a gunman rampaged through a primary school in Newtown, Connecticut, firing a semi-automatic rifle before killing himself. Here is what is known so far about the events which began on a seemingly ordinary Friday morning, only a few days away from the Christmas holiday.

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This interactive article, courtesy of CNN, explains a step-by-step of what exactly occurred the day of the shooting.

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Before events at the school

At some point before he went to the school, investigators believe Adam Lanza, 20, killed his mother, Nancy Lanza.

He grabbed three guns from the house -- a semi-automatic AR-15 assault rifle made by Bushmaster and pistols made by Glock and Sig Sauer -- and went to the elementary school wearing black fatigues and a military vest, according to a law enforcement official.

Classes were under way at the school. Approximately 700 students were present.

Earlier this year, the school principal, Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, ordered a new security system installed that required visitors to be visibly identified and buzzed in. As part of the security system, the school locked its doors each day at 9:30 a.m.

The door was locked when the gunman arrived.

Authorities now know the gunman used "an assault weapon" to "literally (shoot) an entrance into the building," Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy said.

Inside the school

Hochsprung heard loud pops. She, school psychologist Mary Sherlach and vice principal Natalie Hammond went out to investigate.

Only Hammond returned from the hallway alive. She was wounded.

At about 9:30 a.m., as announcements were read over the loudspeaker to the students, shots were heard across the school. Students described being ushered into bathrooms and closets by teachers after hearing the first shots.

Lanza moved toward two classrooms of kindergartners and first-graders, police said.

In one classroom was Lauren Rousseau, a substitute teacher who was filling in for a teacher out on maternity leave. The gunman shot all 14 students in the classroom, law enforcement officers said.

In another classroom, Victoria Soto, 27, moved her first-grade students away from the door. The gunman burst in and shot her, according to the father of a surviving student. Six students were killed in that classroom.

First responders arrive

At the police station, dispatchers began to take calls from inside the school. Authorities say the first emergency call about the shooting came in at "approximately" 9:30 a.m.

"Sandy Hook school. Caller is indicating she thinks someone is shooting in the building," a dispatcher told fire and medical personnel, according to 911 tapes.

The first officer arrived on the scene of the Sandy Hook school shooting two minutes and 41 seconds after the first police radio broadcast of the shooting. Previous CNN reporting cited an incorrect arrival time based on early reports.

Police report that no law enforcement officers discharged their weapons at any point.

The gunman took his own life, police said. He took out a handgun and shot himself in a classroom as law enforcement officers approached, officials said.

Twenty students, ages 6 and 7, and six adults were killed at the school.

Police secured the building, ensuring no other shooters were on site. Police then escorted students and faculty out of the building to a nearby firehouse.

As reports of the shooting made their way around town, frantic parents descended on the firehouse where the children had been taken.

By nightfall, the firehouse became a gathering point for parents and family members whose loved ones would never walk out of the school.

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Sandy Hook Elementary shooting: What happened?

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At some point before he went to the school, investigators believe Adam Lanza, 20, killed his mother, Nancy Lanza. He grabbed three guns from the house -- a semi-automatic AR-15 assault rifle made by Bushmaster and pistols made by Glock and Sig Sauer -- and went to the elementary school wearing black fatigues and a military vest, according to a law enforcement official.