Thread: Sandy Hook shooting: Report Released

Sandy Hook shooting: What happened?

Twenty-six people -- 20 students and six adults -- were shot and killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14. Details continue to emerge about what precisely happened. Below is a timeline of events that compiles the latest reporting. Full coverage »

Early 12/14
Inside the school
First responders arrive


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.

The above weapons are similar to the ones found with the suspect: A Bushmaster rifle, a Glock handgun, and a Sig-Sauer handgun.
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.



A graphic depicting the site of the shooting. (CNN)

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.
Police and other first responders arrived on scene about 20 minutes after the first calls.
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.
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2012/12/us/sandy-hook-timeline/index.html

Complete coverage on Sandy Hook School shootings


Documents: Shooter had gun safe

Police released new documents related to the shootings last year at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, but a motive for the attack remained elusive. FULL STORY

• Did we learn nothing from Newtown?
• Newtown: 'Show the way' on gun control
• Shooter emulated Norway massacre?
• Governor orders review of gun laws
• Gabrielle Giffords visits Newtown
• NRA stance clear: arm schools
• Photos: Funerals | Remembrance
• Timeline: How tragedy unfolded

Warrants reveal arsenal found in Newtown shooter's home

Gary Stoller and John Bacon, USA TODAY11:48a.m. EDT March 28, 2013


A police officer leads two women and a child from Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14, shortly after Adam Lanza opened fire, killing 26 people.(Photo: Shannon Hicks, AP)


Hundreds of rounds of ammunition, guns, knives and three samurai swords were among the items seized from the home of Newtown, Conn., school killer Adam Lanza in the days after the tragedy, search warrants revealed.(Photo: AP)
NEWTOWN -- Hundreds of rounds of ammunition, guns, knives and three samurai swords were among the items seized from the home of Newtown, Conn., school killer Adam Lanza in the days after the tragedy, search warrants released Thursday revealed.
Lanza killed 20 students, six adults and himself at Sandy Hook Elementary School in less than five minutes, Danbury State's Attorney Stephen Sedensky said in a detailed statement issued when the documents were released. Lanza's body was found dressed in military garb and a bullet-proof vest.
The guns Lanza used were apparently purchased by Nancy Lanza, he said. Despite press reports that Adam Lanza had tried to buy at least one gun before the shooting, there is no indication that he attempted a purchase and was denied, Sedensky said.
There was "no indication of a struggle" when Lanza shot his mother, Nancy, with a .22 caliber rifle as she slept in the home they shared shortly before the bloodbath at the school, Sedensky said.
DOCUMENTS: Search warrants released
STORY: New ad features Newtown families
Police officers who entered the Lanza home after the shootings found a gun locker. "It was unlocked, and there was no indication it had been broken into," Sedensky said.
He said Lanza killed all 26 victims inside Sandy Hook Elementary School with a Bushmaster .223-caliber rifle before taking his own life with a Glock 10 mm handgun. He said Lanza had another loaded handgun with him inside the school as well as three, 30-round magazines for the Bushmaster.
The Bushmaster was loaded with a 30-round capacity magazine. Fourteen rounds were in the magazine when the Bushmaster was recovered by police, Sedensky said. There was one round in the chamber.
The four warrants released Thursday involve searches at the Newtown home on Yogananda Street and for the black Honda Civic that he drove to the school on Dec. 14. The warrants were sealed for 90 days in late December.
Sedensky asked Judge John Blawie to seal certain information, including the identity of a witness and undisclosed items obtained during the searches, for another 90 days.
The warrants say that a loaded 12-gauge shotgun was found in the glove compartment of Lanza's Honda Civic. Two magazines containing 70 rounds of Winchester 12-gauge shotgun rounds also were found in the car.
At the house, authorities found hundreds of rounds of ammunition and numerous knives, including samurai swords. They found a military-style uniform in Lanza's bedroom and handwritten notes containing the addresses of local gun shops. Investigators also found books about autism and Asperger's syndrome as well as an NRA guide to pistol shooting.
The documents indicate authorities found a brown gun safe with shotgun shells and numerous boxes of bullets. In a bedroom closet, they found ear plugs, a handwritten note regarding ammunition and magazines, paperwork on guns and a metal bayonet.
In a top drawer of a filing cabinet, they found paper targets. In a duffel bag, they found ear and eye protection, binoculars, numerous paper targets and Lanza's NRA certificate.
(Contributing: Associated Press)
A redacted excerpt from one of the search warrants issued by the Danbury Superior Court for the home of Adam Lanza, the shooter in the Newtown school killings.
(Photo: Danbury Superior Court)
　
　
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/28/newtown-search-warrants-released/2027639/

Opinion: Fair: Not quite enough discretion. Foul: NRA inflicts pain in Newtown STLtoday.com
In Depth: Sandy Hook Killer's Home Contained Large Cache of Weapons New York Times

Investigators: Adam Lanza surrounded by weapons at home; attack took less than 5 minutes

NBC's Michael Isikoff shares the newly released details on the investigation of Newtown shooter Adam Lanza and what police found in his home and car.
By Michael Isikoff, Tom Winter and Erin McClam, NBC News

Adam Lanza left a home stuffed with weaponry and carried out the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in a 154-bullet barrage that took less than five minutes, investigators said Thursday in the first detailed account of his surroundings and troubled state of mind.
Search warrants from the second-worst school shooting in American history revealed that the home Lanza shared with his mother in Newtown, Conn., was a veritable arsenal: Authorities found at least nine knives, three Samurai swords, two guns and a 7-foot, wood-handled pole with a blade on one side and a spear on the other.
Authorities also recovered a National Rifle Association certificate, seven of Lanza’s journals, drawings that he made and books from the house, including an NRA guide to the basics of pistol shooting.

The warrants offered a thorough look at the environment in which Lanza lived before he shot his mother, Nancy, to death and drove to Sandy Hook on the morning of Dec. 14. Twenty first-graders and six teachers and staff were killed before Lanza shot himself to death with the 155th bullet.
An FBI report included in the search warrants said that Lanza rarely left home, considered himself a shut-in and was an avid gamer who played “Call of Duty,” a first-person shooter game. Lanza considered the elementary school his “life,” the papers said.
Among other items seized from the home were a holiday card containing a check from his mother to buy a firearm, an article from The New York Times about a 2008 school shooting at Northern Illinois University and three photographs of what appeared to be a dead person covered with plastic and blood.
Full list of Lanza arsenal detailed in search warrants
Other books included “Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s” and “Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Mind of an Autistic Savant.”
At the school, Lanza fired the 154 rounds from a Bushmaster .223-model rifle and the final bullet from a Glock 10mm handgun to take his own life, said Stephen Sedensky, the chief prosecutor investigating the shooting.
Police recovered nine 30-round magazines for the Bushmaster that Lanza took to the school. Three of the magazines had a full 30 rounds still in them.
Among school shootings in the United States, the death toll from Newtown is second only to the 32 people killed at Virginia Tech in 2007.
The attack touched off a nationwide debate about gun control, and Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy used the release of the warrants to call for stricter gun laws.
“We knew that these weapons were legally purchased under our current laws,” Malloy said. “I don’t know what more we can need to know before we take decisive action to prevent gun violence. The time to act is now.”
On Wednesday, a judge granted a request from prosecutors to withhold some information in the records, including a witness name, credit card information, telephone numbers and serial numbers.
Lanza used a Bushmaster .223-caliber XM15-E2S rifle with a 30-round magazine to shoot the victims at the school, authorities have said.

Authorities also found the Glock 10mm semiautomatic pistol and a Sig-Sauer 9mm semiautomatic pistol in the school, one of which Lanza used to kill himself. In the car outside, police found a shotgun.
All those weapons were legally owned by the mother, authorities have said. Enough public blame and anger has been directed at her that she was left out of many of the memorials and shrines to the Newtown victims.
There have been reports that Lanza was obsessed with other mass killers, including Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people in a shooting and bomb attack in Norway two years ago.
A law enforcement official told NBC News last month that Lanza had collected material on previous mass shootings, although the source said there was no indication that it played a role in the school massacre.
Police told NBC News in February that investigators were still a long way from determining Lanza’s motive. Police said then that they hoped to have a report on the shooting finished by June.
Search warrants:
Dec. 14 (first) | Dec. 14 (second) | Dec. 14 (third) | Dec. 15 | Dec. 16
This story was originally published on
Thu Mar 28, 2013 9:23 AM EDT
　
　
http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/28/17501282-investigators-adam-lanza-surrounded-by-weapons-at-home-attack-took-less-than-5-minutes?lite

Connecticut State Police officers search outside St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Connecticut, on Sunday, December 16, after a threat prompted authorities to evacuate the building. Investigators found nothing to substantiate the reported threat, a police official said, declining to provide additional details. The church held Sunday services following last week's mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. Connecticut State Police officers walk out of St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church after the Newtown church received a threat December 16.
Firefighters attach black bunting to a fire truck as a memorial at the fire station down the street from the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on Saturday, December 15.
Connecticut Chief Medical Examiner H. Wayne Carver II talks to the media about the elementary school shooting during a press conference at Treadwell Memorial Park on December 15.
Zulma Sein is hugged by a family member outside of the entrance to the Sandy Hook School on Saturday.
Police officers keep guard at the entrance to the street leading to the Sandy Hook Elementary School on Saturday, December 15.
Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance addresses the press on December 15.
Police officers stand at the entrance to the street leading to the Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 15.
Corinne McLaughlin, a student at the University of Hartford, bows her head during a candlelight vigil at Hartford, Connecticut's Bushnell Park on Friday, December 14, honoring the students and teachers who died at Sandy Hook Elementary School in nearby Newtown earlier in the day.
Distraught people leave the fire station after hearing news of their loved ones from officials on Friday.
Emergency workers stand in front of the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.
A child and her mother leave a staging area outside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14.
Members of the media converge on December 14 in front of an apartment at 1313 Grand Street in Hoboken, New Jersey. The apartment is believed to be connected to the Connecticut elementary school shooting.
Faisal Ali, right, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, joins other people outside the White House on December 14 to participate in a candlelight vigil to remember the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
Connecticut State Police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance, center, briefs the media on the elementary school shootings during a press conference at Treadwell Memorial Park on December 14 in Newtown.
People weep and embrace near Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday, December 14.
A woman leans on a man as she weeps near Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14.
President Barack Obama wipes a tear as he speaks about the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School during a press briefing at the White House on December 14.
A woman weeps near the site of a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14.
A woman weeps near Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14.
People comfort each other near Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14.
A man takes in the scene near Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14.
A young girl is given a blanket after being evacuated from Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14.
State police personnel lead children from the school.
Children wait outside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, after the shooting.
A boy weeps at Reed Intermediate School after getting news of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14.
FBI SWAT team members walk along Dickinson Drive near Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14.
An aerial view of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14.
Connecticut State Troopers arrive on the scene outside Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14.
A Connecticut State Police officer runs with a shotgun at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on December 14.
Police patrol the streets around Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14.
People try to deal with the shock of the attack outside Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14.
Connecticut State Police secure the scene of the shooting on December 14.
People embrace outside Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14.
A man escorts his son away from Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14.
People take in the news outside Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14.
People line up to enter Newtown Methodist Church near the the scene of the shooting on December 14.
A woman speaks with a Connecticut state trooper outside Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14.
The streets around Sandy Hook Elementary are packed with first responders and other vehicles.
A view of the scene at Sandy Hook Elementary School after the shooting.
A young boy is comforted outside Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14.
People embrace each other on December 14.

HIDE CAPTION

Authorities say Adam Lanza killed himself after killing 20 students and six women at a Connecticut elementary school.

March 28th, 2013
12:35 PM ET

Newtown probe: Shooting took under 5 minutes

• Prosecutors release new documents related to December's shootings at school in Newtown, Connecticut
• Documents: Investigators found a gun safe in shooter Adam Lanza's room
• Documents: 1,600 rounds of ammunition found in Lanza's home
• Police say Adam Lanza, 20, killed his mother, then 20 children and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut before killing himself
• People who knew Lanza described him as quiet, smart, socially awkward. Connecticut's medical examiner has said he was told that Lanza had Asperger's syndrome.
• Live updates below. Also, read the full story.

[Updated at 12:35 p.m. ET] The National Rifle Association has released a statement following the release of the Newtown documents – apparently reacting to what the documents say about investigators finding NRA certificates for Lanza and his mother, Nancy.
"There is no record of a member relationship between Newtown killer Adam Lanza, nor between Nancy Lanza, A. Lanza or N. Lanza with the National Rifle Association," the NRA statement said. "Reporting to the contrary is reckless, false and defamatory."
[Updated at 12:17 p.m. ET] President Obama's pro-gun-control event at the White House has just finished – and he referred to Newtown many times as he tried to fight against waning public support for Senate Democrats' post-Newtown gun-control proposals.
He essentially was arguing that some people are suffering from short attention spans – that people who were persuaded to support ammunition magazine limits and universal background checks immediately after the Newtown shootings might be letting their support slip because Newtown is no longer in the news every day.
"We need everybody to remember how they felt 100 days ago (after the Newtown shooting) and make sure (what we said then) wasn’t just a bunch of platitudes," Obama said.
"Now's the time to turn that heartbreak into something real."
Obama also said that "some powerful voices on the other side" want to delay action on gun legislation. "Their assumption is that people will just forget about it," the president said.
Earlier this month, NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre said background checks of firearms purchases won't stop gun violence, but would serve agendas of people "bent on destroying the Second Amendment." In a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, he said expanded background checks would be a first step toward a liberal desire to create a national gun registry.
"In the end, there are only two reasons for government to create that federal registry of gun owners – to tax them or to take them," LaPierre said on March 15. Supporters of expanded checks deny the legislation would create such a registry.
[Updated at 12:07 p.m. ET] President Obama, at his pro-gun-control event at the White House, says the anguish is still fresh in Newtown, and that thousands of Americans' lives have been "stolen by bullets" in recent months. (WATCH LIVE)
Some background on the legislation that Obama is backing: Proposed by Senate Democrats, the package includes expanded background checks, tougher laws against gun trafficking and straw purchases, and efforts to improve school security.
He said moments ago: "This is our best chance in more than a decade" to pass what Obama believes is "common-sense gun control legislation."
Obama recalls that when he visited Newtown after the shooting, he told people there that if there's a step that Washington can take to save just one child, Washington should do it.
"None of these ideas should be controversial," Obama says.
Recent polls show support for new gun legislation on the wane, and Obama appears to be reacting to that.
"Shame on us if we've forgotten" the horrors of Newtown, Obama said. "I haven't forgotten those kids."
[Updated at 11:58 a.m. ET] President Obama's pro-gun-control event at the White House has begun. We're listening to see if he mentions Newtown. (WATCH LIVE)
Introducing Obama is Katerina Rodgaard, a Maryland dance instructor who knew one of the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings. Rodgaard, representing Moms Demand Action: For Gun Sense in America, says her heart breaks for the relatives of the Newtown victims.
[Updated at 11:47 a.m. ET] An update to one of the entries below: The documents released today say that investigators found more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition – not 1,400 – in the home of Nancy Lanza and her son, Adam.
[Updated at 11:43 a.m. ET] Speaking of gun control and Newtown: Pro-gun-control television ads featuring relatives of the Newtown massacre victims were released today. They're the first such ads featuring Newtown relatives.
In the spots – one is 60 seconds, the other is 90 seconds – family members talk about their loved ones and call on political leaders to embrace tougher gun laws.
[Updated at 11:35 a.m. ET] President Barack Obama in a few minutes is scheduled to make another push for stricter gun controls at an event at the White House. We'll see if he mentions any of today's Newtown developments.
The White House event comes on what advocates of tougher gun laws call a national day of action, with rallies and other gatherings planned in cities across the country.
[Updated at 11:17 a.m. ET] Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy just released this statement:

"I want to thank the Office of the Chief State's Attorney for providing this information today. In some cases, the facts really do speak for themselves, and in this case they only add starker detail to what we already knew.
“We knew that a disturbed individual entered a school and fired 154 rounds in less than 5 minutes, killing 20 innocent children and 6 dedicated educators. We knew that he had ready access to weapons that he should not have had access to. We knew that these weapons were legally purchased under our current laws. We knew he used 30-round magazines to do it, and that they allowed him to do maximum damage in a very short period of time. And we now know that he left the lower capacity magazines at home.
"This is exactly why we need to ban high capacity magazines and why we need to tighten our assault weapons ban. I don't know what more we can need to know before we take decisive action to prevent gun violence. The time to act is now."

[Updated at 11:11 a.m. ET] We just got this information about the shooting timeline – investigators estimate that it all took less than 300 seconds, a Connecticut state attorney said Thursday.
In a statement released with the documents that came out today, state attorney Stephen J. Sedensky III says that from the time that shooter Adam Lanza forced his way into the building to the moment he took his own life, less than five minutes elapsed.
[Updated at 11 a.m. ET] For a review of what we already knew about the December 14 shooting, see this timeline.
[Updated at 10:43 a.m. ET] A little bit on what we already knew about Lanza: Connecticut's medical examiner said he was told that Lanza, 20, had Asperger's syndrome. Research has not shown a link between that condition and violence.
A profile of Lanza and his mother by CNN's Ashley Fantz describes him as a quiet, smart, socially awkward young man. Nancy Lanza kept a lot of weapons, from assault rifles to handguns, at her home – people described her as a responsible gun owner who had the weapons for self-defense. The two had frequented several gun ranges over the past several years.
[Updated at 10:04 a.m. ET] Authorities found in Lanza's home a holiday card with a check made out to him "for the purchase of a C183 (firearm), authored by (his mother) Nancy Lanza," documents released today show.
[Updated at 10:03 a.m. ET] Another detail from today's document release: A search warrant of the home of Lanza's mother, Nancy, shows that investigators found more than 1,400 rounds of ammunition at the house.
[Posted at 10:01 a.m. ET] Police released new documents related to December's shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, but a motive for the attack remained elusive.
Included in the new information is the report that a gun safe was found in the bedroom of 20-year-old Adam Lanza, who took guns belonging to his mother, Nancy, and shot her in her forehead in her bed. Then he went to the school in Newtown, where he gunned down 20 children and six staff members before killing himself.
Relatives of the victims were briefed Wednesday about the documents, which were released Thursday morning.
Some of the documents, released by state prosecutors, have been redacted at the prosecutors' request, said Paul Vance, a spokesman for the Connecticut State Police.
The documents may contain new information but perhaps no big surprises, Vance said before the documents' release.
State police are continuing their investigation, which is not expected to be completed until June, he said.
Read more the full story about the documents here.
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2013/03/28/newtown-probe-1-4k-ammo-rounds-in-lanza-home/?eref=googletoolbar

Ok, I see all of this released information and all of these pictures of police, grieving families, and Barack Obama pretending to wipe away a non existent tear, but.....

Couldn't the authorities prevent fueling any further speculation by releasing a video clip of Adam Lanza blasting his way into the school since the new security door and hallway within had video surveillance???

Where are the pictures or video of Lanza with these guns?

W



Originally Posted by ALIPAC

Ok, I see all of this released information and all of these pictures of police, grieving families, and Barack Obama pretending to wipe away a non existent tear, but.....

Couldn't the authorities prevent fueling any further speculation by releasing a video clip of Adam Lanza blasting his way into the school since the new security door and hallway within had video surveillance???

Where are the pictures or video of Lanza with these guns?

W

I believe that the media would have to request the pictures/video from the local police, county sheriff, state police, F.B.I., A.T.F., etc. and if they were refused they would have to go to court to get a judge to order them released. There may be a lawsuit about this making it's way through the court system, but I haven't seen any news about it.

Why hasn't some member of Congress requested the pictures and videos?