BREAKING: Shooting at Conn. Elementary School

[username]

I don't think a copy cat murder is out of the realm of possibility.

Why hasn't LE put forth any type of potential motive from whatever they found at the house? Maybe there wasn't enough there for them to draw any concrete conclusions and they never will. I dunno but copy cat seems possible to me and I agree with MS about the games.

[Jimbone]

I find it odd that LE has been so very quiet actually. The forensic investigation should be wrapped up by now.

Apart from the atrocious reporting early on, we've not heard much.

[Sphincter Cop]

Good questions MS.

But I don't agree with any media outlet that attempts to legitimize sensationalism of an assumption. I don’t buy the whole video game violence explanation either.

Here's my opinion on video games, particularly violent ones:

If you're mentally stable, violent video games are not going to 'turn' you to violence necessarily.

If you're mentally UNstable, I think hours and hours, weeks and weeks and months and months of playing them could desensitize you to the point where the line between fantasy and reality becomes blurred.

Throw in a few traumatic events like parents divorcing, being kicked out of school and considered a social outcast, and the recipe is there for disaster.

All that's missing are the actual weapons and ammunition.

Good argument overall, I can accept that thinking. The media should have presented it in the same manner.

I forgot about the World Of Warcraft people.

[chinchillas2cool]

quote='Jimbone' pid='307996' dateline='1361302113']

I know right! The multiply effortlessly, like bunnies.

I thought you just had to spill water on them and they multiply.
[/quote]

[Duchess]

Just so you all know, I got this from the Daily Mail, the same rag I often laugh at & question their facts.

According to an article in the New Yorker magazine, Shannon Hicks, a reporter and photographer with local paper the Newtown Bee and a volunteer firefighter, spoke to one seven-year-old shortly afterwards.

She was on her way to the firehouse, which is 350 yards from the school and where the survivors were taken, when the boy asked her a question.

The New Yorker article reads: ‘He asked her if there had been a wild animal in the building.

‘Yes honey’, she said. As the boy’s class continued to the firehouse she heard the children whispering to each other down the line 'a wild animal, a wild animal, a wild animal.’

The article also reveals that police initially thought that there could be up to 60 victims and tells of the moment that parents realized their children were among the victims.

Mums and dads had been asked to come to the firehouse but as the number of children left to be claimed got fewer and fewer it felt like the ‘room was filling up with some kind of gas’, said John Voket, another reporter with the Newtown Bee.

When one mother realized that her child would not be coming back, a rabbi who was in the firehouse stood by her asking her to breathe.

He said: ‘My focus was cardiac arrest. I didn’t want the physiological reaction to kill her.’

[HairOfTheDog]

It's coming up on a year since Adam Lanza shot his mother, 20 school children, six teachers and himself.

Very little about the investigation has been released to the public; authorities claim that's primarily in respect of the victims' families desire for privacy.

Today, a judge ruled that the summary investigative report (may include 911 calls) will be released to the public under the state's Freedom of Information Act.

The victims' families were allowed to view the report in advance of the public release.

Interested to see if there are any new details in the report, particularly as to "why?".

Source:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/...z2lgRBTj6z

[Duchess]

Today, a judge ruled that the summary investigative report (may include 911 calls) will be released to the public under the state's Freedom of Information Act.

Good.

I think most of Mock got drawn into this one. It was so saddening & horrifying to see/read/hear details of this case. I can remember thinking I just couldn't stand to hear one more thing about it. Of course that's nothing compared to what the families and that town felt but for my little space in here it was just too much awfulness.

[HairOfTheDog]

I think it's good that they're releasing a report, too.

There probably wont' be too much new info, but more details about what's already known.

At the very least, maybe the conspiracy theorists who insist that the Sandy Hook massacre never took place and was staged by the government as a political diversion, or by gun control advocates as a platform, will shut up.

All the LE and media silence after so much early coverage has fueled the nut jobs and kept the rest of us from learning more about how it went down and what might be done to minimize the fatalities when the next Adam Lanza appears on the scene.

The residents of Newtown are reportedly nervous about high levels of media attention again once the report is made public. I understand that, but do think the public has a right to be informed.

[HairOfTheDog]

INVESTIGATIVE REPORT RELEASED TO PUBLIC

Don't have time to read through it right now, but the official report PDF is here:
http://www.ct.gov/csao/lib/csao/Sandy_Ho...Report.pdf

Snipped from page 3:
It is the conclusion of this State’s Attorney that the shooter acted alone and was solely criminally responsible for his actions of that day. Moreover, none of the evidence developed to date demonstrates probable cause to believe that any other person conspired with the shooter to commit these crimes or aided and abetted him in doing so.

Unless additional – and at this time unanticipated – evidence is developed, there will be no state criminal prosecution as result of these crimes. With the issuance of this report, the investigation is closed. Should additional reliable information related to the existence of accessories or co-conspirators come to the attention of the investigators, the investigation will be reopened.

The obvious question that remains is: “Why did the shooter murder twenty-seven people,
including twenty children?” Unfortunately, that question may never be answered conclusively, despite the collection of extensive background information on the shooter through a multitude of interviews and other sources. The evidence clearly shows that the shooter planned his actions, including the taking of his own life, but there is no clear indication why he did so, or why he targeted Sandy Hook Elementary School.

It is known that the shooter had significant mental health issues that affected his ability to live a normal life and to interact with others, even those to whom he should have been close. As an adult he did not recognize or help himself deal with those issues. What contribution this made to the shootings, if any, is unknown as those mental health professionals who saw him did not see anything that would have predicted his future behavior.

He had a familiarity with and access to firearms and ammunition and an obsession with mass murders, in particular the April 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado. Investigators however, have not discovered any evidence that the shooter voiced or gave any indication to others that he intended to commit such a crime himself.

(HOTD edit: formatting)

[Duchess]

I scanned it - his mother knew he was fucked in the head, she knew it and she gave him a check at Christmas to buy a gun, a CZ 83 firearm. Jesus.

[SIXFOOTERsez]

The report seems to indicate a pretty thorough investigation, lots of details, no blood and guts.
He was definitely a squirrel though and mom provided him with weapons.
She grew up with guns and it sounds like shooting was a family thing, ok, But I wonder if she or some or all parents of tard kids turn a blind eye to the dangers their kids represent? Sure sounds like she did. She and the father knew he was a wacko about mass killings and the like and still provided him with weapons. He may never have displayed any overt violent behavior, but I would sure not have trusted him with a gun, ever.

[crash]

Maybe she thought buying him weapons was her way of 'staying off the list'..

[HairOfTheDog]

Maybe she thought buying him weapons was her way of 'staying off the list'..

I don't go into my niece's room because it's a mess, and she's not a child, and it's her's, and I give her privacy. BUT, it's my house and she's under my care. I COULD go in there any time I damn well pleased. If she were anti-social, unable to attend school or maintain familial relationships, or anything more maddening than the normal lazy angst-ridden teen, I'd be watching her like a hawk.

Having said that, I understand a parent not wanting to think their child would/could do anything so evil and heinous.

What I don't understand is how a parent lets a teen who they know is so deeply disturbed call the shots. Even if the parent is in denial about what the child might do to others, wouldn't a normal parent be checking to make sure their child wasn't preparing to hurt himself and keeping control of weapons in the house?

Even If you, as a parent, were afraid OF one of your own children, wouldn't you also be afraid FOR him/ her?

Mrs. Lanza is dead. That sucks. But, Mrs. Lanza could have done more to save herself and 26 other people, including her son, IMO. Maybe I just don't understand full parenting and how most would have handled the situation though - open to that possibility.

Anyway, this snipped part of the report had me shaking my head.

Mock parents: how the hell does this happen?

Snip:
In Lanza’s home, police found a spreadsheet of mass murders, photographs of Lanza holding a gun to his head, multiple firearms, and “many edged weapons, knives, swords, spears, etc.”

At the home where Lanza lived with his mother, police found Adam Lanza’s bedroom windows taped over with black trash bags. Police also found multiple articles about school shootings, including one about the 2008 shooting at Northern Illinois University and another “pertaining to the shooting of school children” in 1891.

“Investigators found a large number of firearms and related items in the home,” the report states. “All firearms involved in these incidents were legally purchased by the shooter’s mother over the years.”

Adam Lanza had not been in touch with his older brother, Ryan, since 2010. Lanza's relationship with his father also apparently "deteriorated" in 2010. Lanza's mother, Nancy, was not allowed in his room.

[crash]

I'm sorry, HotD, I was being half serious, half smart ass. I didn't mean to illicit such a response. I just thought it was worth the consideration that indeed the mother was aware of how unstable the son was, but in hand, was genuinely scared of him and what he might do (to her personally) if she denied him. And she may have fallen into the trap of 'If I give him what he wants, he will do what I want'.. There are many, many documented cases of parents ignoring the irrational behaviour of their children, or not reporting them for mild to wild discrepancies for the fear of losing them forever.

I don't go into my niece's room because it's a mess, and she's not a child, and it's her's, and I give her privacy. BUT, it's my house and she's under my care. I COULD go in there any time I damn well pleased. If she were anti-social, unable to attend school or maintain familial relationships, or anything more maddening than the normal lazy angst-ridden teen, I'd be watching her like a hawk.

I agree. But you're a very intuitive, intelligent, mature and empathetic woman. Unfortunately the same can't be said for very guardian of a child on this planet.

[HairOfTheDog]

What?!?!

I thought your question was a good one and jumped off your post because I read it after finishing reading the full investigative report. While I was reading the report, I'd wondered myself if Mrs. Lanza was terrified of her own son and was trying to protect herself above all else by placating him and turning a blind eye.

I don't think that's normal for a parent, but then I'm not a traditional parent. That's why I asked those of you who are traditional parents about how you think you'd handle such a teen/situation.

And, this lame ass bitch is still interested in hearing those perspectives.

Thanks for sharing yours, mofo!.

[crash]

P.s. Did you just call me a lame ass bitch for giving my girl her own space?! Well, I... Ah hell, that's probably as good a reason as any.

One teenage girl's mad cool aunt is anothers straight laced, uptight mother's lame ass...it's how the world turns

Addit: and no, I don't think it's normal adult parental behaviour either. But many people are blinded by not only love for their partner, but more so the love of their children. They will do very erratic things, do what they think is, protecting them.

[HairOfTheDog]

I changed my comment a bit while you were quoting me, but I hear what you're saying, maybe. I think. Possibly.

If I understand correctly, whether you raise a child from birth or inherit one who's 18, no difference in how much you'd notice or respond to the situation, from your perspective.

P.s. I don't think I'm in the running for the mad cool aunt award- things are getting real around here. She probably wouldn't think of me as a lame ass bitch, but she knows I don't care who thinks I'm cool or uncool - and she's no exception. I think that's frustrating her a bit. Good! (I know I'm lucky that my biggest challenge is getting her to change the cat box litter and get off the X-box once in a while.)

[crash]

Yeah, we're on the same page..

I don't think I'm in the running for the mad cool aunt award

She will later, trust me...

[Duchess]

This is going to sound awful but what the fuck - I think it's probably good that the mother is dead. She bears more than a little responsibility for what went down that day. With her dead this will spare the parents the ordeal of her trial and everything that goes along with that.

I feel that, in a sense, she cultivated his illness. I really cannot get past her giving him a check (as a Christmas gift) to buy a gun. I just can't. She knew how sick he was.

[Midwest Spy]

Duchess, she definitely bears the brunt of the responsibility in providing him with weapons and ammo.

His story runs a little deeper though. His family knew he was withdrawing as far back as 7^th grade. His father and brother essentially leave in 2010. That had to take a huge emotional toll.

He obviously wasn't able to function in society, and to placate him, his mother allowed him to do whatever he wanted in their home. I'm sure I heard somewhere that she never wanted guests at her house. She didn't want word to get out what she had living with her.

As far as we know, he could've threatened her if she brought up the words 'professional help,. As Crash noted, she absolutely could've feared for her own personal safety.

He was a ticking time bomb. Providing him with guns was a tragedy waiting to happen. However, from what I've heard, she had no support group to help her manage him.

The question now is, how does the next parent in this situation take the appropriate actions to ensure their timebomb doesn't go off?