Connecticut school district on lockdown after shooting report at a Newtown elemen #5

[not_my_kids]

This morning I have to send my kids back to school. A school district upstate from me (Cass City, MI) is closed for the rest of the calendar year.

According to Superintendent Jeff Hartel, over the weekend the district learned that a student made threats about "shooting up the school."
http://www.wnem.com/story/20359019/gun-threat-closes-cass-city-schools

You guys have no idea how much I have debated over the weekend just calling them in for the next few days, saying we have family in town for the holidays...
But I guess it's best to get back to the routine.

 

[Darkman00]

Mother devoted her life to Adam Lanza – then he ended it

By JENNIFER BAIN and TARA PALMERI in Newtown, Conn., and JEANE MACINTOSH in New York

Last Updated: 5:14 AM, December 17, 2012
Posted: 1:52 AM, December 17, 2012

BETRAYED: Nancy Lanza, mother of the gunman, had “loved him more than anything,” a friend says.

Adam had attended Sandy Hook as a child, then the St. Rose of Lima Church’s Catholic school. He was later home-schooled and graduated from the local high school early, Nancy’s friends said.

A spokesman for Western Connecticut State University said Adam had started at that college at age 16, taking six classes at the school in 2008 and 2009. There was no indication of any disciplinary problems while he was there.

She [Nancy] constantly tried to help Adam.”

She assisted Adam, a gaming and tech enthusiast, in finding odd jobs fixing computers.

After Friday’s shooting, detectives pored over his computer in search of clues to what might have triggered his rampage.

Adam enjoyed playing the video game “Dance Dance Revolution” at the local mall and was “meek and mild and quietly brilliant,” Hanoman said.

“He felt more comfortable with Nancy and people my age,” he said.

“He thought he had nothing in common with people his age. He had no contact with little children.”

At home, Adam often stayed in his room, said family friend Ellen Adriani. Nancy would plan his vegan meals days in advance and was teaching him to cook.

“His house was a safe place for him,” Adriani added.

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Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mother_devoted_her_life_to_him_then_PADqWsNSMfrx3KnO6JnlrI/1
​

 

[~n/t~]

We're hearing two totally different profiles of the killer.

Dance Dance Revolution as far as I know is not a violent video game but yet there are other reports stating he was into violent video games.

Regardless, I don't think video games makes one murder a class full of little children and teachers.

I'd like to know why his dad hadn't seen him in over a year and why his brother was estranged.

Will we ever know the truth? Probably not.

 

[Darkman00]

Group of terrified first-graders tried to escape from crazed gunman Adam Lanza - but they didn't make it

Grieving dad: My son ‘had no fear’

By SELIM ALGAR
Last Updated: 7:15 AM, December 17, 2012
Posted: 12:49 AM, December 17, 2012

A group of little first-graders was so terrified when crazed gunman Adam Lanza burst into their classroom that they ran from their safe hiding place only to be promptly gunned down, one of the children’s fathers recounted yesterday.

“I wish my kid stayed put,” shattered father Neil Heslin said of his 6-year-old son Jesse Lewis’ decision to make a run for it.

“But that’s Jesse,’’ the dad told The Post, struggling to make sense of the tragedy.

“I can see him making that choice and just doing something. My boy died the way I would have died if I was in that position.”

“He never complained,” Heslin said. “He was always there, always ready to keep going.”

“I have no family left,” the divorced father said.

“Jesse was all I had.”

...

...six of the panicked children attempted to flee from Lanza, the newspaper reported.

They were all immediately shot down.

Soto and a teacher’s aide were also killed in the chaos.

The seven remaining students stayed hidden in terrified silence until they were discovered cowering by astonished investigators.

“Finally, [authorities] opened that door, and there were seven sets of eyes looking at them,” a law-enforcement source told the newspaper.

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Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/year_olds_who_ran_into_gunfire_PY9xCKzemk7H5Cj05bubxJ

 

[~n/t~]

I can't speak for the mother but if God forbid my son did something like this, I'd want to be dead.

 

[Cappuccino]

I can't speak for the mother but if God forbid my son did something like this, I'd want to be dead.

Ditto.

I've often thought that reading through some of the cases on here, I'd rather be the mother of one of the victims than be responsible for bringing such a monster into the world.

 

[Darkman00]

“They had recently gone to many different colleges looking for the right program for Adam, and the right living situation,” he said.

“He wanted to study engineering. Nancy was going to move wherever he was going to go. Not to live with him but to live near him.

“They were looking at schools in Seattle and one of the Carolinas. “It was his goal to be independent.”

...

Lanza shot his mother multiple times as she lay in her bed in their $1.6 million Newtown, Conn., home.

Sources said Nancy was shot in the head four times at close range, leaving her nearly unrecognizable. She was wearing her pajamas when she was slain, The Washington Post reported.

Adam — who had learned to drive only last summer — then took her black Honda...

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Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mother_devoted_her_life_to_him_then_PADqWsNSMfrx3KnO6JnlrI/0

 

[Ricki]

I am watching ABC GMA. George Steponopolis is reporting on Church St in Newtown infront of a Church. Are they planning on being at these funerals today? IMO they should not be televised. I find it OK if they are there to still gather accurate information but not to air the funerals. Does anyone know if this is their intentions?

 

[Darkman00]

The woman who wrote the blog, "I am Adam's mother" will be on the Today Show this morning...

 

[Darkman00]

“I Am Adam Lanza’s Mother”: When Parents Are Afraid of Their Children

By Susanna SchrobsdorffDec. 17, 2012

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2012/12/...s-are-afraid-of-their-children/#ixzz2FJcxpJ9f

 

[Marina2]

I just took my 6 year old granddaughter to school as I do every morning. Today was different though. Two marked LE cars parked in front and an armed guard standing at the door. I couldn't even make it out of there without breaking down again. What has this world come to?

 

[~n/t~]

Funeral Services

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-newtown-funerals-20121216,0,7688567.story

 

[Disguiseduser0308]

I am completely floored by the photos posted by Darkman00 of mother and shooter. Especially the obvious physical changes in AL.

Picture #4 (under spoilers) shows a bright-eyed, fresh-faced child that we see in our everyday lives. Just under it is the first picture we saw of AL. I'm taken aback by his physical decompensation.

What was happening/happened during the time frame of these two photos? I have no words. No words at all.

 

[stmarysmead]

The school picture with Adam as a young boy (looks 6/7) is so cute. He looks like a normal, happy kid in that orange Navy sweater. The picture of him waving (12/13?), his appearance is definitely different, but it doesn't look like a troubled kid, just an normal 12/13 year old going through a normal awkward stage. But then get to the B/W photograph where his eyes are bulging and his face sunken in... It's literally a different person.

Looking at the pictures of Adam as a child reminds me that, to a Mother, no matter the changes, we always see that little child we loved ..."in there somewhere."

Her child transformed over the years from a cute little guy with problems that might have seemed conquerable...to the vision of a societal outcast. Was there the hope that the young Adam might just find friends...or "a" friend...and his life would be immeasurably improved by fitting in somewhere? He was cute...and very smart. But, in a society that judges so often on looks and rejects "differentness"...these later pictures show that Adam's exterior and his demeanor begin to strongly signal his "apart-ness."

But to his Mom, her bright little guy was "in there somewhere." His shyness, his fears, his neediness, kept him childlike to her. His intelligence probably fed her hope and denial. This Mother must have lived with a lot of heartache for a long, long time.

 

[Roxye]

And here we go......


MAURY COUNTY, Tenn.- A teenager in Maury County has been arrested for threatening to go on a shooting rampage. Sheriff's Deputies say 19-year-old Shawn Lenz wrote on Facebook that he felt like going on a rampage just like the guy in Connecticut.

http://www.newschannel5.com/story/20359121/local-teen-arrested-for-shooting-threat

I don't have a link but the local talk radio station was reporting they seized several guns and his computer.

http://www.997wtn.com/

I found the guys facebook page and people were actually defending him, saying he was only joking. WTH?

 

[Disguiseduser0308]

I just took my 6 year old granddaughter to school as I do every morning. Today was different though. Two marked LE cars parked in front and an armed guard standing at the door. I couldn't even make it out of there without breaking down again. What has this world come to?

I'm readying my children for school this morning and am having the same feelings of breaking down & fear. My youngest was born the same year as most of the children lost in Sandy Hook. Trying so hard to keep it under control, but sometimes the fear feels like it's getting the best of me.

 

[Darkman00]

Gunman Adam Lanza killed himself as police closed in, shot all victims multiple times

... some nice photos there ...

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/1...ce-closed-in-shot-all-victims-multiple-times/

 

[italianWSfan]

Group of terrified first-graders tried to escape from crazed gunman Adam Lanza - but they didn't make it

Grieving dad: My son ‘had no fear’

By SELIM ALGAR
Last Updated: 7:15 AM, December 17, 2012
Posted: 12:49 AM, December 17, 2012

A group of little first-graders was so terrified when crazed gunman Adam Lanza burst into their classroom that they ran from their safe hiding place only to be promptly gunned down, one of the children’s fathers recounted yesterday.

“I wish my kid stayed put,” shattered father Neil Heslin said of his 6-year-old son Jesse Lewis’ decision to make a run for it.

“But that’s Jesse,’’ the dad told The Post, struggling to make sense of the tragedy.

“I can see him making that choice and just doing something. My boy died the way I would have died if I was in that position.”

“He never complained,” Heslin said. “He was always there, always ready to keep going.”

“I have no family left,” the divorced father said.

“Jesse was all I had.”

...

...six of the panicked children attempted to flee from Lanza, the newspaper reported.

They were all immediately shot down.

Soto and a teacher’s aide were also killed in the chaos.

The seven remaining students stayed hidden in terrified silence until they were discovered cowering by astonished investigators.

“Finally, [authorities] opened that door, and there were seven sets of eyes looking at them,” a law-enforcement source told the newspaper.

--------

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/year_olds_who_ran_into_gunfire_PY9xCKzemk7H5Cj05bubxJ

Oh my god. This is terrible.
I can only hope that the children who survived, and also those who died, were not fully aware of what exactly was going on. I hope that everything happened so fast and chaotic that they hadnt any time to think about or understand the situation they were in.
I would probably faint out of fear in that situation, or shout my voice out, but I could never ever remain silent if was hidden somewhere and hear my friends who escape being shot.

 

[not_my_kids]

JMO, if it's true that the gunman excelled at school and had a high IQ it is imo somewhat more unlikely that he had started exhibiting symptoms of childhood schizophrenia very early on. This is not to say that geniuses couldn't develop schizophrenia, that no children with the diagnosis ever do well at school or that he couldn't have begun having symptoms in adolescence or early adulthood. But childhood schizophrenia is frequently accompanied with problems in academic achievement. Sometimes there is an associated decrease in IQ test results but even if there isn't it's easy to understand why the symptoms make it easy for a delusional/hallucinating child or a child with negative symptoms to underachieve at school. Problems with educational attainment are even listed in one of the diagnosis criteria. It might be even more evident if undiagnosed and untreated, I'd think. AL seems to have done pretty well at school at least up until his teen years when he dropped out of high school (but even then he took college courses at 16...) If he had schizophrenia at all I would guess the serious symptoms started rather recently, not in very early childhood. JMO and I could be wrong, as always.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2816177/
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/914840-overview

I wonder if the college classes weren't taken through what they call a "middle college" where high schoolers and sometimes alternative students can take certain classes for general college credits. Just thinking out loud.

 

[Marina2]

I'm readying my children for school this morning and am having the same feelings of breaking down & fear. My youngest was born the same year as most of the children lost in Sandy Hook. Trying so hard to keep it under control, but sometimes the fear feels like it's getting the best of me.

It's very hard especially when you see and interact with children this age every day. My granddaughter is in first grade and I walk her to her class each morning. When I get to the door all the little children look up and wave to me, some running up to grab my legs with both arms to give me a hug (they like me for some reason). To say it was difficult today would be putting it mildly. I can't imagine what her teacher must be feeling.