Connecticut school district on lockdown after shooting report at a Newtown elemen #11

[iSleuth]

GE gives $15M for Newtown, Conn., community center

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-11-19-13-28-14

General Electric is the employer of Peter Lanza, the father of Newtown gunman Adam Lanza. Peter Lanza issued a statement the day after the massacre in which he expressed sympathy for the victims' families and said his own family was struggling to make sense of what happened, but he has not spoken publicly.

I hope they are decontaminating and using the FairfieldHills facility. So many Amazing buildings on the site ,and it would be so fitting a teeny bit ironic. Jmo


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[eileenhawkeye]

There's going to be a 40-page report released about Newtown on Monday:

http://www.wsfa.com/story/24043722/sandy-hook-report-to-be-released-monday

 

[i.b.nora]

The report will be posted on the State of Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice website at 3 p.m.

The link to the website:

http://www.ct.gov/csao/site/default.asp

 

[nursebeeme]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/11/25/report-due-on-connecticut-school-shooting/

 

[i.b.nora]

The report available here now:

http://www.ct.gov/csao/cwp/view.asp?a=1801&q=535784

 

[i.b.nora]

The report available here now:

http://www.ct.gov/csao/cwp/view.asp?a=1801&q=535784

"The report concludes that the 20-year-old Adam Lanza acted alone when he fatally shot his mother at their home in Newtown and then went to the elementary school where he fatally shot 20 first-grade pupils and six adults and wounded two other adults."

Duh!!!

 

[HMSHood]

Looking at the report, there were Columbine related stuff and something about pedophiles.

 

[liljim]

i just finished reading the report and the appendix and there is a lot of interesting material in there.

but most significant to me was the level of isolation and overwhelming mental health issues he clearly had - he went 3 months living in the house with his mother but without speaking to her and only communicating thru email. all of the windows in the rooms he spent time in were completely sealed up with garbage bags and tape.

the home itself is sparsely furnished and boxes everywhere, it does not look like a home, it looks like they just moved in that day and had only put the main pieces of furniture in place.

so many guns and magazines and ammunition.

he had researched many school shootings extensively, books, printouts, bookmarks of sites regarding them, the entire columbine report.

significant violent imagery, writings (his own and other), fantasy, videos.

several mentions of pedophilia and the rights of pedophiles, he wrote about it, he looked into it online... (man/boy specifically)

there is a lot to take in, i found some of his online postings using his username/gamertags, nothing too significant, suggestions of his isolation but nothing blatant. (i cant be 100% certain its him but it seems to fit)

i hope they can somehow access that busted up hard drive, it has to mean something that he left so much stuff not destroyed but made sure to try to render that drive unreadable, (according to the report they do not expect to be able to get anything off of it, i hope they have consulted with all available resources for assistance)

i have sympathy for his mother, but i think it is fair and important in retrospect to say that because of his obvious, extreme, and specific set of mental health issues this guy needed to have his privacy intruded upon to see what he was being exposed to, he needed to have psychiatric care forced upon him, he definitely should not have had unfettered access to firearms.

that is the lesson to learn from this, not all parents need to be spying on their kids activities, but some do. firearms arent inherently evil, but some people cannot be allowed unrestricted access. you have to respect the the rights of the mentally ill, but you also have to know when you must intrude into their privacy/freedom and this can be an excellent case study for those issues.

there is no way he should have been allowed to isolate and expose himself to violent subject matter like that completely unchecked and unrestricted. this is not a person that snapped, he went down the road towards this for a long long time.

this is why i support reports like this being released as unredacted as possible, get as many sets of eyes on them as possible imo.

 

[liljim]

additionally, i am a staunch defender of video games and while i do not deny their effect on people i do not buy into them being a significant factor in CAUSING things like this to happen... that said;

for the reasons i stated in the above post, because of adam lanza's specific issues, i would support the idea that he should not have had access to violent video games, and if he did have them it should have been monitored, discussed, and limited.

again, i have much sympathy for his mother and this is not meant to sound like blaming her. it must have been an incredibly hard situation to try to deal with.

 

[liljim]

i also dont see anything to suggest he targeted sandy hook for any specific grudge or emotional reason, i think he completely lost the ability to relate to other people and consider their feelings or suffering, i think he saw no future for himself (whether or not he consciously thought about it), and i think over a looooong period of time he fixated on committing a school shooting - and that just happened to be the closest school so he picked it.

and i think it is entirely possible that thru intervention and the right treatment he may have been able to be led away from this path, but he was able to isolate and indulge this fixation/obsession with little if any contrary influence.

 

[vertex11]

Since mental illness is the crux of this case, one would think that the history of Adam Lanza's IEPs and his family's interviews with mental health professionals over the years would be central to the investigation. Has anything about mental illness, other than the barest hint of the Asberger's, come out of the report documenting the investigation? The other part is the utterly incompetent, although not legally criminal, way his Mom, his Dad, and his brother dealt with Adam Lanza's mental health issues. They all basically threw up their hands and refused to deal with it. No matter how mentally impaired Adam Lanza was, his nuclear family made it a million times worse by "how" they dealt with him. Since his mom paid with her life, I can only say that the Dad and the brother will live the rest of their lives in denial. They will never admit how they contributed massively to his condition. Yes, Adam Lanza needed major help, which he did not get, from mental health professionals, but the rest of his family did too. You need to "learn", truly learn, how to deal with someone in your family with major mental illness problems. You don't abandon your family (as the father did -- it was not money Adam needed, it was a father), you don't move away to New Jersey (like the brother did). You don't go on a 3-day jaunt leaving the mentally ill person alone stewing in his own juice (like the mother did). And that is just the tip of the iceberg.

This is a textbook case of how a family should NOT deal with mental illness. The mother, the father, and the brother made endless mistakes. Major mistakes. Truly incredible mistakes. And the result is clear to all.

 

[iSleuth]

Since mental illness is the crux of this case, one would think that the history of Adam Lanza's IEPs and his family's interviews with mental health professionals over the years would be central to the investigation. Has anything about mental illness, other than the barest hint of the Asberger's, come out of the report documenting the investigation? The other part is the utterly incompetent, although not legally criminal, way his Mom, his Dad, and his brother dealt with Adam Lanza's mental health issues. They all basically threw up their hands and refused to deal with it. No matter how mentally impaired Adam Lanza was, his nuclear family made it a million times worse by "how" they dealt with him. Since his mom paid with her life, I can only say that the Dad and the brother will live the rest of their lives in denial. They will never admit how they contributed massively to his condition. Yes, Adam Lanza needed major help, which he did not get, from mental health professionals, but the rest of his family did too. You need to "learn", truly learn, how to deal with someone in your family with major mental illness problems. You don't abandon your family (as the father did -- it was not money Adam needed, it was a father), you don't move away to New Jersey (like the brother did). You don't go on a 3-day jaunt leaving the mentally ill person alone stewing in his own juice (like the mother did). And that is just the tip of the iceberg.

This is a textbook case of how a family should NOT deal with mental illness. The mother, the father, and the brother made endless mistakes. Major mistakes. Truly incredible mistakes. And the result is clear to all.

Excellent post TY
As a matter of fact some of the only things that The State of Connecticut has released has been hinted at sometimes and focused on at others is mental illness as it relates to Lanza.
We haven't exactly seen IEPs but you can read between the lines. I wonder if they will ever be fully released. Some very interesting documents and links are here in these threads and also at the Connecticut Post website . Some school reports , drs mental health and hospital reports.
Heavy duty.
Prayers for all the victims of SandyHook.


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[jjenny]

Adam Lanza's brother is barely older than Adam.
Is he supposed to not live his own life, instead to dedicate his life to taking care of his mentally deficient brother?
I am not sure anything was going to help Adam Lanza anyway.
He seemed to have been really defective. Of course not allowing him access to guns would have been a good start, but his mother apparently believed it was a good way for them to bond.
She should have gotten a clue-her mentally deficient son and guns shouldn't have mixed.
Locking him up in some mental hospital would have been a way to go-but of course we pretty much got rid of those.

 

[ATasteOfHoney]

additionally, i am a staunch defender of video games and while i do not deny their effect on people i do not buy into them being a significant factor in CAUSING things like this to happen... that said;

for the reasons i stated in the above post, because of adam lanza's specific issues, i would support the idea that he should not have had access to violent video games, and if he did have them it should have been monitored, discussed, and limited.

again, i have much sympathy for his mother and this is not meant to sound like blaming her. it must have been an incredibly hard situation to try to deal with.

Personally, I think violent video games effects are a complex and subtle form of brainwashing; and some may be more likely or vulnerable to be "brainwashed" (they show less restraint). The latest (just released) studies seem to show that anyone and everyone is subjected to it's effects but at differing levels.

Studies as of 11/25/2013:
Ever since the horrific incident at Columbine High School, violent video games and mass shootings have been intertwined. Now, a new study from an international team of researchers has found playing violent video games not only increases aggression but can also cause players to exhibit less self-control and more unethical behaviors.

The study researchers found these effects were strongest in teenage participants who scored high on a scale for moral disengagement – the capacity for an individual to convince themselves that ethics don’t apply in a certain situation.

According to study author Brad Bushman, the results of the study show far-reaching impacts of playing violent video games.

“When people play violent video games, they show less self-restraint. They eat more, they cheat more,” said Bushman, a professor of psychology and communication at The Ohio State University. “It isn’t just about aggression, although that also increases when people play games like Grand Theft Auto.”

Based in Italy, the study experiment began with more than 170 teenagers playing a violent video game, such as Grand Theft Auto III, or a non-violent game like MiniGolf 3D, for a total of 45 minutes. As the teens played, a bowl containing chocolate M&Ms was placed next to the gaming console. The participants were told they could eat the candy, but warned eating too much in a short time span was unhealthy.

The researchers watched as those who played the violent games ate over three times as much candy as the other teens, according to the study team’s report in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.

“They simply showed less restraint in their eating,” Bushman said.

After their gaming session, the teens were given a 10-item logic test in which they would get one ticket for a prize raffle for each question they got correct. After finding out how many answers they got right, the teens were told to take the appropriate number of tickets out of an envelope while not being watched.

Knowing exactly how many tickets were in the envelope, the researchers could later determine if a participant took more than they had earned. They found violent game players cheated about eight times more often than did those who played a nonviolent game.

The researchers also tested participants’ level of aggression by having them play a game with an unseen fictional “partner” for the chance to blast the loser with a loud noise through headphones. They found violent game players chose to blast their fictitious partners with louder noises that lasted longer than those who played nonviolent games.

“We have consistently found in a number of studies that those who play violent games act more aggressively, and this is just more evidence,” Bushman said.

Participants also completed a Moral Disengagement Scale, which quantifies how loosely a person holds themselves to high moral standards in all situations. The researchers found violent game players who scored higher on the scale, and were therefore more disengaged, were more likely to take extra tickets, eat more candy and act more aggressively – compared to those who played the nonviolent games.

“Very few teens were unaffected by violent video games, but this study helps us address the question of who is most likely to be affected,” Bushman said. “Those who are most morally disengaged are likely to be the ones who show less self-restraint after playing.”

He added that the effects were seen among both male and female participants.

“One of the major risk factors for anti-social behavior is simply being male,” Bushman said. “But even girls were more likely to eat extra chocolate and to cheat and to act aggressively when they played Grand Theft Auto versus the mini golf or pinball game. They didn’t reach the level of the boys in the study, but their behavior did change.”

 

[lawstudent]

It sounds like there were a lot of mental health issues besides the Asperger's - or perhaps just psychological problems from his isolation. I can only think of one case where someone with Asperger's was violent - it probably was just a building obsession with violence and frustration with his future, but you'd think there would be more signs of that. Doesn't the report say the professionals he saw didn't see any signs of violence? And I read that he told his mother he would not care if anything happened to her, but she said he never displayed a violent nature? It's weird to me that this would happen if he had no history of making threats or throwing fits. And if he wasn't violent, it would have been hard to commit him. He wasn't even on medication - I don't know if that was his parents' beliefs about medication, but I assume that means he didn't need meds to control violent or insane behavior. The whole thing is odd - I don't expect people with serious mental health problems to make sense, but I do think the investigators need to be more open with the public. I am not a conspiracy theorist and I feel awful for the families, but I feel like an unnecessary air of suspicion has been added to this case because the information is so sparse. Ultimately, he was an adult, and there may honestly have been no way to effectively prevent this. He had no history of violence, and he wasn't a minor. Even if we had laws requiring people to keep guns away from those with a history of violence or children, he didn't meet that criteria. It's too hard to define when someone is "too mentally ill." Mental health treatment should be the larger focus - not sure how much info on that can be released. It sounds like his parents did have him see therapists, and it's not like there's a history of 911 calls about him acting out at home. I can't really pin it all on them without more information.

 

[jjenny]

He was isolated, playing violent video games, was taught how to use guns, and had access to guns. Not a good combination for a mentally ill individual.

 

[HMSHood]

He was isolated, playing violent video games, was taught how to use guns, and had access to guns. Not a good combination for a mentally ill individual.

I wonder if Adam Lanza was diagnosed with any mental illness? From what I have read, he is obsessive compulsive and paranoid. I suspect his paranoia played a role.

 

[Jmoose]

Since mental illness is the crux of this case, one would think that the history of Adam Lanza's IEPs and his family's interviews with mental health professionals over the years would be central to the investigation. Has anything about mental illness, other than the barest hint of the Asberger's, come out of the report documenting the investigation? The other part is the utterly incompetent, although not legally criminal, way his Mom, his Dad, and his brother dealt with Adam Lanza's mental health issues. They all basically threw up their hands and refused to deal with it. No matter how mentally impaired Adam Lanza was, his nuclear family made it a million times worse by "how" they dealt with him. Since his mom paid with her life, I can only say that the Dad and the brother will live the rest of their lives in denial. They will never admit how they contributed massively to his condition. Yes, Adam Lanza needed major help, which he did not get, from mental health professionals, but the rest of his family did too. You need to "learn", truly learn, how to deal with someone in your family with major mental illness problems. You don't abandon your family (as the father did -- it was not money Adam needed, it was a father), you don't move away to New Jersey (like the brother did). You don't go on a 3-day jaunt leaving the mentally ill person alone stewing in his own juice (like the mother did). And that is just the tip of the iceberg.

This is a textbook case of how a family should NOT deal with mental illness. The mother, the father, and the brother made endless mistakes. Major mistakes. Truly incredible mistakes. And the result is clear to all.

I continue to find it interesting that the father seemed to treat Lanza like he was somebody else's kid who did this-he seemed to be expressing what little he had to say about it as if he was a bystander like the rest of us, and not the father of a monster that he chose to abandon. I suppose it's possible that he may have wanted him institutionalized and the mother didn't, so he left-I don't doubt that it would be difficult living in the same house with a kid like that. Incidently, Adam Lanza sounds like he was way beyond the Asperger's threshold of the autism spectrum.

 

[jjenny]

I wonder if Adam Lanza was diagnosed with any mental illness? From what I have read, he is obsessive compulsive and paranoid. I suspect his paranoia played a role.

From the report just released, he was diagnosed with Asperger's, he also had OCD (engaging in repetitive behaviors) and anxiety.
He didn't want anyone to touch him.
If he was not taught to shoot, it's a very good bet he wouldn't be able to kill people with a knife (since he didn't like touching anyone and be touched).

 

[iSleuth]

It sounds like there were a lot of mental health issues besides the Asperger's - or perhaps just psychological problems from his isolation. I can only think of one case where someone with Asperger's was violent - it probably was just a building obsession with violence and frustration with his future, but you'd think there would be more signs of that. Doesn't the report say the professionals he saw didn't see any signs of violence? And I read that he told his mother he would not care if anything happened to her, but she said he never displayed a violent nature? It's weird to me that this would happen if he had no history of making threats or throwing fits. And if he wasn't violent, it would have been hard to commit him. He wasn't even on medication - I don't know if that was his parents' beliefs about medication, but I assume that means he didn't need meds to control violent or insane behavior. The whole thing is odd - I don't expect people with serious mental health problems to make sense, but I do think the investigators need to be more open with the public. I am not a conspiracy theorist and I feel awful for the families, but I feel like an unnecessary air of suspicion has been added to this case because the information is so sparse. Ultimately, he was an adult, and there may honestly have been no way to effectively prevent this. He had no history of violence, and he wasn't a minor. Even if we had laws requiring people to keep guns away from those with a history of violence or children, he didn't meet that criteria. It's too hard to define when someone is "too mentally ill." Mental health treatment should be the larger focus - not sure how much info on that can be released. It sounds like his parents did have him see therapists, and it's not like there's a history of 911 calls about him acting out at home. I can't really pin it all on them without more information.

I will try to go back and link a few helpful state and local articles - there were specialists, therapists, and hospital visits for AL and a lot of school switches. Lots ..
I moved to Danbury a few weeks ago but lived in bethel Ct - 9 miles from SandyHook at the time, this is local news. And more has been written and is out there. in areas where people have questions. We have 8 of our kids descending over the next few days for Thanksgiving so if you are impatient and you have more time, I would search the following combinations key words. Ctpost.com also CT Malloy - new mental Health initiatives and laws, Lanza Danbury Hospital. Also here on WS. Lanza Newtown HS, search the Hartford courant paper and I would search summer dates- I seem to remember some key pieces of information about AL came out then.

It is the most shocking thing.... This Kid Killer. That mother -that setting -those choices omg I go a little crazy myself every time I think about it.




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