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{{short description|2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2019}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title           = Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
| title       = Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
| partof          = [[mass shootings in the United States]]
| image       = Police at Sandy Hook.PNG
| image           = Police at Sandy Hook.PNG
| image_upright =
| image_upright   =  
| alt         =
| alt             =  
| caption     = Police at the scene of the shooting <!--Newtown CT lg.PNG Newtown, located within <br /> [[Fairfield County, Connecticut]]-->
| caption         = Police at the scene of the shooting <!--Newtown CT lg.PNG Newtown, located within <br /> [[Fairfield County, Connecticut]]-->
{{-}}
{{-}}
| map             =  
| map         =
| map_size         =  
| map_size   =
| map_alt         =  
| map_alt     =
| map_caption     =  
| map_caption =
| location         = {{nowrap|Sandy Hook Elementary School<br />[[Newtown, Connecticut]], U.S.}}
| location   = {{nowrap|Sandy Hook Elementary School<br />[[Newtown, Connecticut]], U.S.}}
| target           = Students and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School
| target     = Students and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School
| coordinates     = {{coord|41|25|12|N|73|16|43|W|region:US-CT_type:event|display=inline,title}}<ref name="GNIS">{{cite web |title=GNIS for Sandy Hook School |publisher=[[USGS]] |date=October 24, 2001 |url=http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1942891 |access-date=December 17, 2012 |archive-date=January 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131141822/https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=GNISPQ:3:::NO::P3_FID:1942891 |url-status=live}}</ref>
| coordinates = {{coord|41|25|12|N|73|16|43|W|region:US-CT_type:event|display=inline,title}}
| date             = {{start date and age|2012|12|14}}
| date       = {{start date and age|2012|12|14}}
| time-begin      = {{Circa|9:35&nbsp;a.m.}}
| time       = {{nowrap|9:35{{Spaced en dash}}9:40&nbsp;a.m.}} [[Eastern Time Zone|EST]]
| time-end        = {{nowrap|{{Circa|9:40&nbsp;a.m.}}}}<ref name="oakpresstimeline">{{cite news|last=Scinto|first=Rich|title=Sandy Hook Elementary: Newtown, Connecticut shooting timeline|url=http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2012/12/15/news/nation_and_world/doc50cd1eec00eb9242897410.txt|access-date=December 17, 2012|newspaper=[[The Oakland Press]]|date=December 15, 2012|archive-date=December 21, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221111722/http://theoaklandpress.com/articles/2012/12/15/news/nation_and_world/doc50cd1eec00eb9242897410.txt|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NbcNewsUSCfE">{{cite news | url=http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/19/16019514-call-for-everything-police-scanner-recording-reveals-early-moments-of-newtown-tragedy | title='Call for everything': Police scanner recording reveals early moments of Newtown tragedy | date=December 19, 2012 | access-date=December 19, 2012 | publisher=NBC News | first=Tracy | last=Connor | archive-date=December 19, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121219214054/http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/19/16019514-call-for-everything-police-scanner-recording-reveals-early-moments-of-newtown-tragedy | url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="CTPost March 28, 2013">{{cite news|url=http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Access-to-weapons-made-tragedy-possible-4392681.php|title=Access to weapons made tragedy possible|date=March 28, 2013|newspaper=Connecticut Post|access-date=April 3, 2013|archive-date=June 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130624145607/http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Access-to-weapons-made-tragedy-possible-4392681.php|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Eastern Time Zone|EST]]
| timezone   = [[UTC−05:00]]
| timezone         = [[UTC−05:00]]
| type       = [[School shooting]], [[murder–suicide]], [[matricide]], [[Spree killer|spree shooting]]
| type             = [[School shooting]], [[murder–suicide]], [[matricide]], [[Spree killer|spree shooting]]
| fatalities = 28 (27 at the school including the perpetrator, and the perpetrator's mother at home)
| fatalities       = 28 (27 at the school including the perpetrator, and the perpetrator's mother at home)<ref name="nytimes1">{{cite news |last=Barron |first=James |title=Children Were All Shot Multiple Times With a Semiautomatic, Officials Say |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 15, 2012 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/nyregion/gunman-kills-20-children-at-school-in-connecticut-28-dead-in-all.html |access-date=December 17, 2012 |archive-date=December 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121216184847/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/nyregion/gunman-kills-20-children-at-school-in-connecticut-28-dead-in-all.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="cbc">{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/12/14/connecticut-school-shooting.html|publisher=[[CBC News]]|title=20 children among dead at school shooting in Connecticut|access-date=December 14, 2012|date=December 14, 2012|archive-date=December 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121214173829/http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/12/14/connecticut-school-shooting.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| injuries   = 2<
| injuries         = 2<ref name="Police: Second person injured in Connecticut school shooting survived">{{cite web|title=Police: Second person injured in Connecticut school shooting survived|url=http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/17/15969867-police-second-person-injured-in-connecticut-school-shooting-survived?lite|website=[[NBC News]]|access-date=December 17, 2012|archive-date=April 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416220342/http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/17/15969867-police-second-person-injured-in-connecticut-school-shooting-survived?lite|url-status=live}}</ref>
| perp       = Adam Lanza<ref name="ID"/>
| perp             = Adam Lanza<ref name="ID">{{cite news|first=Miguel|last=Llanos|title=Authorities ID gunman who killed 27 in elementary school massacre|url=http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/14/15911025-authorities-id-gunman-who-killed-27-in-elementary-school-massacre?lite|publisher=[[NBC News]]|agency=Associated Press|access-date=December 14, 2012|date=December 14, 2012|archive-date=December 16, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121216022608/http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/14/15911025-authorities-id-gunman-who-killed-27-in-elementary-school-massacre?lite|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="washingtonpost">{{cite news|last=Jennings|first=Natalie|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2012/12/14/mark-kelly-action-on-guns-can-no-longer-wait|title=Mark Kelly: Action on guns 'can no longer wait'|work=[[The Washington Post]]|date=December 14, 2012|access-date=December 17, 2012|archive-date=December 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215215956/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2012/12/14/mark-kelly-action-on-guns-can-no-longer-wait/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| weapons     = {{bulleted list|[[Bushmaster XM-15|Bushmaster XM15-E2S]] rifle|[[Glock#10mm Auto|Glock 20SF]] handgun}}
| weapons         = {{bulleted list|[[Bushmaster XM-15|Bushmaster XM15-E2S]] rifle|[[Glock#10mm Auto|Glock 20SF]] handgun| [[.22 Long Rifle|.22LR]] [[Savage Arms|Savage Mark II]] [[Bolt action|bolt-action]] rifle}}<ref name="CTSP-20130118">{{cite web|last=Vance|first=J. Paul|title=Update: State Police Identify Weapons Used in Sandy Hook Investigation|url=http://www.ct.gov/despp/cwp/view.asp?Q=517284&A=4226|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160517175905/http://www.ct.gov/despp/cwp/view.asp?A=4226&Q=517284|archive-date=May 17, 2016|publisher=State of Connecticut Department of Emergency Services & Public Protection Connecticut State Police|access-date=December 15, 2016|url-status=dead |quote=Seized inside the school: #1. Bushmaster .223 caliber model XM15-E2S rifle with high capacity 30 round magazine #2. Glock 10 mm handgun #3. Sig-Sauer P226 9mm handgun ... The shooter used the Bushmaster .223 to murder 20 children and six adults inside the school; he used a handgun to take his own life inside the school. No other weapons were used in this crime.}}</ref><ref name="conn-school">{{cite news |title=Conn. school shooter had 4 weapons |publisher=CBS News |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57559395/conn-school-shooter-had-4-weapons/ |access-date=December 15, 2012 |archive-date=December 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215184407/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57559395/conn-school-shooter-had-4-weapons/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Newtown shooter's guns: What we know">{{cite news |last=Almasy |first=Steve |title=Newtown shooter's guns: What we know |url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/18/us/connecticut-lanza-guns/index.html |publisher=CNN |access-date=December 30, 2012 |date=December 19, 2012 |quote=The primary weapon used in the attack was a "Bushmaster AR-15 assault-type weapon," said Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance. The rifle is a Bushmaster version of a widely made AR-15, the civilian version of the M-16 rifle used by the U.S. military. The original M-16 patent ran out years ago, and now the AR-15 is manufactured by several gunmakers. Unlike the military version, the AR-15 is a semiautomatic, firing one bullet per squeeze of the trigger. But like the M-16, ammunition is loaded through a magazine. In the school shooting, police say Lanza's rifle used numerous 30-round magazines. |archive-date=December 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121229142140/http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/18/us/connecticut-lanza-guns/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="hc" /><ref name="cnn20130329" /><ref name="esposito">{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/twenty-children-died-newtown-connecticut-school-shooting/story?id=17973836 |title=20 Children Died in Newtown, Conn., School Massacre |agency=Associated Press |first1=Richard |last1=Esposito |first2=Candice |last2=Smith |first3=Christina |last3=Ng |publisher=ABC News |date=December 14, 2012 |access-date=December 14, 2012 |archive-date=December 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215031441/http://abcnews.go.com/US/twenty-children-died-newtown-connecticut-school-shooting/story?id=17973836 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="49IYz">{{Cite web|last=Research|first=CNN Editorial|date=2013-06-07|title=Sandy Hook School Shootings Fast Facts|url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/06/07/us/connecticut-shootings-fast-facts/index.html|access-date=2021-04-20|website=CNN|language=en}}</ref>
|motive=Inconclusive<ref>{{cite news |last1=Winter |first1=Tom |last2=Riordan Seville |first2=Lisa |title=Newtown report: Shooter Adam Lanza had no clear motive, was obsessed with Columbine |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/newtown-report-shooter-adam-lanza-had-no-clear-motive-was-flna2D11651840 |access-date=6 August 2020 |work=[[NBC News]] |date=25 November 2013 |archive-date=October 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024103534/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/newtown-report-shooter-adam-lanza-had-no-clear-motive-was-flna2D11651840 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Richinick |first1=Michele |title='No conclusive motive' in Newtown shootings, report says |url=http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/no-conclusive-motive-sandy-hook-massacre |access-date=6 August 2020 |work=[[MSNBC]] |date=25 November 2013 |archive-date=May 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529191007/http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/no-conclusive-motive-sandy-hook-massacre |url-status=live }}</ref>
| motive           = Inconclusive<ref name="LP2oO">{{cite news |last1=Winter |first1=Tom |last2=Riordan Seville |first2=Lisa |title=Newtown report: Shooter Adam Lanza had no clear motive, was obsessed with Columbine |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/newtown-report-shooter-adam-lanza-had-no-clear-motive-was-flna2D11651840 |access-date=6 August 2020 |work=[[NBC News]] |date=25 November 2013 |archive-date=October 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024103534/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/newtown-report-shooter-adam-lanza-had-no-clear-motive-was-flna2D11651840 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="DBLvX">{{cite news |last1=Richinick |first1=Michele |title='No conclusive motive' in Newtown shootings, report says |url=http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/no-conclusive-motive-sandy-hook-massacre |access-date=6 August 2020 |work=[[MSNBC]] |date=25 November 2013 |archive-date=May 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529191007/http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/no-conclusive-motive-sandy-hook-massacre |url-status=live}}</ref>
}}
}}
The '''Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting''' was a [[school shooting]] which happened in [[Connecticut]], [[United States]] on December 14, 2012. Twenty-eight people were killed in the shooting, including many children and teachers and the perpetrator's mother at home.<ref name=NYTimes>{{cite web| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/15/nyregion/shooting-reported-at-connecticut-elementary-school.html?_r=0| accessdate=December 17, 2012| title=Nation Reels After Gunman Massacres 20 Children at School in Connecticut| last=Barron| first=James| work=[[New York Times]] | date=December 14, 2012}}</ref>
==Shooter==
{{Infobox criminal|name=Adam Lanza|image=|caption=|birth_name=Adam Peter Lanza|birth_date={{birth date|1992|4|22}}|birth_place=[[Exeter, New Hampshire, U.S.]]|death_date=December 14, 2012 (aged 20)|death_place=[[Newtown, Connecticut, U.S.]]|alias=The Sandy Hook shooter|sentence=|spouse=|victims=27 killed (including perpetrator), 2 attempted|locations=[[Newtown, Connecticut, U.S.]]|beginyear=|endyear=|apprehended=|conviction=|alma_mater=|criminal_charge=}}


The '''Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting''' occurred on December 14, 2012, in [[Newtown, Connecticut]], United States, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people, including 20 children between six and seven years old, and six adult staff members. Earlier that day, before driving to the school, he shot and killed his mother at their Newtown home. As [[first responders]] arrived at the school, Lanza committed [[murder–suicide|suicide]] by shooting himself in the head.
The shooter was Adam Lanza. He shot and killed his mother. He then went to Sandy Hook Elementary School in [[Newtown, Connecticut]], and killed twenty children and six staff members as well as injuring two other staff members. He committed [[suicide]] before he could be arrested by the [[FBI]].<ref name="ID">{{cite news|author=Miguel Llanos| title=Authorities ID gunman who killed 27 in elementary school massacre| url=http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/14/15911025-authorities-id-gunman-who-killed-27-in-elementary-school-massacre?lite | publisher=[[NBC News]]| agency=Associated Press| accessdate=December 17, 2012| date=December 14, 2012}}</ref>


The incident is the deadliest [[mass shooting]] at an elementary school in U.S. history, and the [[Mass shootings in the United States#Deadliest mass shootings since 1949|fourth-deadliest mass shooting]] overall.{{efn|The 2007 [[Virginia Tech shooting]],<ref name="df9hn">{{cite news |title=Mass School Shootings: A History |author=Effron, Lauren |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/mass-school-shootings-history/story?id=17975571 |publisher=ABC News |date=December 14, 2012 |access-date=April 11, 2014 |archive-date=February 19, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219014902/http://abcnews.go.com/US/mass-school-shootings-history/story?id=17975571 |url-status=live}}</ref> the 2016 [[Orlando nightclub shooting]],<ref name="jOjrS">{{cite web|title=Deadliest U.S. mass shootings, 1984-2016|url=http://timelines.latimes.com/deadliest-shooting-rampages/|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=June 12, 2016|archive-date=June 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617023211/http://timelines.latimes.com/deadliest-shooting-rampages/|url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[2017 Las Vegas shooting]] were deadlier.<ref name="lhSJg">{{cite news|last1=Hui|first1=Mary|title=Las Vegas shooting: CBS fires executive who said victims were 'Republican gun toters' who did not deserve sympathy|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/las-vegas-shooting-latest-today-cbs-fires-vp-hayley-geftman-gold-republican-gun-toters-facebook-a7979946.html|access-date=October 4, 2017|work=The Independent|date=October 3, 2017|archive-date=October 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003120950/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/las-vegas-shooting-latest-today-cbs-fires-vp-hayley-geftman-gold-republican-gun-toters-facebook-a7979946.html|url-status=live}}</ref>}} The shooting prompted renewed debate about [[gun control in the United States]], including proposals to make the [[National Instant Criminal Background Check System|background-check system]] universal, and for new [[Gun law in the United States|federal and state gun legislation]] banning the sale and manufacture of certain types of semi-automatic [[firearms]] and [[Magazine (firearms)|magazines]] which can hold more than ten rounds of ammunition.
== Known victims ==
{{See also|Sandy Hook Elementary School memorial}}
=== Fatalities ===


A November 2013 report issued by the Connecticut State Attorney's office concluded that Lanza acted alone and planned his actions, but provided no indication why he did so, or why he targeted the school. A report issued by the Office of the Child Advocate in November 2014 said that Lanza had [[Asperger syndrome]] and as a teenager suffered from [[Depression (mood)|depression]], [[anxiety]] and [[obsessive-compulsive disorder]], but concluded that they had "neither caused nor led to his murderous acts." The report went on to say, "his severe and deteriorating internalized mental health problems ... combined with an atypical preoccupation with violence ... (and) access to deadly weapons ... proved a recipe for mass murder".<ref name="UJO4Q">[https://web.archive.org/web/20141126233253/http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf Report of the Office of the Child Advocate], p.9, section 36</ref>
* Nancy Lanza, 52, <small>(his mother; shot four times in the head)</small>
* Rachel D'Avino, 29, <small>(teacher's aide)</small>
* Dawn Hochsprung, 47, <small>(principal)</small>
* Anne Marie Murphy, 52, <small>(teacher's aide)</small>
* Lauren Rousseau, 30, <small>(teacher)</small>
* Mary Sherlach, 56, <small>(school psychologist)</small>
* Victoria Leigh Soto, 27, <small>(teacher)</small>
* Charlotte Bacon, 6 <small>(student)</small>
* Daniel Barden, 7 <small>(student)</small>
* Olivia Engel, 6 <small>(student)</small>
* Josephine Gay, 7 <small>(student)</small>
* [[Death of Dylan Hockley|Dylan Hockley]], 6 <small>(student)</small>
* Madeleine Hsu, 6 <small>(student)</small>
* Catherine Hubbard, 6 <small>(student)</small>
* Chase Kowalski, 7 <small>(student)</small>
* Jesse Lewis, 6 <small>(student)</small>
* Ana Márquez-Greene, 6 <small>(student)</small>
* James Mattioli, 6 <small>(student)</small>
* Grace McDonnell, 7 <small>(student)</small>
* Emilie Parker, 6 <small>(student)</small>
* Jack Pinto, 6 <small>(student)</small>
* Noah Pozner, 6 <small>(student)</small>
* Caroline Previdi, 6 <small>(student)</small>
* Jessica Rekos, 6 <small>(student)</small>
* Avielle Richman, 6 <small>(student)</small>
* [[Death of Benjamin Wheeler|Benjamin Wheeler]], 6 <small>(student)</small>
* Allison Wyatt, 6 <small>(student)</small>


==Background==
=== Wounded ===
As of November 30, 2012, 456 children were enrolled in [[kindergarten]] through [[fourth grade]] at Sandy Hook Elementary School.<ref name="Enrollment Report as of November 30, 2012">{{cite web |url=http://www.newtown.k12.ct.us/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=yrE601iIboU%3d&tabid=3295&mid=39347 |title=Enrollment Report as of November 30, 2012 |publisher=Newtown Public School District |date=December 4, 2012 |access-date=December 18, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140604214036/http://newtown.k12.ct.us/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=yrE601iIboU%3d&tabid=3295&mid=39347 |archive-date=June 4, 2014}}</ref> The school's security protocols had recently been upgraded, requiring visitors to be individually admitted after visual and identification review by video monitor. Doors to the school were locked at 9:30&nbsp;a.m. each day, after morning arrivals.<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news |last=Barron |first=James |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/15/nyregion/shooting-reported-at-connecticut-elementary-school.html |title=Nation Reels After Gunman Massacres 20 Children at School in Connecticut |work=The New York Times |date=December 14, 2012 |access-date=December 19, 2012 |archive-date=December 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121220213427/http://www.nytimes.com//2012/12/15/nyregion/shooting-reported-at-connecticut-elementary-school.html |url-status=live}}</ref>


Newtown is in [[Fairfield County, Connecticut]], about {{convert|60|mi|km|sigfig=1}} from New York City.<ref name="Newtown">{{cite web|title=Welcome to the Town of Newtown|url=http://www.newtown-ct.gov/Public_Documents/NewtownCT_WebDocs/about|publisher=Town of Newtown (official website)|access-date=January 1, 2013|archive-date=May 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515224816/http://www.newtown-ct.gov/Public_Documents/NewtownCT_WebDocs/about|url-status=live}}</ref> Violent crime had been rare in the town of 28,000 residents; there was only one homicide in the town in the ten years before the school shooting.<ref name="Police: 20 children among 27 victims of Connecticut school shooting">{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/14/us/connecticut-school-shooting/index.html|title='Why? Why?': 26 dead in elementary school massacre|website=CNN|first1=Susan|last1=Candiotti|first2=Sarah|last2=Aarthun|date=December 15, 2012|access-date=December 15, 2012|archive-date=December 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215034904/http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/14/us/connecticut-school-shooting/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Natalie Hammond, 40, <small>(lead teacher)</small>
 
* Deborah Pisan
Under Connecticut [[Gun laws in Connecticut|law]] at the time,<ref name="cga">[http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/pub/chap950.htm#Sec53a-3.htm Conn. Gen. Stat. § 53a-3(18) (2011)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120731135820/http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/pub/chap950.htm |date=July 31, 2012}} (defining "'pistol' or 'revolver'" as "any firearm having a barrel less than twelve inches"); [http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/pub/chap529.htm#Sec29-34.htm Conn. Gen. Stat. § 29–34(b)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130907175738/http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/pub/chap529.htm |date=September 7, 2013}} (banning any transfer of a [[pistol]] or [[revolver]] to a person under 21, except for temporary and supervised use at a target range)</ref> the 20-year-old Lanza was old enough to carry a long gun, such as a rifle or shotgun,<ref name="nytimes9">{{cite news |last1=Fessenden |first1=Ford |first2=Alicia |last2=Parlapiano |first3=Alan |last3=McClean |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/12/17/nyregion/connecticuts-rules-for-purchasing-this-gun.html |title=Connecticut's Rules for Purchasing This Gun |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 17, 2012 |access-date=December 18, 2012 |archive-date=December 19, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121219234632/http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/12/17/nyregion/connecticuts-rules-for-purchasing-this-gun.html |url-status=live}}</ref> but too young to own or carry handguns.<ref name="nbcusnews">{{cite news|url=http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/14/15913678-gunmans-mother-owned-weapons-used-in-connecticut-school-massacre|title=Gunman's mother owned weapons used in Connecticut school massacre|date=December 14, 2012|access-date=December 15, 2012|publisher=NBC News|first1=Pete|last1=Williams|first2=Kari|last2=Huus|archive-date=December 16, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121216074745/http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/14/15913678-gunmans-mother-owned-weapons-used-in-connecticut-school-massacre|url-status=live}}</ref> The guns he used had been purchased legally by his mother.<ref name="E2o72">{{cite news |last1=Flegenheimer |first1=Matt |last2=Somaiya |first2=Ravi |title=A Mother, a Gun Enthusiast and the First Victim |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/nyregion/friends-of-gunmans-mother-his-first-victim-recall-her-as-generous.html |access-date=7 August 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=15 December 2012 |archive-date=August 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200817212200/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/nyregion/friends-of-gunmans-mother-his-first-victim-recall-her-as-generous.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="oFWN5">{{cite news |last1=Hermann |first1=Peter |last2=Rosenwald |first2=Michael S. |title=Newtown school shooter's mother collected guns, was loath to let people inside home |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/newtown-school-shooters-mother-collected-guns-was-loath-to-let-people-inside-home/2012/12/15/d89c2732-4706-11e2-8061-253bccfc7532_story.html |access-date=7 August 2020 |work=[[Washington Post]] |date=15 December 2012 |archive-date=July 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726201133/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/newtown-school-shooters-mother-collected-guns-was-loath-to-let-people-inside-home/2012/12/15/d89c2732-4706-11e2-8061-253bccfc7532_story.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
 
==Events==
{{quotebox|title=List of victims|source=Sources:<ref name="abcvictims">{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/connecticut-elementary-school-shooting-victims-hero-teacher-principal/story?id=17982784 |title=Connecticut Elementary School Shooting Victims: 'Hero' Teacher, Principal, 20 Kids |newspaper=ABC News |date=December 14, 2012 |access-date=December 18, 2012 |archive-date=December 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121218071842/http://abcnews.go.com/US/connecticut-elementary-school-shooting-victims-hero-teacher-principal/story?id=17982784 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="courant1">{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-shooting-connecticut-factbox-idUSBRE8BE0DD20121215 |title=Factbox: Identities of Connecticut shooting victims |work=Reuters |date=December 15, 2012 |access-date=December 17, 2012 |archive-date=March 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328190217/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-shooting-connecticut-factbox-idUSBRE8BE0DD20121215 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="cbslocal1">{{cite news |title=CT State Police Release Names Of Victims In School Shooting Massacre |publisher=CBS News |date=December 15, 2012 |url=http://boston.cbslocal.com/2012/12/15/ct-state-police-release-names-of-victims-in-school-shooting-massacre/ |access-date=December 15, 2012 |archive-date=December 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121218082644/http://boston.cbslocal.com/2012/12/15/ct-state-police-release-names-of-victims-in-school-shooting-massacre/ |url-status=live}}</ref>|quote={{Plainlist|1=
'''Killed:'''
* <u>Perpetrator's mother</u>
** Nancy Lanza, 52 (shot at home)<ref name="EwXZf">{{cite news |url=https://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Sandy-Hook-victims-families-struggle-with-12417381.php |title=Sandy Hook victims' families struggle with feelings about Nancy Lanza |first=Rob |last=Ryser |date=December 10, 2017 |access-date=September 22, 2018 |newspaper=[[The News-Times]] |publisher=Hearst Media Services Connecticut, LLC |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114013538/http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Sandy-Hook-victims-families-struggle-with-12417381.php |archive-date=January 14, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* <u>School personnel</u>
** Rachel D'Avino, 29, behavior therapist <ref name="Victim Rachel D'Avino">{{cite web |url=http://www.westhartfordnews.com/articles/2012/12/19/news/doc50cf551bee764427938314.txt |title=Victim Rachel D'Avino, killed days before marriage proposal, had ties to UHart and USJ |last=Poulisse |first=Adam |date=December 19, 2012 |work=Berkshire Eagle |publisher=West Hartford News |access-date=December 20, 2012 |archive-date=July 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723232913/http://www.westhartfordnews.com/articles/2012/12/19/news/doc50cf551bee764427938314.txt |url-status=live}}</ref>
** Dawn Hochsprung, 47, principal
** Anne Marie Murphy, 52, special education teacher<ref name="Connecticut shooting: Services for Katonah native Anne Marie Murphy set">{{cite web|url=http://newyork.newsday.com/news/nation/connecticut-shooting-services-for-katonah-native-anne-marie-murphy-set-1.4339113|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121219013848/http://newyork.newsday.com/news/nation/connecticut-shooting-services-for-katonah-native-anne-marie-murphy-set-1.4339113|archive-date=December 19, 2012 |title=Connecticut shooting: Services for Katonah native Anne Marie Murphy set |work=Newsday |date=December 16, 2012 |access-date=December 17, 2012}}</ref>
** Lauren Rousseau, 30, teacher
** Mary Sherlach, 56, school psychologist
** [[Victoria Leigh Soto]], 27, teacher
* <u>Students</u>
** Charlotte Bacon, 6<ref name="SWZ0B">{{cite news|title=Sandy Hook Parents: How We Honor Our Daughter's Memory|first=JoAnn|last=Bacon|url=http://time.com/4175760/charlotte-bacon-sandy-hook/|work=Time Magazine|date=Jan 12, 2016|access-date=August 30, 2017|archive-date=August 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819155257/http://time.com/4175760/charlotte-bacon-sandy-hook/|url-status=live}}</ref>
** Daniel Barden, 7
** Olivia Engel, 6
** Josephine Gay, 7
** Dylan Hockley, 6
** Madeleine Hsu, 6
** Catherine Hubbard, 6
** Chase Kowalski, 7
** Jesse Lewis, 6
** Ana Márquez-Greene, 6
** James Mattioli, 6
** Grace McDonnell, 7
** Emilie Parker, 6
** Jack Pinto, 6
** Noah Pozner, 6
** Caroline Previdi, 6<ref name="gk1mo">{{cite news |title=Caroline Previdi Foundation |url=http://www.carolineprevidifoundation.org/ |access-date=August 30, 2017 |archive-date=August 31, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831174111/http://www.carolineprevidifoundation.org/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
** Jessica Rekos, 6
** Avielle Richman, 6
** Benjamin Wheeler, 6
** Allison Wyatt, 6
* <u>Perpetrator</u>
** Adam Lanza, 20 (suicide)
 
'''Wounded:'''
* Natalie Hammond, 40, lead teacher
* Deborah Pisani<ref name="pG7Su">{{cite news|title=Families Of Sandy Hook Victims Sue Nancy Lanza Estate|first=Dave|last=Altimari|url=http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-sandy-hook-lanza-lawsuit-20150313-story.html|work=Hartford Courant|date=March 14, 2015|access-date=June 30, 2016|archive-date=August 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807083402/http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-sandy-hook-lanza-lawsuit-20150313-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
}}
}}
 
===Murder of Nancy Lanza===
Some time before 9:30&nbsp;a.m. [[Eastern Time Zone|EST]] on Friday, December 14, 2012, Lanza shot and killed his mother Nancy Lanza, aged 52, with a [[.22 Long Rifle|.22-caliber]] [[Savage Arms|Savage Mark II rifle]] at their Newtown home.<ref name="esposito" /><ref name="49IYz" />  Investigators later found her body clad in pajamas, in her bed, with four gunshot wounds to her head.<ref name="Evidence hints at deadlier plan in Conn massacre">{{cite news|title=Evidence hints at deadlier plan in Conn. massacre|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/dec/16/governor-gunman-shot-self-first-responders-closed/?page=all#pagebreak|access-date=December 30, 2012|newspaper=The Washington Times|date=December 16, 2012|first1=John|last1=Christofferson|first2=Matt|last2=Apuzzo|first3=Jim|last3=Fitzgerald|first4=Bridget|last4=Murphy|first5=Pat|last5=Eaton-Robb|agency=Associated Press|archive-date=January 28, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128202848/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/dec/16/governor-gunman-shot-self-first-responders-closed/?page=all#pagebreak|url-status=live}}</ref> Lanza then drove to [[Sandy Hook Elementary School]] in his mother's car.<ref name="esposito" /><ref name="foxnews20121214_Gunman_dead">{{cite news |title=Gunman dead after killing 20 children, 6 adults at Connecticut elementary school |publisher=Fox News Channel |date=December 14, 2012 |url=http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/16/at-least-26-dead-in-shooting-at-connecticut-school/ |access-date=December 14, 2012 |archive-date=December 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121216093811/http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/16/at-least-26-dead-in-shooting-at-connecticut-school/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Map of Sandy Hook shooting.png|thumb|upright=1.15|left|Red circle: [[Newtown Public Schools|Sandy Hook Elementary School]]<br />Black circle: Lanza household]]
 
===Mass shooting begins===
Shortly after 9:35&nbsp;a.m., armed with his mother's [[Bushmaster XM-15|Bushmaster XM15-E2S rifle]] and ten magazines with 30 rounds each,<ref name="CTSP-20130118" /><ref name="conn-school" /><ref name="Newtown shooter's guns: What we know" /><ref name="hc" /><ref name="cnn20130329">{{cite news |title=Newtown shooting details revealed in newly released documents |first1=Susan |last1=Candiotti |first2=Greg |last2=Botelho |first3=Tom |last3=Watkins |agency=[[CNN]] |date=March 29, 2013 |access-date=July 26, 2018 |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/28/us/connecticut-shooting-documents/index.html |quote=But on December 14, 2012, he went out -- armed with 10 30-round magazines for his semiautomatic Bushmaster .223 caliber model XM15 rifle and bullets for his two handguns and a shotgun. |archive-date=July 29, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180729231911/https://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/28/us/connecticut-shooting-documents/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Lanza shot his way through a glass panel next to the locked front entrance doors of the school.<ref name="nX6hZ">{{cite web |last1=Dorn |first1=Chris |last2=Dorn |first2=Michael |last3=Steve |first3=Satterly |last4=Shepherd |first4=Sonayia |last5=Nguyen |first5=Phuong |title=7 Lessons Learned from Sandy Hook |url=https://www.campussafetymagazine.com/safety/7-lessons-learned-from-sandy-hook/ |website=Campus Safety |access-date=September 20, 2018 |archive-date=September 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920045730/https://www.campussafetymagazine.com/safety/7-lessons-learned-from-sandy-hook/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="wtvr">{{cite news |first=Alix |last=Bryan |title=TIMELINE: Connecticut elementary school shooting updates |publisher=[[WTVR-TV|WTVR]] |date=December 16, 2012 |url=http://wtvr.com/2012/12/14/timeline-of-connecticut-elementary-school-shooting/ |access-date=December 19, 2012 |archive-date=December 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121218034905/http://wtvr.com/2012/12/14/timeline-of-connecticut-elementary-school-shooting/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="TheTimesUK20121216">{{cite news|last=Gray|first=Sadie|title=Sandy Hook gunman Adam Lanza shot his way through school door|url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/americas/article3632863.ece|work=[[The Times]]|date=December 16, 2012|access-date=December 18, 2012|archive-date=January 18, 2013|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6DlhAiQiY?url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/americas/article3632863.ece|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="bee" /> He was wearing black clothing, yellow earplugs, sunglasses,<ref name="X7QWs">{{cite web|url=http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2013/12/03/newtown-report-reveals-details-but-no-motive/|title=Newtown report reveals details, but no motive|work=Yale Daily News|date=December 3, 2013|access-date=October 5, 2014|archive-date=October 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006200604/http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2013/12/03/newtown-report-reveals-details-but-no-motive/|url-status=live}}</ref> and an olive green utility vest.<ref name="hc">{{cite web |url=http://articles.courant.com/2013-01-06/news/hc-sandyhook-lanza-earplugs-20130106_1_adam-lanza-nancy-lanza-yogananda-street |title=Newtown shootings: Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooter Adam Lanza Wore Earplugs |first1=Dave |last1=Altimari |first2=Jon |last2=Lender |newspaper=[[Hartford Courant]] |access-date=October 5, 2014 |quote=Besides the earplugs, he was wearing all black clothes under a drab olive green utility vest with pockets filled with 30-round magazines for the Bushmaster. |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006093109/http://articles.courant.com/2013-01-06/news/hc-sandyhook-lanza-earplugs-20130106_1_adam-lanza-nancy-lanza-yogananda-street |url-status=live}}</ref> Initial reports that he was wearing [[Personal armor|body armor]] were incorrect.<ref name="clothing_3">{{cite web|date=December 27, 2012|title=Newtown shooter Adam Lanza was not wearing body armor during massacre|url=http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2012/12/27/news/doc50dce5187860b303917697.txt|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130130024031/http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2012/12/27/news/doc50dce5187860b303917697.txt|archive-date=January 30, 2013|access-date=December 28, 2012|work=New Haven Register|location=New Haven, Connecticut}}</ref> Some of those present heard the initial shots on the school intercom system, which was being used for morning announcements.<ref name="nytimes" />
 
Principal Dawn Hochsprung and school [[psychologist]] Mary Sherlach were meeting with other faculty members when they heard, but did not recognize, gunshots. Hochsprung, Sherlach, and lead teacher Natalie Hammond went into the hall to determine the source of the sounds and encountered Lanza. A faculty member who was at the meeting said that the three women called out "Shooter! Stay put!" which alerted their colleagues to the danger and saved their lives.<ref name="woC2w">{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/24/becky-virgalla-_n_2357284.html |title=Becky Virgalla, Newtown Shooting Survivor, Says Principal, Others Saved Her in Sandy Hook Rampage |work=Huffington Post |agency=Reuters |date=December 24, 2012 |access-date=March 28, 2013 |first=Hayley |last=Hudson |archive-date=March 9, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309232954/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/24/becky-virgalla-_n_2357284.html |url-status=live}}</ref> An aide heard gunshots. A teacher hiding in the math lab heard school [[janitor]] Rick Thorne yell, "Put the gun down!"<ref name="FjktB">{{cite news|last=Christoffersen|first=John|title=Conn. files: Gunman's mother loving but bewildered|work=Philadelphia Daily News|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/20131228_ap_79ac9e6773c844c6a3adf5f360f2764b.html|url-status=dead|access-date=December 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230233015/http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/20131228_ap_79ac9e6773c844c6a3adf5f360f2764b.html|archive-date=December 30, 2013}}</ref> Lanza killed both Hochsprung and Sherlach.<ref name="wsj5">{{cite news |last=Levitz |first=Jennifer |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323297104578181583018831100 |title=Sandy Hook Locals Face New Reality |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=December 16, 2012 |access-date=December 19, 2012 |archive-date=July 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723233238/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323297104578181583018831100 |url-status=live}}</ref> Hammond was hit first in the leg, and then sustained another gunshot wound. She lay still in the hallway and then, not hearing any more noise, crawled back to the conference room and pressed her body against the door to keep it closed.<ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/11/26/nyregion/26newtown-report.html |title=State's Attorney's Report on Sandy Hook Elementary School Shootings |date=November 25, 2013 |access-date=December 1, 2013 |work=The New York Times |archive-date=November 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131129200741/http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/11/26/nyregion/26newtown-report.html |url-status=live}}</ref> She was later treated at [[Danbury Hospital]].<ref name="wsj5" /><ref name="CBS3">{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57559336/conn-school-shooting-what-we-know/|title=Conn. school shooting: What we know|publisher=CBS News|date=December 16, 2012|access-date=December 16, 2012|archive-date=December 16, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121216083021/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57559336/conn-school-shooting-what-we-know/|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
A nine-year-old boy stated that he heard the shooter say: "Put your hands up!" and someone else say "Don't shoot!" He also heard many people yelling and many gunshots over the intercom while he, his classmates, and his teacher took refuge in a closet in the gymnasium.<ref name="nytimes6">{{cite news|title=Who Would Do This to Our Poor Little Babies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/15/nyregion/witnesses-recall-deadly-shooting-sandy-hook-newtown-connecticut.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=December 14, 2012|first1=Peter|last1=Applebome|first2=Michael|last2=Wilson|access-date=February 28, 2017|archive-date=March 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311201149/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/15/nyregion/witnesses-recall-deadly-shooting-sandy-hook-newtown-connecticut.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Diane Day, a school therapist who had been at the faculty meeting with Hochsprung, heard screaming followed by more gunshots. A second teacher, who was a substitute kindergarten teacher, was wounded in the attack. While she was closing a door further down the hallway, she was hit in the foot with a bullet that ricocheted. Lanza never entered her classroom.<ref name="Police: Second person injured in Connecticut school shooting survived" /><ref name="articles.courant.com">{{cite web |first1=Dave |last1=Altimari |first2=Edmund H. |last2=Mahony |first3=Jon |last3=Lender |url=http://articles.courant.com/2013-03-13/news/hc-newtown-lanza-mass-murderers-20130313_1_nancy-lanza-adam-lanza-lanza-s-newtown |title=Newtown shootings: Adam Lanza Researched Mass Murderers, Sources Say |work=Hartford Courant |date=March 13, 2013 |access-date=March 14, 2013 |archive-date=April 10, 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130410172658/http://articles.courant.com/2013-03-13/news/hc-newtown-lanza-mass-murderers-20130313_1_nancy-lanza-adam-lanza-lanza-s-newtown |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="qTxXR">{{cite news |first=Gary |last=Stoller |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/18/connecticut-school-shooting-survivor/1778431/ |title=School shooting survivor tells her story |newspaper=USA Today |date=December 19, 2012 |access-date=December 7, 2013 |archive-date=December 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202162031/http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/18/connecticut-school-shooting-survivor/1778431/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
 
After killing Hochsprung and Sherlach, Lanza entered the main office but apparently did not see the people hiding there, and returned to the hallway.<ref name="bee">{{cite news|last=Gorosko|first=Andrew|date=November 26, 2013|title=Long-Awaited 12/14 Report Offers Details, But No Motive|newspaper=The Newtown Bee|url=http://newtownbee.com/news/0001/11/30/long-awaited-1214-report-offers-details-no-motive/178307|url-status=dead|access-date=December 22, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224113824/http://newtownbee.com/news/0001/11/30/long-awaited-1214-report-offers-details-no-motive/178307|archive-date=December 24, 2013}}</ref> School nurse Sarah (Sally) Cox,<ref name="r85do">{{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/politics/guns/newtown.asp |title=Sandy Hook Exposed? |publisher=snopes.com |access-date=March 26, 2015}}</ref><ref name="Official">{{cite web|title=Staff Directory|url=http://newtown.sandyhook.schooldesk.net/Staff/StaffDirectory/tabid/17319/Default.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406030442/http://newtown.sandyhook.schooldesk.net/Staff/StaffDirectory/tabid/17319/Default.aspx|archive-date=April 6, 2012|access-date=July 29, 2013|publisher=Sandy Hook Elementary School}}</ref> 60, hid under a desk in her office. She later described seeing the door opening and Lanza's boots and legs facing her desk from approximately {{convert|20|ft|m}} away. He remained standing for a few seconds before turning around and leaving. She and the school secretary Barbara Halstead called [[9-1-1]] and hid in a first-aid supply closet for as long as four hours.<ref name="Sandy Hook Elementary School nurse Sarah Cox relives terror of Newtown, Connecticut shooting">{{cite news |last=Klein |first=Melissa |url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/could_see_his_feet_was_frozen_in_ygbEGJD62sWTIMQlZ9CUFP |title=Sandy Hook Elementary School nurse Sarah Cox relives terror of Newtown, Connecticut shooting |work=[[New York Post]] |date=December 14, 2012 |access-date=December 18, 2012 |archive-date=January 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6DlhNvW19?url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/could_see_his_feet_was_frozen_in_ygbEGJD62sWTIMQlZ9CUFP |url-status=live}}</ref> Janitor Rick Thorne ran through hallways, alerting classrooms.<ref name="abclocal">{{cite news|url=http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/national_world&id=8920117|title=20 children, 6 adults killed at Connecticut school|publisher=[[ABC News]]|agency=Associated Press|date=December 14, 2012|first=John|last=Christoffersen|access-date=December 15, 2012|archive-date=December 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121214184521/http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news%2Fnational_world&id=8920117|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
===Classroom shootings===
[[File:Sandy Hook Elementary floorplan.svg|thumb|upright|Floorplan of Sandy Hook Elementary; Classrooms 8 (Rousseau/D'Avino), 10 (Soto/Murphy) and 12 (Roig) are labeled along with the main office (o) and Conference Room 9 (Hochsprung/Sherlach/Hammond)]]
Lanza then entered a first-grade classroom where Lauren Rousseau, a substitute teacher, had herded her first grade students to the back of the room, and was trying to hide them in a bathroom, when Lanza forced his way into the classroom.<ref name="articles.courant.com" /> Rousseau, Rachel D'Avino (a behavioral therapist who had been employed for a week at the school to work with a special needs student), and fifteen students in Rousseau's class were all killed. Fourteen of the children were dead at the scene; one injured child was taken to a hospital for treatment, but was later declared dead.<ref name="nytimes.com" /> Most of the teachers and students were found crowded together in the bathroom.<ref name="cIDnP">{{cite web |url=http://cspsandyhookreport.ct.gov/ |title=Connecticut State Police Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting Report |publisher=Cspsandyhookreport.ct.gov |date=December 14, 2012 |access-date=December 29, 2013 |archive-date=December 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228025247/http://cspsandyhookreport.ct.gov/ |url-status=live}}</ref> A six-year-old girl, the sole survivor, was found by police in the classroom following the shooting.<ref name="nytimes.com" /> She hid in a corner of the classroom's bathroom during the shooting.<ref name="DoRF2">{{cite web |url=http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/details-emerge-on-sandy-hook-shooting-lanzas-belongings |title=Details emerge on Sandy Hook shooting, Lanza's belongings |publisher=MSN |access-date=December 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230234301/http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/details-emerge-on-sandy-hook-shooting-lanzas-belongings |archive-date=December 30, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Her family's pastor said she survived by playing dead. When she reached her mother, she said, "Mommy, I'm okay, but all my friends are dead." The child described the shooter as "a very angry man."<ref name="telegraph5">{{cite news |last=Sanchez |first=Raf |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9750471/Connecticut-school-shooting-six-year-old-stayed-alive-by-playing-dead.html |title=Connecticut school shooting: six-year-old stayed alive by playing dead |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=December 17, 2012 |access-date=December 18, 2012 |archive-date=December 17, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121217203430/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9750471/Connecticut-school-shooting-six-year-old-stayed-alive-by-playing-dead.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="nydailynews3">{{cite news |last=Oritz |first=Erik |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/conn-shooting-takes-young-teacher-aide-life-article-1.1221839?localLinksEnabled=false |title=Newtown school shooting snuffs out promising lives of teachers, students |work=Daily News |location=New York |date=December 17, 2012 |access-date=December 18, 2012 |archive-date=January 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6DlhM9nQ5?url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/conn-shooting-takes-young-teacher-aide-life-article-1.1221839?localLinksEnabled=false |url-status=live}}</ref> A girl hiding in a bathroom with two teachers told police that she heard a boy in the classroom screaming, "Help me! I don't want to be here!" to which Lanza responded, "Well, you're here," followed by "hammering" sounds.<ref name="Michael P. Mayko and John Pirro">{{cite web|first1=Michael P.|last1=Mayko|first2=John|last2=Pirro|url=http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/The-voices-of-children-who-saw-evil-5104362.php|title=The voices of children who saw evil|newspaper=[[The News-Times]]|date=December 31, 2013|access-date=January 3, 2014|archive-date=January 2, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102131829/http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/The-voices-of-children-who-saw-evil-5104362.php|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
Lanza next went to another first-grade classroom nearby; at this point, there are conflicting reports about the order of events. According to some reports, the classroom's teacher, [[Victoria Leigh Soto]], had concealed some of the students in a closet or bathroom, and some of the other students were hiding under desks.<ref name="articles.courant.com" /> Soto was walking back to the classroom door to lock it when Lanza entered the classroom.<ref name="FTN130421p5">{{cite episode |title=Face the Nation transcripts April 21, 2013: Boston bombings |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/face-the-nation-transcripts-april-21-2013-boston-bombings-patrick-davis-mccaul-more/5/ |series=[[Face the Nation]] |network=[[CBS]] |airdate=April 21, 2013 |access-date=April 11, 2014 |archive-date=April 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413142037/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/face-the-nation-transcripts-april-21-2013-boston-bombings-patrick-davis-mccaul-more/5/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Lanza walked to the back of the classroom, saw the children under the desks, and shot them. First grader Jesse Lewis shouted at his classmates to run for safety, and several of them did. Lewis was looking at Lanza when Lanza fatally shot him.<ref name="FTN130421p6">{{cite episode |title=Face the Nation transcripts April 21, 2013: Boston bombings |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/face-the-nation-transcripts-april-21-2013-boston-bombings-patrick-davis-mccaul-more/6/ |series=Face the Nation |network=CBS |airdate=April 21, 2013 |access-date=April 11, 2014 |archive-date=April 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413124047/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/face-the-nation-transcripts-april-21-2013-boston-bombings-patrick-davis-mccaul-more/6/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Another account, given by a surviving child's father, said that Soto had moved the children to the back of the classroom, and that they were seated on the floor when Lanza entered. According to this account, neither Lanza nor any of the occupants of the classroom spoke. Lanza stared at the people on the floor, pointed the gun at a boy seated there, but did not fire.<ref name="rm4mK">{{cite news|last=Christoffersen|first=John|date=September 29, 2013|title=Fear permeates young lives of Newtown witnesses|newspaper=San Jose Mercury News|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.mercurynews.com/nation-world/ci_24200882/fear-permeates-young-lives-newtown-witnesses|url-status=dead|access-date=September 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003032053/http://www.mercurynews.com/nation-world/ci_24200882/fear-permeates-young-lives-newtown-witnesses|archive-date=October 3, 2013}}</ref> The boy ran out of the classroom.<ref name="Michael P. Mayko and John Pirro" />
 
A ''[[Hartford Courant]]'' report said that six of the children who escaped did so when Lanza stopped shooting, either because his weapon jammed or he erred in reloading it.<ref name="articles.courant.com" /> Earlier reports said that, as Lanza entered her classroom, Soto told him that the children were in the auditorium. When several of the children came out of their hiding places and tried to run for safety, Lanza fatally shot them. Soto put herself between her students and the shooter, who then fatally shot her.<ref name="sacrificed">{{cite news|last=Rayment|first=Sean|title=Teachers sacrificed themselves to save their pupils|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9746935/Teachers-sacrificed-themselves-to-save-their-pupils.html|access-date=December 15, 2012|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=December 15, 2012|archive-date=December 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215201845/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9746935/Teachers-sacrificed-themselves-to-save-their-pupils.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Anne Marie Murphy, the special education teacher who worked with special-needs students in Soto's classroom, was found covering six-year-old Dylan Hockley, who also died.<ref name="newsday1">{{cite news|last=Ramos|first=Victor Manuel|url=http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/sandy-hook-educators-died-trying-to-save-the-children-1.4338161|title=Sandy Hook educators died trying to save the children|work=Newsday|date=December 15, 2012|access-date=December 26, 2012|archive-date=December 31, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121231010416/http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/sandy-hook-educators-died-trying-to-save-the-children-1.4338161|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ctpost2">{{cite web |first=Tom |last=Cleary |url=http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Dylan-Hockley-died-in-Anne-Marie-Murphy-s-arms-4122828.php |title=Dylan Hockley died in Anne Marie Murphy's arms |work=Connecticut Post |date=December 17, 2012 |access-date=December 18, 2012 |archive-date=January 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6DlhKPITZ?url=http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Dylan-Hockley-died-in-Anne-Marie-Murphy-s-arms-4122828.php |url-status=live}}</ref> Soto and four children were found dead in the classroom, Soto near the north wall of the room with a set of keys nearby.<ref name="nytimes.com" />{{rp|14}} One child was taken to the hospital, but was pronounced dead.<ref name="nytimes.com" />{{rp|14}} Six surviving children from the class and a school bus driver took refuge at a nearby home.<ref name="foxnewsinsider">{{cite web|url=http://foxnewsinsider.com/tag/man-shelters-sandy-hook-students/|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6DlhFvsPV?url=http://foxnewsinsider.com/tag/man-shelters-sandy-hook-students/|archive-date=January 18, 2013 |title=Newtown Resident Gene Rosen Speaks About Sheltering Six Students Who Escaped the Shooting |publisher=Fox News Channel |date=December 18, 2012 |access-date=December 19, 2012}}</ref> According to the official report released by the state's attorney, nine children ran from Soto's classroom, and police found two hiding in a class bathroom.<ref name="nytimes.com" />{{rp|14}} Five of Soto's students were killed.<ref name="oeMDS">{{cite news |last=Stelzer |first=Brigitte |url=https://nypost.com/2012/12/23/newtown-massacre-victims-and-survivors-pictured-in-victoria-sotos-class-photo/ |title=Newtown massacre victims (and survivors) pictured in Victoria Soto's class photo |newspaper=New York Post |date=December 23, 2012 |access-date=September 29, 2013 |archive-date=October 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003181314/http://nypost.com/2012/12/23/newtown-massacre-victims-and-survivors-pictured-in-victoria-sotos-class-photo/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
 
===Survivors===
First grade teacher Kaitlin Roig, 29 years old, hid 14 students in a bathroom and barricaded the door, telling them to be completely quiet to remain safe.<ref name="afp">{{cite news|last=Emmert |first=Don |url=http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/news/national-news/45564-conn-elementary-school-shooting-20-children-seven-adults-killed |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121218084950/http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/news/national-news/45564-conn-elementary-school-shooting-20-children-seven-adults-killed |archive-date=December 18, 2012 |title=Conn. Elementary School Shooting: 20 Children, Seven Adults Killed |work=Mason County Daily News |access-date=December 18, 2012 | agency = Agence France-Presse}}</ref><ref name="ctnews">{{cite news|url=http://blog.ctnews.com/newtownshooting/2012/12/14/hero-teacher-rushed-students-to-bathroom-to-keep-students-safe/|title='Hero teacher' rushed students to bathroom to keep students safe|date=December 14, 2012|newspaper=Connecticut News|first=Tom|last=Cleary|access-date=December 15, 2012|archive-date=December 16, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121216042904/http://blog.ctnews.com/newtownshooting/2012/12/14/hero-teacher-rushed-students-to-bathroom-to-keep-students-safe/|url-status=live}}</ref> It is believed that Lanza bypassed her classroom, which was the first classroom on the left side of the hallway; possibly because, following a lockdown drill weeks earlier, Roig had failed to remove a piece of black construction paper covering the small window in her classroom door. Lanza may have assumed that Roig's classroom was empty because the door was closed and the window covered.<ref name="articles.courant.com" />
 
School library staff Yvonne Cech and Maryann Jacob first hid 18 children in a part of the library the school used for lockdown in practice drills. Discovering that one door would not lock, they had the children crawl into a storage room, where Cech barricaded the door with a filing cabinet.<ref name="nytimes1" /><ref name="nytimes6" /><ref name="Newtown school massacre victims identified">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20744701|title=Newtown school massacre victims identified|work=BBC News|date=December 16, 2012|access-date=December 16, 2012|archive-date=December 16, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121216000523/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20744701|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
Music teacher Maryrose Kristopik, 50, barricaded her fourth-graders in a tiny supply closet during the rampage.<ref name="nydailynews78">{{cite news |last=Roberts |first=Christine |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/sandy-hook-teacher-speaks-ordeal-article-1.1222727 |title=Teacher's words of comfort to class during Newtown rampage: 'I love you all very much ... it's going to be OK' |work=Daily News |location=New York |date=December 18, 2012 |access-date=December 18, 2012 |archive-date=January 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6DlhRwYjG?url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/sandy-hook-teacher-speaks-ordeal-article-1.1222727 |url-status=live}}</ref> Lanza arrived moments later, pounding on the door and yelling, "Let me in," while the students in Kristopik's class quietly hid inside.<ref name="huffingtonpost1">{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/18/nicholas-sabillon-sandy-hook-student_n_2322261.html |title=Nicholas Sabillon, Sandy Hook Student, Recalls Killer Pounding on His Classroom Door |work=Huffington Post |date=December 18, 2012 |access-date=December 19, 2012 |first=Michael |last=McLaughlin |archive-date=January 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6DlhTX9Zr?url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/18/nicholas-sabillon-sandy-hook-student_n_2322261.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
 
Two third-grade students, chosen as classroom helpers, were walking down the hallway to the office to deliver the morning attendance sheet as the shooting began. Teacher Abbey Clements pulled both children into her classroom, where they hid.<ref name="nydailynews7">{{cite news |first=Andre |last=Nikitchyuk |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/father-surviving-sandy-hook-student-admits-turning-blind-eye-gun-violence-longer-option-article-1.1222370?localLinksEnabled=false |title=BREAKING THE SILENCE! Father of surviving Sandy Hook student admits turning a blind eye to gun violence can no longer be an option |work=Daily News |location=New York |date=December 17, 2012 |access-date=December 18, 2012 |archive-date=January 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6DlhUZYDz?url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/father-surviving-sandy-hook-student-admits-turning-blind-eye-gun-violence-longer-option-article-1.1222370?localLinksEnabled=false |url-status=live}}</ref>
 
Laura Feinstein, a reading specialist at the school, gathered two students from outside her classroom and hid with them under desks after they heard gunshots.<ref name="Tales of Sandy Hook heroism, young and old">{{cite news|last=Winter|first=Michael|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/14/newtown-connecticut-sandy-hook-school-shooting-heroism/1770555/|title=Tales of Sandy Hook heroism, young and old|work=[[USA Today]]|date=December 14, 2012|access-date=December 26, 2012|archive-date=December 24, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121224094016/http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/14/newtown-connecticut-sandy-hook-school-shooting-heroism/1770555/|url-status=live}}</ref> Feinstein called the school office and tried to call 911, but could not connect due to lack of reception on her cell phone. She hid with the children for approximately 40 minutes, at which point law enforcement came to lead them out of the room.<ref name="'Absolutely heartbreaking': Sandy Hook teacher's terrifying experience">{{cite news|url=http://www.wtop.com/1272/3157532/Teacher-Shots-and-shots-and-shots|title='Absolutely heartbreaking': Sandy Hook teacher's terrifying experience|publisher=WTOP|access-date=December 16, 2012|archive-date=December 19, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121219050516/http://www.wtop.com/1272/3157532/Teacher-Shots-and-shots-and-shots|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
===Shooter's suicide===
The police heard the final shot at 9:40:03&nbsp;a.m.; they believe that it was Lanza shooting himself in the lower rear portion of his head with the [[Glock 20SF]] in classroom 10.<ref name="ct.gov">{{cite web|title=Sandy Hook Shooting, detailed report. Contains documents and further evidence from the case|url=http://www.ct.gov/csao/lib/csao/compressed-sandy-hook-report.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131125213507/http://www.ct.gov/csao/lib/csao/compressed-sandy-hook-report.pdf|archive-date=November 25, 2013|access-date=December 7, 2013}}</ref> Lanza's body was found wearing a pale green pocket vest over a black polo shirt, over a black T-shirt, black sneakers, black fingerless gloves, black socks, and a black canvas belt.<ref name="ct.gov" /><ref name="final_report" /> Other objects found in the vicinity of Lanza included a black [[boonie hat]] and thin frame glasses. The Glock was found, apparently jammed, near Lanza, and the rifle was found several feet away from him.<ref name="ct.gov" /> A 9mm [[SIG Sauer P226]], which was not fired during the incident, was found on Lanza's person.<ref name="gyRuh">{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/nov/25/adam-lanza-shooting-sandy-hook-elementary-school-n/?page=all|work=The Washington Times|title=What would have prevented Lanza from mass murder at Sandy Hook?|date=November 25, 2013|access-date=December 24, 2013|archive-date=December 20, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220061905/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/nov/25/adam-lanza-shooting-sandy-hook-elementary-school-n/?page=all|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
===Immediate aftermath===
Authorities determined that Lanza reloaded frequently during the shootings, sometimes firing only 15 rounds from a 30-round magazine.<ref name="clothing_2">{{cite web|last1=Altimari|first1=Dave|last2=Lender|first2=Jon|date=January 6, 2013|title=Sandy Hook Shooter Adam Lanza Wore Earplugs|url=http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/newtown-sandy-hook-school-shooting/hc-sandyhook-lanza-earplugs-20130106,0,2370630.story|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130111012148/http://articles.courant.com/2013-01-06/news/hc-sandyhook-lanza-earplugs-20130106_1_yogananda-street-newtown-school-police-cars|archive-date=January 11, 2013|access-date=January 7, 2013|work=Hartford Courant}}</ref> He shot all but two of his victims multiple times.<ref name="eMbU3">{{cite web |url=http://cspsandyhookreport.ct.gov/ |title=Connecticut State Police Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting Report |publisher=Cspsandyhookreport.ct.gov |year=2013 |access-date=January 14, 2014 |archive-date=December 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228025247/http://cspsandyhookreport.ct.gov/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="7o4jF">{{cite news|last=Zeveloff|first=Naomi|date=December 5, 2013|title=A Newtown Clarification|newspaper=The Jewish Daily Forward|url=http://m.forward.com/blogs/forward-thinking/188774/a-newtown-clarification/|url-status=dead|access-date=December 12, 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140107061107/http://m.forward.com/blogs/forward-thinking/188774/a-newtown-clarification/|archive-date=January 7, 2014}}</ref> Most of the shooting took place in two first-grade classrooms near the entrance of the school.<ref name="shooting">{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2012/12/us/sandy-hook-timeline/?hpt=hp_c2|publisher=CNN|title=Sandy Hook shooting: What happened?|access-date=January 8, 2013|archive-date=January 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116024918/http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2012/12/us/sandy-hook-timeline/?hpt=hp_c2|url-status=live}}</ref> The students among the victims totaled eight boys and twelve girls, all either six or seven years old,<ref name="Children in Connecticut rampage were six, seven; shot multiple times">{{cite news |title=Children in Connecticut rampage were six, seven; shot multiple times |work=Reuters |date=December 15, 2012 |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-shooting-connecticut-idUKBRE8BD0Z220121215 |access-date=December 15, 2012 |archive-date=December 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215102219/http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/12/15/uk-usa-shooting-connecticut-idUKBRE8BD0Z220121215 |url-status=live}}</ref> and the six adults were all women who worked at the school. Bullets were also found in at least three cars parked outside the school, leading police to believe that he fired at a teacher who was standing near a window.<ref name="articles.courant.com" /><ref name="clothing_2" /> When police interviewed survivors, a teacher recalled hearing Lanza curse several times, as well as say such things as, "Look at me!" and "Come over here!" and "Look at them!"<ref name="Michael P. Mayko and John Pirro" />
 
==Police response==
{| id="HSV2" class="wikitable" style="float:right; border:#78bf73; margin-left:.75em;"
|-
!colspan=2 | First response timeline <ref name="nytimes.com" />
|-
! Time !! Event
|-
|style="background:#FFFAF4"| 9:35&nbsp;a.m. ||style="background:#FFFAF4;"| Lanza is believed to first enter SHES.
|-
|style="background:#FFFAF4"| 9:35:39&nbsp;a.m. ||style="background:#FFFAF4;"| First 911 call to Newtown Police is received.
|-
|style="background:#FFFAF4"| 9:36:06&nbsp;a.m.||style="background:#FFFAF4;"| 911 dispatcher broadcasts shooting at SHES.
|-
|style="background:#FFFAF4"| 9:37:38&nbsp;a.m. ||style="background:#FFFAF4;"| Connecticut State Police dispatched to SHES.
|-
|style="background:#FFFAF4"| 9:39:00&nbsp;a.m. ||style="background:#FFFAF4;"| First Newtown police arrives behind SHES.
|-
|style="background:#FFFAF4"| 9:39:13&nbsp;a.m. ||style="background:#FFFAF4;"| Two more Newtown officers arrive at SHES.
|-
|style="background:#FFFAF4"| 9:40:03&nbsp;a.m. ||style="background:#FFFAF4;"| Last shot heard. Believed to be Lanza's suicide.
|-
|style="background:#FFFAF4"| 9:42:39&nbsp;a.m. ||style="background:#FFFAF4;"| Newtown police reports Lanza's car license plate.
|-
|style="background:#FFFAF4"| 9:44:47&nbsp;a.m. ||style="background:#FFFAF4;"| Newtown police officers enter SHES.
|-
|style="background:#FFFAF4"| 9:46:23&nbsp;a.m. ||style="background:#FFFAF4;"| Connecticut State Police arrive at SHES.
|-
|style="background:#FFFAF4"| 9:46:48&nbsp;a.m. ||style="background:#FFFAF4;"| Connecticut State Police enter SHES.
|}
 
The first call to 911 was around 9:35&nbsp;a.m. Newtown 911 police dispatch first broadcast that there was a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary (SHES) at 9:36&nbsp;a.m., about 30 seconds after they received the first call.<ref name="register">{{cite news |title=Newtown school shooting: Transcript of police, fire radio dispatch |work=[[New Haven Register]] |location=New Haven, Connecticut |date=December 14, 2012 |url=http://nhregister.com/articles/2012/12/14/news/doc50cc0897adc1a203744261.txt?viewmode=2 |access-date=December 17, 2012}}</ref> [[Connecticut State Police]] (CSP) were dispatched at 9:37&nbsp;a.m.<ref name="afp" /> Newtown police arrived at the school street at 9:39&nbsp;a.m., approximately three and a half minutes after the 911 call, and Connecticut State Police arrived at the school street at 9:46&nbsp;a.m. Newtown police first entered the school at 9:45&nbsp;a.m., approximately ten minutes after the first 911 call and approximately 14 minutes after the shooting started. This was approximately five minutes after the last shot was heard.<ref name="nytimes.com" /> No shots were fired by the police.<ref name="NbcNewsUSCfE" /><ref name="no_shots">{{cite web|date=December 14, 2012|title=Twenty children dead in mass shooting at Connecticut elementary school|url=http://www.macleans.ca/2012/12/14/18-children-dead-in-connecticut-school-shooting/|access-date=December 28, 2012|work=Maclean's}}</ref>
 
The Newtown police and Connecticut State Police mobilized local [[police dog]] and [[SWAT|police tactical units]], a [[bomb squad]], and a state police helicopter.<ref name="courant">{{cite news |url=http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-newtown-sandy-hook-school-shooting-20121214,0,3124907,full.story |title=28 Dead, Including 20 Children, After Sandy Hook School Shooting in Newtown |newspaper=Hartford Courant |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215232042/http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-newtown-sandy-hook-school-shooting-20121214,0,3124907,full.story |archive-date=December 15, 2012}}</ref> Police locked down the school and began evacuating the survivors room by room, escorting groups of students and adults away from the school. They swept the school for other shooters at least four times.
 
At approximately 10:00&nbsp;a.m., Danbury Hospital sent extra medical personnel in expectation of having to treat numerous victims. Three wounded patients were evacuated to the hospital, where two children were later declared dead.<ref name="Danbury Hospital Prepared For School Shooting Massive Casualties, Got Few">{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/14/danbury-hospital-school-shooting_n_2304756.html |title=Danbury Hospital Prepared For School Shooting Massive Casualties, Got Few |work=Huffington Post |date=December 14, 2012 |access-date=December 16, 2012 |first1=Joe |last1=Van Brussel |first2=Matt |last2=Sledge |archive-date=December 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121218102956/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/14/danbury-hospital-school-shooting_n_2304756.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The other was an unidentified adult.<ref name="Police: Second person injured in Connecticut school shooting survived" />
 
The [[New York City medical examiner]] dispatched a portable morgue to assist the authorities.<ref name="nytimes" /> The victims' bodies were removed from the school and formally identified during the night after the shooting.<ref name="satpressconf">{{cite news |last=Quillen |first=Matt |url=http://www.nbc12.com/story/20346133/reports-28-dead-20-children-in-ct-elementary-school-shooting |title=20 children, suspect's mother dead in CT elementary school shooting |publisher=NBC12 |date=December 15, 2012 |access-date=December 22, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130314155634/http://www.nbc12.com/story/20346133/reports-28-dead-20-children-in-ct-elementary-school-shooting |archive-date=March 14, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="cbsnews">{{cite news |title=Sandy Hook victims identified, bodies removed from school overnight |publisher=CBS News |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57559381/sandy-hook-victims-identified-bodies-removed-from-school-overnight/ |access-date=December 15, 2012 |archive-date=December 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215135031/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57559381/sandy-hook-victims-identified-bodies-removed-from-school-overnight/ |url-status=live}}</ref> A [[state trooper]] was assigned to each victim's family to protect their privacy and provide them with information.
 
On December 4, 2013, seven 911 calls relating to the shooting were made public.<ref name="VA5f7">{{cite news|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/hc-sandyhook-911-calls-released-20131204,0,2995043.story|work=Hartford Courant|title=On The Six Newtown 911 Calls, Terror And Pleas For Help|date=December 4, 2013|access-date=January 4, 2014|first1=Dave|last1=Altimari|first2=Jenny|last2=Wilson|archive-date=January 4, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104065312/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/hc-sandyhook-911-calls-released-20131204,0,2995043.story|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
==Investigation==
 
===On-site===
<!-- HIDDEN TEXT: [[Ryan Lanza]] redirects to this section. If you change the section header, please leave the text {{Anchor|Investigation}} before the new header. Thank you. -->
Investigators did not find a suicide note or any messages referring to the planning of the attack.<ref name="final_report" /><ref name="telegraph">{{cite news |last=Sherwell |first=Philip |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9749157/Connecticut-school-shooting-Adam-Lanza-rigged-rifle-for-maximum-damage.html |title=Connecticut school shooting: Adam Lanza rigged rifle for maximum damage |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=December 16, 2012 |access-date=December 17, 2012 |archive-date=December 17, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121217080418/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9749157/Connecticut-school-shooting-Adam-Lanza-rigged-rifle-for-maximum-damage.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Janet Robinson, superintendent of Newtown schools, said she had not found any connection between Lanza's mother and the school in contrast to initial media reports that stated Lanza's mother had worked there.<ref name="nytimes1" /><ref name="Media too quick to fill in the gaps in story of school shooting in Newtown, Conn.">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/media-too-quick-to-fill-in-the-gaps-in-story-of-school-shooting-in-newtown-conn/2012/12/18/368ae690-4959-11e2-ad54-580638ede391_story.html |first=Paul |last=Farhi |work=The Washington Post |title=Media too quick to fill in the gaps in story of school shooting in Newtown, Conn. |date=December 19, 2012 |access-date=September 11, 2017 |archive-date=November 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108043458/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/media-too-quick-to-fill-in-the-gaps-in-story-of-school-shooting-in-newtown-conn/2012/12/18/368ae690-4959-11e2-ad54-580638ede391_story.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Police also investigated whether Lanza was the person who had been in an altercation with four staff members at Sandy Hook School the day before the massacre. It was presumed that he killed two of the four staff members involved in the altercation (the principal and the psychologist) and wounded the third (the lead teacher) in the attack; the fourth staff member was not at the school that day.<ref name="Newtown gunman had 'altercation' with school staff day before massacre">{{cite web|title=Newtown gunman had 'altercation' with school staff day before massacre|url=http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/15/15926718-newtown-gunman-forced-his-way-into-school-police-say?lite|publisher=NBC News|access-date=December 15, 2012|archive-date=January 18, 2013|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6DlhfuoN3?url=http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/15/15926718-newtown-gunman-forced-his-way-into-school-police-say?lite|url-status=live}}</ref> The state police stated that they did not know of any reports about any altercations at the school.<ref name="Liveblog">{{cite news|url=http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/15/children-and-adults-gunned-down-in-connecticut-school-massacre/?hpt=hp_t1|title=Live blog: Kids slain at Connecticut school were 6, 7|publisher=CNN|date=December 15, 2012|access-date=February 18, 2018|archive-date=February 18, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180218150522/http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/15/children-and-adults-gunned-down-in-connecticut-school-massacre/?hpt=hp_t1|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
Police sources initially reported that Lanza's brother Ryan Lanza, then aged 24,<ref name="0K4uY">{{cite news |last1=Ross |first1=Brian |last2=Cuomo |first2=Chris |last3=Esposito |first3=Richard |title=Connecticut Shooter Adam Lanza: 'Obviously Not Well' |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/connecticut-shooter-adam-lanza/story?id=17975673 |access-date=28 September 2020 |work=[[ABC News]] |date=14 December 2012 |archive-date=October 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025120443/https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/connecticut-shooter-adam-lanza/story?id=17975673 |url-status=live}}</ref> was the perpetrator.<ref name="tPYut">{{cite news |last1=Shontell |first1=Alyson |title=What It Was Like Being Ryan Lanza's Facebook Friend When The World Thought He Was A Killer |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/what-it-was-like-to-be-ryan-lanzas-facebook-friend-when-the-world-thought-he-was-a-killer-2012-12 |access-date=27 September 2020 |work=[[Business Insider]] |date=17 December 2012 |archive-date=February 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212141321/https://www.businessinsider.com/what-it-was-like-to-be-ryan-lanzas-facebook-friend-when-the-world-thought-he-was-a-killer-2012-12 |url-status=live}}</ref> This was probably because Adam was carrying Ryan's identification, Ryan told ''[[The Jersey Journal]]''.<ref name="Rumors">{{cite web|last1=Grant|first1=Jason|last2=Frassinelli|first2=Mike|title=Rumors fly in Hoboken about brother of suspected Connecticut school shooter|url=http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/12/confusion_reigns_at_hoboken_bu.html|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20121217214529/http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/12/confusion_reigns_at_hoboken_bu.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 17, 2012|work=The Star Ledger|date=December 15, 2012|access-date=December 22, 2012}}</ref> Ryan, who lived in [[Hoboken, New Jersey]] and was at his job in [[New York City]] at the time of the shooting, voluntarily submitted to questioning by [[New Jersey State Police]], Connecticut State Police, and the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]].<ref name="uZGrZ">{{cite news |last1=Boburg |first1=Shawn |last2=Ensslin |first2=John |last3=Cowen |first3=Richard |title=Sandy Hook shooter's brother questioned in Hoboken after shootings |url=https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/tri-state-area/2017/12/12/archive-sandy-hook-shooteadam-lanzas-brother-questioned-hoboken-after-sandy-hook-elementary-shooting/928372001/ |access-date=28 September 2020 |work=North Jersey |date=15 December 2012 |archive-date=August 10, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810061253/https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/tri-state-area/2017/12/12/archive-sandy-hook-shooteadam-lanzas-brother-questioned-hoboken-after-sandy-hook-elementary-shooting/928372001/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="PoE0M">{{cite news |last1=From the [[Associated Press]] |title=Police make contact with Lanza's 'missing' girlfriend and friend; Mother found dead in home |url=https://www.knkx.org/post/police-make-contact-lanzas-missing-girlfriend-and-friend-mother-found-dead-home |access-date=28 September 2020 |work=[[KNKX]] |date=15 December 2012 |archive-date=January 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131141846/https://www.knkx.org/post/police-make-contact-lanzas-missing-girlfriend-and-friend-mother-found-dead-home |url-status=live}}</ref> Police said he was not considered a suspect, and he was not taken into custody.<ref name="foxnews20121214_Gunman_dead" /><ref name="KSDK">{{cite news|first=Pete |last=Yost|title=Conn. school shooting: Adam Lanza ID's as shooter|date=December 14, 2012|url=http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/352246/3/Conn-school-shooting-suspect-is-24-younger-brother-held |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130103210137/http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/352246/3/Conn-school-shooting-suspect-is-24-younger-brother-held |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 3, 2013 |publisher=[[KSDK]] |access-date=December 14, 2012}}</ref><ref name="NPRYost12-15-12">{{cite news|last1=Yost |first1=Pete |last2=Keyser |first2=Jason |title=Correction: Conn school shooting-suspect story |agency=Associated Press |publisher=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=167291334 |date=December 15, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215102959/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=167291334 |archive-date=December 15, 2012}}</ref> Ryan said he had not been in touch with Adam since 2010; when asked why, Ryan said his brother was "sick", "[doesn't] talk to anyone", and that Ryan "didn't know him anymore".<ref name="brother">{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/AP9bddda1ae22149f5aaa30fe0fc173f1f |title=Brother of Conn. gunman wrongly cited as shooter |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |agency=Associated Press |date=December 14, 2012 |access-date=December 19, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121218041641/http://online.wsj.com/article/AP9bddda1ae22149f5aaa30fe0fc173f1f.html |archive-date=December 18, 2012}}</ref><ref name="huffpost1">{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/14/media-adam-lanza-newtown-connecticut-shooter-ryan-lanza_n_2302864.html|title=Media Initially Identify Adam Lanza, Newtown Shooting Suspect, As Ryan Lanza, His Brother|newspaper=[[Huffington Post]]|date=December 14, 2012|access-date=December 14, 2012|first=Rebecca|last=Shapiro|archive-date=December 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215050332/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/14/media-adam-lanza-newtown-connecticut-shooter-ryan-lanza_n_2302864.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="te5J3">{{cite news |last1=Engel |first1=Pamela |title=New Details Revealed About Ryan Lanza's Interrogation After The Sandy Hook Massacre |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/ryan-lanzas-interrogation-in-matthew-lysiak-book-2013-12 |access-date=8 October 2020 |work=[[Business Insider]] |date=7 December 2015 |archive-date=October 10, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201010021201/https://www.businessinsider.com/ryan-lanzas-interrogation-in-matthew-lysiak-book-2013-12 |url-status=live}}</ref> Connecticut State Police indicated their concern about misinformation being posted on social media sites and threatened prosecution of anyone involved with such activities.<ref name="Lt. Paul Vance: Misinformation Is Being Posted on Social Media Sites">{{cite news |title=Lt. Paul Vance: Misinformation Is Being Posted on Social Media Sites |publisher=Fox News Insider |date=December 16, 2012 |url= http://foxnewsinsider.com/2012/12/16/lt-paul-vance-misinformation-is-being-posted-on-social-media-sites/ |archive-url= https://archive.today/20130123125741/http://foxnewsinsider.com/2012/12/16/lt-paul-vance-misinformation-is-being-posted-on-social-media-sites/ |url-status=dead |archive-date= January 23, 2013 |access-date=December 16, 2012}}</ref> Ryan was also mistakenly reported to have mourned his mother and brother on social media and to have been interviewed by the ''[[New York Post]]''.<ref name="information1">{{cite news |last1=Finn |first1=Peter |title=Lanza's brother denies giving Facebook interview to New York Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/lanzas-brother-denies-giving-facebook-interview-to-new-york-post/2012/12/23/692125de-4d54-11e2-8b49-64675006147f_story.html |access-date=25 September 2020 |work=[[Washington Post]] |date=23 December 2012 |archive-date=June 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190619022743/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/lanzas-brother-denies-giving-facebook-interview-to-new-york-post/2012/12/23/692125de-4d54-11e2-8b49-64675006147f_story.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="y6AC9">{{cite news |title=Ryan Lanza mourns the loss of his mother, Nancy, and brother, Adam Lanza |url=https://www.news.com.au/world/ryan-lanza-mourns-the-loss-of-his-mother-nancy-and-brother-adam-lanza/news-story/64a863aa900c902999d116de79f58483 |access-date=25 September 2020 |work=[[News.com.au]] |date=24 December 2012 |archive-date=December 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201217070645/https://www.news.com.au/world/ryan-lanza-mourns-the-loss-of-his-mother-nancy-and-brother-adam-lanza/news-story/64a863aa900c902999d116de79f58483 |url-status=live}}</ref> A spokesperson for the Lanza family later said an impostor gave the interview.<ref name="information1" /><ref name="mRNDN">{{cite news |last1=Stableford |first1=Dylan |title=Someone pretending to be Ryan Lanza gives Facebook interview to the New York Post |url=https://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/ryan-lanza-facebook-181924426.html |access-date=25 September 2020 |work=[[Yahoo! News]] |date=23 December 2012 |archive-date=December 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201217064416/https://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/ryan-lanza-facebook-181924426.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
 
A large quantity of unused ammunition was recovered inside the school along with three [[semi-automatic firearm]]s found with Lanza: a [[.223 Remington|.223-caliber]] [[Bushmaster Firearms International|Bushmaster]] [[Bushmaster XM-15|XM15-E2S]] rifle, a [[10mm Auto|10mm]] [[Glock|Glock 20SF]] handgun, and a [[9×19mm Parabellum|9mm]] [[SIG Sauer P226]] handgun.<ref name="CTSP-20130118" /> Outside the school, an [[Izhmash]] [[Saiga-12]]<!--When written in Cyrillic but mistakenly interpreted (read) as English, Saiga appears as "Canta", hence the source citation discrepancy.--> [[shotgun]] was found in the car Lanza had driven.<ref name="CTSP-20130118" /><ref name="Newtown shooter's guns: What we know" />
 
On March 28, 2013, court documents released from the investigation showed that the school shooting had occurred in the space of less than five minutes with 156 shots fired. This comprised 154 shots from the rifle and two shots from the 10mm pistol. Lanza fired one shot from the Glock in the hallway and killed himself with another shot from the pistol to the head.<ref name="documents" /><ref name="JiFzN">{{cite news |url=http://articles.courant.com/2013-10-19/news/hc-sandy-hook-shooting-details-20131018_1_nancy-lanza-adam-lanza-20-first-graders |title=Details Emerge On Sandy Hook Shooting |work=Hartford Courant |date=October 19, 2013 |access-date=December 7, 2013 |archive-date=November 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131129135049/http://articles.courant.com/2013-10-19/news/hc-sandy-hook-shooting-details-20131018_1_nancy-lanza-adam-lanza-20-first-graders |url-status=live}}</ref>
 
===Off-site===
 
Shortly after the shooting, police announced that Lanza used the rifle to kill the victims at the school.<ref name="Newtown Shooter Used a Rifle Popular Among Gunowners">{{cite news |title=Newtown Shooter Used a Rifle Popular Among Gunowners |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/17/us/lanza-used-a-popular-ar-15-style-rifle-in-newtown.html?pagewanted=all |work=The New York Times |access-date=December 16, 2012 |first=Erica |last=Goode |date=December 16, 2012 |archive-date=December 17, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121217112805/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/17/us/lanza-used-a-popular-ar-15-style-rifle-in-newtown.html?pagewanted=all |url-status=live}}</ref> At a press conference on December 15, Dr. H. Wayne Carver II, the Chief Medical Examiner of Connecticut, was asked about the wounds, and replied "All the ones that I know of at this point were caused by the long weapon."<ref name="nytimes1" /><ref name="Liveblog" /><ref name="9JI4o">{{cite news|author=Willingham, A.J.|date=December 15, 2012|title=All wounds caused by 'long weapon'|publisher=Htlntv.com|url=http://www.hlntv.com/video/2012/12/15/shandy-hook-shooting-medical-examiner-information-deaths|url-status=dead|access-date=February 1, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121217204518/http://www.hlntv.com/video/2012/12/15/shandy-hook-shooting-medical-examiner-information-deaths|archive-date=December 17, 2012}}</ref> When asked if the children suffered before dying, Carver replied by stating that "If so, not for very long".<ref name="aR02V">{{cite web|url=http://newtown.patch.com/articles/police-no-motive-emerging-in-newtown-school-shooting|title=Medical Examiner: Newtown Shooting Victims Suffered 'Devastating Set of Injuries'|work=Newtown.patch.com|date=December 15, 2012|access-date=April 12, 2013|archive-date=March 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130324115200/http://newtown.patch.com/articles/police-no-motive-emerging-in-newtown-school-shooting|url-status=live}}</ref> Carver, whose office autopsied the victims and who personally performed seven, said the injuries were "devastating" and that parents identified their children from photographs to spare them the sight. All the child victims were first graders, and all were killed with the Bushmaster XM15. Carver said the bullets used were "designed in such a fashion the energy is deposited in the tissue so the bullet stays in."<ref name="nytimes1" /><ref name="Children in Connecticut rampage were six, seven; shot multiple times" />
 
Investigators evaluated Lanza's body, looking for evidence of drugs or medication through [[toxicology]] tests.<ref name="cnn 20121218 investigation">{{cite news | url = http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/18/us/connecticut-school-shooting/index.html | title = Families hold funerals as school resumes for some Newtown students | publisher = CNN | date = December 18, 2012 | access-date = December 18, 2012 | first1 = Susan | last1 = Candiotti | first2 = Dana | last2 = Ford | archive-date = December 18, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121218100038/http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/18/us/connecticut-school-shooting/index.html | url-status = live}}</ref> <!--this statement is not cited...and signs of brain disorders, such as Asperger's syndrome, or mental health conditions, such as [[schizophrenia]].--> Unusually for an investigation of this type, [[DNA testing]] of Lanza was utilized.<ref name="bloomberg dna testing">{{cite news | url = https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-20/dna-of-newtown-gunman-unlikely-to-yield-clues-of-violence.html | title = DNA of Newtown Gunman Unlikely to Yield Clues of Violence | publisher = [[Bloomberg L.P.|Bloomberg]] | date = December 20, 2012 | access-date = December 27, 2012 | first = John | last = Lauerman | archive-date = December 23, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121223062608/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-20/dna-of-newtown-gunman-unlikely-to-yield-clues-of-violence.html | url-status = live}}</ref><ref name="ebXSP">{{cite news|first=Rose|last=Eveleth|title=Adam Lanza's DNA Will Tell Us Nothing|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/adam-lanzas-dna-will-tell-us-nothing-51471/|access-date=April 19, 2015|work=Smithsonian.com|date=December 31, 2012|archive-date=April 27, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427143524/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/adam-lanzas-dna-will-tell-us-nothing-51471/|url-status=live}}</ref> The results of the toxicology report were published in October 2013, and stated that no alcohol or drugs were found in his system.<ref name="hRxOt">{{cite web|last=Altimari|first=Dave|title=Full Report Confirms No Drugs, Alcohol In Lanza's System|url=http://articles.courant.com/2013-10-29/news/hc-sandy-hook-lanza-toxicology-20131029_1_peter-lanza-adam-lanza-toxicology-report|date=October 29, 2013|work=[[Hartford Courant]]|access-date=June 23, 2014|archive-date=July 9, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140709052232/http://articles.courant.com/2013-10-29/news/hc-sandy-hook-lanza-toxicology-20131029_1_peter-lanza-adam-lanza-toxicology-report|url-status=live}}</ref> Lanza's autopsy showed no tumors or gross deformities in his brain.<ref name="DJQaz">{{cite news|title=Adam Lanza, shooter in Sandy Hook Elementary massacre, found to have no brain deformities: medical examiner|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/lanza-brain-appears-normal-conn-doctor-article-1.1238602|access-date=March 14, 2013|newspaper=Daily News|location=New York|date=January 11, 2013|agency=Associated Press|archive-date=February 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130224011905/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/lanza-brain-appears-normal-conn-doctor-article-1.1238602|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
Lanza removed the [[Hard disk drive|hard drive]] from his computer and damaged it prior to the shooting, creating a challenge for investigators to recover data.<ref name="hard drive">{{cite news|title=Reports: Lanza smashed computer hard drive|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/17/newtown-sandy-hook-adam-lanza-computer-destroyed/1776253/|date=December 17, 2012|work=[[USA Today]]|access-date=December 18, 2012|archive-date=December 18, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121218072737/http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/17/newtown-sandy-hook-adam-lanza-computer-destroyed/1776253/|url-status=live}}</ref> At the time of publication of the final report, it had not been possible to recover data from it.<ref name="final_report" /> Police believe that Lanza extensively researched earlier mass shootings, including the [[2011 Norway attacks]] and the 2006 [[West Nickel Mines School shooting]] at a one-room school in [[Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania]]. Police found that Lanza had downloaded videos relating to the [[Columbine High School massacre]], other shootings and two videos of suicide by gunshot.<ref name="nbc_investigation">{{cite web |url=http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/27/21736461-police-release-full-newtown-massacre-report-with-photos-and-video?lite |title=Police release full Newtown massacre report, with photos and video – Investigations |publisher=NBC News |date=December 27, 2013 |access-date=January 14, 2014 |archive-date=December 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230002144/http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/27/21736461-police-release-full-newtown-massacre-report-with-photos-and-video?lite |url-status=live}}</ref>
 
Details of the investigation were reported by law enforcement officials at a meeting of the International Association of Police Chiefs and Colonels held during the week of March 11, 2013. An article published in the ''[[New York Daily News]]'' on March 17, 2013, provided purported details of this report by an anonymous law enforcement veteran who had attended the meeting.<ref name="nydn spreadsheet">{{cite news | url = http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/lupica-lanza-plotted-massacre-years-article-1.1291408?print | title = Lupica: Morbid find suggests murder-obsessed gunman Adam Lanza plotted Newtown, Conn.'s Sandy Hook massacre for years | first = Mike | last = Lupica | date = March 17, 2013 | access-date = March 19, 2013 | work = [[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]] | archive-date = March 21, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130321110028/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/lupica-lanza-plotted-massacre-years-article-1.1291408?print | url-status = live}}</ref> The source stated that the investigation had found that Lanza had created a 7-by-4-foot sized spreadsheet listing around 500 mass murderers and the weapons they used, which was considered to have taken years of work and to have been used by Lanza as a "score sheet".<ref name="nydn spreadsheet" /> On March 18, 2013, Lt. Paul Vance of the Connecticut State Police responded that the information from this meeting was "law enforcement sensitive information" and considered the release to be a leak.<ref name="leak vance">{{cite web | url = http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Sandy-Hook-Shooter-Kept-Spreadsheet-on-Mass-Killings-Report-198829761.html | title = Sandy Hook Shooter Kept Spreadsheet on Mass Killings: Report | first = LeAnne | last = Gendreau | date = March 18, 2013 | access-date = March 19, 2013 | publisher = [[WVIT]] | archive-date = April 23, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130423091916/http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Sandy-Hook-Shooter-Kept-Spreadsheet-on-Mass-Killings-Report-198829761.html | url-status = live}}</ref>
 
The March 28 documents also provided details on items found at Lanza's home, including three [[Katana|samurai swords]], a newspaper article about the [[Northern Illinois University shooting]], and a [[National Rifle Association]] certificate.<ref name="documents">{{cite web | url = http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/03/28/inside-newtown-shooter-adam-lanzas-home/ | title = Inside Newtown shooter Adam Lanza's home | date = March 28, 2013 | access-date = March 28, 2013 | publisher = [[MSNBC]] | archive-date = April 1, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130401171925/http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/03/28/inside-newtown-shooter-adam-lanzas-home/ | url-status = live}}</ref> The NRA denied that Adam Lanza or Nancy Lanza were members and reporters noted that the NRA site provides training certificate completion templates for courses offered by NRA Certified Instructors.<ref name="NRAMembers">{{cite web | url = http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/adam-lanza-mom-nra-certificates-89426.html | title = Adam Lanza, mom had NRA Certificates | date = March 28, 2013 | access-date = March 28, 2013 | work = [[Huffington Post]] | archive-date = March 31, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130331012407/http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/adam-lanza-mom-nra-certificates-89426.html | url-status = live}}</ref> A [[gun safe]] was found in a bedroom and investigators found more than 1,400 rounds of ammunition and other firearms.<ref name="mzU2D">{{cite news|title=Documents: New details on Newtown school massacre|url=http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2013/03/us/newtown-search-warrants/index.html?hpt=hp_t2|publisher=CNN|date=March 28, 2013|access-date=March 28, 2013|archive-date=March 28, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130328224815/http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2013/03/us/newtown-search-warrants/index.html?hpt=hp_t2|url-status=live}}</ref> At home, Lanza had access to three more firearms: a [[Henry rifle|.45 Henry]] rifle, a [[M1917 Enfield|.30 Enfield]] rifle, and a [[Marlin Firearms|.22 Marlin]] rifle.<ref name="Connecticut school victims were shot multiple times">{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/15/us/connecticut-school-shooting/index.html |title=Connecticut school victims were shot multiple times |publisher=CNN |access-date=December 16, 2012 |date=December 16, 2012 |archive-date=December 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121216004836/http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/15/us/connecticut-school-shooting/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="cnn1">{{cite news |last1=Candiotti |first1=Susan |last2=Yan |first2=Holly |title=Connecticut school shooting: Latest developments |publisher=CNN |date=December 16, 2012 |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/16/us/connecticut-school-shooting/index.html |access-date=December 16, 2012 |quote=Carver, who performed autopsies on seven of the victims, said the wounds he knew about were caused by a "long weapon" and that the rifle was the primary weapon used. |archive-date=December 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121216211656/http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/16/us/connecticut-school-shooting/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Little for Investigators to Trace">{{cite news|title=Sandy Hook Shooter Lanza Left Little For Investigators To Trace|url=http://articles.courant.com/2012-12-19/news/hc-lanza-ghost-20121219_1_home-computer-investigators-video-games|access-date=January 9, 2013|newspaper=Hartford Courant|date=December 19, 2012|first1=Dave|last1=Altimari|first2=Edmund|last2=Mahony|first3=Jon|last3=Lender|archive-date=January 6, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130106204542/http://articles.courant.com/2012-12-19/news/hc-lanza-ghost-20121219_1_home-computer-investigators-video-games|url-status=live}}</ref> These were [[Gun laws in Connecticut|legally owned]] by Lanza's mother, who was described as a gun enthusiast.<ref name="NBC News Dec 14">{{cite web|title=Elementary school massacre: 27 dead, including 20 kids, in Connecticut|url=http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/15/15907407-elementary-school-massacre-20-children-among-28-killed-in-connecticut-slaughter|publisher=NBC News|access-date=December 14, 2012|first1=Pete|last1=Williams|first2=Miguel|last2=Llanos|first3=Tracy|last3=Connor|date=December 14, 2012|archive-date=January 18, 2013|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6DlhbklSP?url=http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/15/15907407-elementary-school-massacre-20-children-among-28-killed-in-connecticut-slaughter|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="nydailynews">{{cite news |first1=Matthew |last1=Lysiak |first2=Denis |last2=Slattery |first3=Rich |last3=Schapiro |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/adam-lanza-20-deeply-disturbed-kid-article-1.1220752 |title=Sandy Hook mass murderer Adam Lanza, 20, 'deeply disturbed kid' |work=[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]] |location=New York |date=December 14, 2012 |access-date=December 14, 2012 |archive-date=December 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121216082943/http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/adam-lanza-20-deeply-disturbed-kid-article-1.1220752 |url-status=live}}</ref> According to ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', authorities also found a photograph of Lanza holding a gun to his head at his home following his death.<ref name="Don't Blame">{{cite magazine | url = http://time.com/19957/adam-lanzas-violence-wasnt-typical-of-aspergers/ | title = Don't Blame Adam Lanza's Violence on Asperger's | first = Alice | last = Park | date = March 11, 2014 | access-date = March 12, 2014 | magazine = Time | archive-date = March 11, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140311235314/http://time.com/19957/adam-lanzas-violence-wasnt-typical-of-aspergers/ | url-status = live}}</ref>
 
According to ''The New York Times'', law enforcement officials commented that Lanza would spend most of his time in his basement doing solitary activities. According to the same officials, it also appeared that Lanza "may have taken target practice in the basement".<ref name="EZO0T">{{cite news|title=Newtown Killer's Obsessions, in Chilling Detail|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/nyregion/search-warrants-reveal-items-seized-at-adam-lanzas-home.html|work=The New York Times|date=March 28, 2013|access-date=May 1, 2013|first1=N. R.|last1=Kleinfield|first2=Ray|last2=Rivera|first3=Serge F.|last3=Kovaleski|archive-date=April 7, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407052126/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/nyregion/search-warrants-reveal-items-seized-at-adam-lanzas-home.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
===Final reports===
==== State Attorney's report ====
The final report of the State Attorney summarizing the investigation into the shooting was published on November 25, 2013. It concluded that Adam Lanza had acted alone, and that the case was closed. The report noted that "[Lanza] had a familiarity with and access to firearms and ammunition and an obsession with mass murders, in particular the [[Columbine High School massacre|April 1999 shootings]] at Columbine High School in Colorado." The report did not identify a specific motive for the shooting, stating, "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."<ref name="jpMUY">{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/25/sandy-hook-shooter-adam-lanza-report |title=Sandy Hook report – shooter Adam Lanza was obsessed with mass murder |work=The Guardian |date=November 25, 2013 |access-date=November 26, 2013 |archive-date=November 26, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131126101418/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/25/sandy-hook-shooter-adam-lanza-report |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="K0zkH">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25097127 |title=Newtown gunman Adam Lanza had 'obsession' with Columbine |work=BBC News |date=November 26, 2013 |access-date=November 28, 2013 |archive-date=November 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131128164920/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25097127 |url-status=live}}</ref>
 
On the question of Lanza's state of mind, the report noted "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 ... 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." The report found no evidence that Lanza had taken drugs or medication that would have affected his behavior, and observed, "'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."<ref name="final_report" /><ref name="Vktfi">{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/sandy-hook-killer-adam-lanza-acted-alone-and-had-an-obsession-with-mass-killings-such-as-columbine-says-report-8963342.html |title=Sandy Hook massacre: Adam Lanza acted alone and had an obsession with mass killings |work=The Independent |date=November 26, 2013 |access-date=November 28, 2013 |location=London |archive-date=November 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131128001204/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/sandy-hook-killer-adam-lanza-acted-alone-and-had-an-obsession-with-mass-killings-such-as-columbine-says-report-8963342.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
 
On December 27, 2013, police released thousands of pages of documents pertaining to the investigation. In accordance with law, the names of victims and witnesses were redacted or withheld. The summary report included information about items found on Lanza's computer equipment, including writings and material about previous mass shootings.<ref name="hNUJY">{{cite news|title=Police Release Documents On Newtown Massacre|url=http://articles.courant.com/2013-12-28/news/hc-sandy-hook-state-police-report-20131227_1_adam-lanza-nancy-lanza-yogananda-street|work=[[Hartford Courant]]|access-date=September 2, 2014|date=December 27, 2013|archive-date=September 3, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903124829/http://articles.courant.com/2013-12-28/news/hc-sandy-hook-state-police-report-20131227_1_adam-lanza-nancy-lanza-yogananda-street|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="v59Un">{{cite web|title=No Motive In Newtown Report, But Many Details About Lanza|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/11/25/247219204/no-motive-in-newtown-report-but-many-details-about-lanza|first=Bill|last=Chappell|publisher=[[NPR]]|access-date=January 29, 2015|date=November 25, 2013|archive-date=February 15, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215141556/http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/11/25/247219204/no-motive-in-newtown-report-but-many-details-about-lanza|url-status=live}}</ref> A former teacher of Lanza's noted that he exhibited antisocial behavior, rarely interacted with other students, and was obsessed with writing "about battles, destruction and war."<ref name="NtCpd">{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|title=Police file on Newtown yields chilling portrait|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/police-file-on-newtown-yields-chilling-portrait-of-shooter-and-more-details-of-rampage/2013/12/27/2d09a548-6f4b-11e3-b405-7e360f7e9fd2_story.html|work=The Washington Post|access-date=December 28, 2013|date=December 27, 2013|archive-date=December 13, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151213090100/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/police-file-on-newtown-yields-chilling-portrait-of-shooter-and-more-details-of-rampage/2013/12/27/2d09a548-6f4b-11e3-b405-7e360f7e9fd2_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
====Report of the Office of the Child Advocate====
The Report of the Office of the Child Advocate concluded:  "There was not one thing that was necessarily the tipping point driving Lanza to commit the Sandy Hook shooting. Rather there was a cascade of events, many self-imposed, that included: loss of school; absence of work; disruption of the relationship with his one friend; virtually no personal contact with family; virtually total and increasing isolation; fear of losing his home and of a change in his relationship with Mrs. Lanza, his only caretaker and connection; worsening OCD; depression and anxiety; profound and possibly worsening anorexia; and an increasing obsession with mass murder occurring in the total absence of any engagement with the outside world. Adam increasingly lived in an alternate universe in which ruminations about mass shootings were his central
preoccupation".<ref name="ReferenceA">[http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf Report of the Office of the Child Advocate] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141126233253/http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf |date=November 26, 2014}}, p.104</ref>
 
The authors also noted that despite multiple developmental and mental health problems, Lanza had not received adequate mental health treatment. They wrote: "It is fair to surmise that, had Lanza's mental illness been adequately treated in the last years of his life, one predisposing factor to the tragedy of Sandy Hook might have been mitigated".<ref name="6ib94">[http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf Report of the Office of the Child Advocate] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141126233253/http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf |date=November 26, 2014}}, p.107</ref>
 
The report also tentatively disagreed with the conclusions of the State Attorney about why Lanza targeted Sandy Hook. They noted that "According to the FBI, shooters are likely to target places or people that are familiar to them ... The elementary school may have been targeted because he could overpower people, a dynamic that is very important for mass shooters as they do not want to be thwarted".<ref name="ReferenceA" />
 
==Perpetrator==
{{Infobox criminal
| name        = Adam Lanza
| image      = <!--DO NOT ADD IMAGE WITHOUT DELETION REVIEW-->
| birth_name  = Adam Peter Lanza
| occupation  = None
| alma_mater = [[Western Connecticut State University]]
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1992|4|22}}
| birth_place = [[Exeter, New Hampshire]], U.S.
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|2012|12|14|1992|4|22}}
| death_place = [[Newtown, Connecticut]], U.S.
| height      = 6 ft 0 in
| death_cause = Self-inflicted gunshot wound
| parents    = Peter Lanza (father)<br />Nancy Lanza (mother)
| date        = December 14, 2012
| time        = {{Circa|9:35&nbsp;a.m.|9:40&nbsp;a.m.}}
| targets    = Students and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School
| locations  = [[Newtown, Connecticut]], U.S.
| fatalities  = 28 (including himself)
| injuries    = 2
| motive      = Inconclusive
}}
The perpetrator was Adam Peter Lanza (April 22, 1992&nbsp;– December 14, 2012), who lived with his mother, Nancy Lanza, in Sandy Hook, {{convert|5|mi|0}} from the elementary school.<ref name="NYTimesShyIntelligent">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/15/nyregion/adam-lanza-an-enigma-who-is-now-identified-as-a-mass-killer.html?smid=tw-share&pagewanted=all|title=A Gunman, Recalled as Intelligent and Shy, Who Left Few Footprints in Life|first=David M|last=Halbfinger|date=December 14, 2012|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=December 14, 2012|archive-date=February 27, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130227191224/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/15/nyregion/adam-lanza-an-enigma-who-is-now-identified-as-a-mass-killer.html?smid=tw-share&pagewanted=all|url-status=live}}</ref> He did not have a criminal record.<ref name="ID" /><ref name="EveningSun">{{cite news |first1=Susan |last1=Misur |first2=Angi |last2=Carter |first3=Jenn |last3=Smith |url=http://www.eveningsun.com/ci_22195195/adam-lanzas-family-seemed-like-normal-family |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121218054044/http://www.eveningsun.com/ci_22195195/adam-lanzas-family-seemed-like-normal-family |archive-date=December 18, 2012 |date=December 14, 2012 |title=Adam Lanza's family seemed like normal family, neighbors say |newspaper=The Evening Sun |access-date=December 15, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Connecticut shooting suspect was honors student">{{cite news |first1=Pete |last1=Yost |first2=Jason |last2=Keyser |url= http://www.boston.com/news/education/2012/12/14/conn-school-shooting-suspect-was-son-teacher/iElPLevAl8rYwjOXcy1cMK/singlepage.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130119214043/http://www.boston.com/news/education/2012/12/14/conn-school-shooting-suspect-was-son-teacher/iElPLevAl8rYwjOXcy1cMK/singlepage.html |archive-date= January 19, 2013 |date=December 14, 2012|title=Connecticut shooting suspect was honors student |newspaper=[[Boston Globe]] |agency=Associated Press |access-date=December 15, 2012}}</ref> He had access to guns through his mother, who was described as a "gun enthusiast who owned at least a dozen firearms".<ref name="cbsarsenal12-16-12">{{cite news|title=Friends: Newtown gunman's mother home-schooled son, kept arsenal of guns|url=http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/12/16/friends-newtown-gunmans-mother-home-schooled-son-kept-arsenal-of-guns/|publisher=CBS News|date=December 16, 2012|access-date=December 17, 2012|archive-date=December 19, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121219044839/http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/12/16/friends-newtown-gunmans-mother-home-schooled-son-kept-arsenal-of-guns/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NYBankoff">{{cite news |last=Bankoff |first=Caroline |title=Newtown Shooter Adam Lanza's Mother Was an Avid Gun Collector |work=New York |date=December 2012 |url=http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2012/12/adam-lanzas-mother-was-an-avid-gun-collector.html |access-date=December 16, 2012 |archive-date=December 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121216200413/http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2012/12/adam-lanzas-mother-was-an-avid-gun-collector.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Investigators look for insight into Newtown gunman's mind">{{cite news |title=Investigators look for insight into Newtown gunman's mind |url=http://boston.cbslocal.com/2012/12/14/newtown-school-shooting-who-is-adam-lanza/ |publisher=CBS News |agency=Associated Press |date=December 14, 2012 |access-date=December 16, 2012 |archive-date=December 19, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121219133749/http://boston.cbslocal.com/2012/12/14/newtown-school-shooting-who-is-adam-lanza/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Survivalists">{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/survivalists-worry-preppers-scapegoated-newtown-shooting-213541985.html|publisher=Yahoo! News|title=Survivalists worry 'preppers' will be scapegoated for Newtown shooting|last=Goodwin|first=Liz|date=December 19, 2012|access-date=December 19, 2012|archive-date=January 18, 2013|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6DlguyB3t?url=http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/survivalists-worry-preppers-scapegoated-newtown-shooting-213541985.html|url-status=live}}</ref> She often took her two sons to a local shooting range, where they learned to shoot.<ref name="Connecticut school shooting: Troubled life of Adam Lanza, a fiercely intelligent killer">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9747682/Connecticut-school-shooting-troubled-life-of-Adam-Lanza-a-fiercely-intelligent-killer.html |title=Connecticut school shooting: Troubled life of Adam Lanza, a fiercely intelligent killer |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |first1=Harriet |last1=Alexander |first2=David |last2=Barrett |first3=Laura |last3=Donnelly |first4=Jon |last4=Swaine |date=December 15, 2012 |access-date=April 5, 2018 |archive-date=April 18, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418164407/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9747682/Connecticut-school-shooting-troubled-life-of-Adam-Lanza-a-fiercely-intelligent-killer.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="nydailynews2">{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/conn-gunman-learned-shoot-mom-article-1.1220893 |title=Newtown, Conn. shooting: Sandy Hook elementary school gunman Adam Lanza learned to shoot from his gun-collecting mom |first1=Matthew |last1=Lysiak |first2=Dennis |last2=Slattery |first3=Corky |last3=Siemaszko |work=Daily News |location=New York |access-date=December 15, 2012 |date=December 15, 2012 |archive-date=December 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215184629/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/conn-gunman-learned-shoot-mom-article-1.1220893 |url-status=live}}</ref> Lanza's father has said that he does not believe Nancy feared Adam. She did not confide any fear of Adam to her sister or to her best friend, slept with her bedroom door unlocked, and kept guns in the house.<ref name="The Reckoning" />
 
===Education===
Lanza attended Sandy Hook Elementary School for four and a half years.<ref name="AMWGO">{{cite news |url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/2012/12/18/adam-lanza-sandy-hook-student/1777525/ |title=Classmate says Adam Lanza attended Sandy Hook school |first1=Gary |last1=Stoller |first2=Oren |last2=Dorell |date=December 19, 2012 |access-date=September 22, 2018 |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |publisher=[[Gannett]] |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112031129/https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/2012/12/18/adam-lanza-sandy-hook-student/1777525/ |url-status=live}}</ref> He began at Newtown Middle School in 2004,<ref name="courantMedicalRecords">{{cite news |url=http://www.courant.com:80/hc-adam-lanzas-medical-records-reveal-growing-anxiety-20141121-story.html |title=Adam Lanza's Medical Records Reveal Growing Anxiety |first1=Alaine |last1=Griffin |first2=Josh |last2=Kovner |date=June 30, 2013 |access-date=September 22, 2018 |newspaper=[[The Hartford Courant]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180302081135/http://www.courant.com/hc-adam-lanzas-medical-records-reveal-growing-anxiety-20141121-story.html |archive-date=March 2, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> but according to his mother was "wracked by anxiety".<ref name="NJuO1">{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/adam-lanzas-pediatric-records-reveal-growing-anxiety/ |title=Adam Lanza's Pediatric Records Reveal Growing Anxiety |date=June 29, 2013 |access-date=September 22, 2018 |first1=Alaine |last1=Griffin |first2=Josh |last2=Kovner |work=[[PBS]] |archive-date=September 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922070713/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/adam-lanzas-pediatric-records-reveal-growing-anxiety/ |url-status=live}}</ref> She told friends that her son started getting upset at middle school because of frequent classroom changes during the day. The movement and noise was too stimulating and made him anxious. At one point his anxiety was so intense that she took him to the emergency room at Danbury Hospital. In April 2005, she moved him to a new school, St. Rose of Lima, where he lasted only eight weeks.<ref name="courant" />
 
At age 14, he went to [[Newtown High School (Connecticut)|Newtown High School]], where he was named to the [[Honors Student|honor roll]] in 2007.<ref name="NPRYost12-15-12" /><ref name="cikLJ">{{Cite news|url=http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Newtown-High-School-honor-roll-54220.php|title=Newtown High School honor roll|work=The News-Times|date=May 5, 2007|access-date=October 24, 2017|archive-date=October 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025074723/http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Newtown-High-School-honor-roll-54220.php|url-status=live}}</ref> Students and teachers who knew him in high school described Lanza as "intelligent but nervous and fidgety". He avoided attracting attention and was uncomfortable socializing. He is not known to have had any close friends in school.<ref name="NYTimesShyIntelligent" /> Schoolwork often triggered his underlying sense of hopelessness and by 2008, when he turned 16, he was only going to school occasionally.<ref name="The Reckoning">{{cite magazine|first=Andrew|last=Solomon|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/03/17/the-reckoning|title=The Reckoning|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|date=March 17, 2014|access-date=August 22, 2017|archive-date=August 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822134307/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/03/17/the-reckoning|url-status=live}}</ref> The intense anxiety Lanza experienced at the time suggests his autism was exacerbated by the hormonal shifts of adolescence.<ref name="The Reckoning" /> He was taken out of high school and [[home-schooled]] by his mother and father. He earned a [[General Educational Development|GED]].<ref name="huffingtonpost">{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/17/adam-lanza-college-courses_n_2315431.html |title=Adam Lanza Took Western Connecticut State University Courses When He Was 16 |work=Huffington Post |date=December 17, 2012 |access-date=December 19, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121219151033/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/17/adam-lanza-college-courses_n_2315431.html |archive-date=December 19, 2012}}</ref> In 2008 and 2009, he also attended some classes at [[Western Connecticut State University]].<ref name="FRONTLINE" />
 
===Developmental and mental health problems===
Lanza presented with developmental challenges before the age of three. These included communication and sensory difficulties, socialization delays, and repetitive behaviors. He was seen by the New Hampshire Birth to Three intervention program and referred to special education preschool services.<ref name="Child Advocate 2014, p.7" /> Once at elementary school, he was diagnosed with a [[sensory processing disorder|sensory-integration disorder]]. Sensory-processing disorder does not have official status by the medical community as a formal diagnosis but is a common characteristic of autism.<ref name="spd">{{cite web|title=Newtown Shooter Lanza Had Sensory Processing Disorder|url=http://abpcnews.go.com/Health/newtown-shooter-adam-lanza-sensory-processing-disorder-controversial/story?id=18532645|publisher=ABC News|access-date=February 20, 2013}}</ref> His anxiety affected his ability to attend school and in 8th grade he was placed on "homebound" status, which is reserved for children who are too disabled, even with supports and accommodations, to attend school.<ref name="Child Advocate 2014, p.8">[http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf Shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141126233253/http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf |date=November 26, 2014}}, Office of the Child Advocate, 2014, p.8.</ref>
 
When he was 13, Lanza was diagnosed with [[Asperger syndrome]] by a psychiatrist, Paul Fox.<ref name="The Reckoning" /> When he was 14, his parents took him to Yale University's Child Study Center, where he was also diagnosed with [[obsessive-compulsive disorder]] (OCD). He frequently washed his hands and changed his socks 20 times a day, to the point where his mother did three loads of laundry a day.<ref name="gtdsT">{{cite web |url=http://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/newtown-shooting-police-file-101561.html |title=Police release documents on Newtown massacre |work=Politico |date=December 27, 2013 |access-date=January 14, 2014 |archive-date=December 31, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231204759/http://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/newtown-shooting-police-file-101561.html |url-status=live}}</ref> He also sometimes went through a box of tissues in a day because he could not touch a doorknob with his bare hand.<ref name="uwZOF">{{cite web|url=http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/adam-lanza-newtown-school-shooter-remains-enigma-despite-files-1.6684722|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131229114153/http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/adam-lanza-newtown-school-shooter-remains-enigma-despite-files-1.6684722|archive-date=December 29, 2013 |title=Adam Lanza, Newtown school shooter, remains enigma despite files |work=[[Newsday]] |access-date=December 29, 2013}}</ref>
 
Lanza was treated by Robert King, who recommended extensive support be put in place and prescribed the antidepressant [[Citalopram|Celexa]]. He took the medication for three days. His mother Nancy reported: "On the third morning he complained of dizziness. By that afternoon he was disoriented, his speech was disjointed, he couldn't even figure out how to open his cereal box. He was sweating profusely ... it was actually dripping off his hands. He said he couldn't think ... He was practically vegetative".<ref name="The Reckoning" /> He never took the medication again.<ref name="yale">{{cite news|title=Sandy Hook shooter treated at Yale|url=http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2014/01/22/sand-hook-shooter-treated-at-yale/|access-date=June 23, 2014|work=Yale Daily News|date=January 22, 2014|archive-date=July 3, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703193410/http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2014/01/22/sand-hook-shooter-treated-at-yale/|url-status=live}}</ref> A report from the Office of the Child Advocate found that
 
{{quote|Yale's recommendations for extensive special education supports, ongoing expert consultation, and rigorous therapeutic supports embedded into (Lanza's) daily life went largely unheeded.<ref name="Child Advocate 2014, p.7">[http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf Shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141126233253/http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf |date=November 26, 2014}}, Office of the Child Advocate, 2014, p.7.</ref>}}
 
In a 2013 interview, Peter Lanza said he suspected his son might have also suffered from undiagnosed [[schizophrenia]] in addition to his other conditions. Lanza said that family members might have missed signs of the onset of schizophrenia and psychotic behavior during his son's adolescence because they mistakenly attributed his odd behavior and increasing isolation to Asperger syndrome.<ref name="The Reckoning" /><ref name="FRONTLINE">{{cite news|title=Raising Adam Lanza|url=http://video.pbs.org/video/2336615746/|access-date=December 11, 2013|work=Frontline|publisher=PBS|date=February 19, 2013|archive-date=December 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216055019/http://video.pbs.org/video/2336615746/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Falco">{{cite news | url=http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/17/health/connecticut-shooting-autism/index.html?hpt=hp_t2 | title=Groups: Autism not to blame for violence | date=December 17, 2012 | publisher=CNN | access-date=December 17, 2012 | last=Falco | first=Miriam | archive-date=February 5, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140205013104/http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/17/health/connecticut-shooting-autism/index.html?hpt=hp_t2 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="JIboT">{{cite web |last=Goodwin |first=Liz |url=https://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/photos-details-emerge-newtown-mass-shooter-adam-lanza-124951161.html |title=New photos, details emerge of Newtown mass shooter Adam Lanza &#124; The Lookout |publisher=Yahoo! News |date=February 19, 2013 |access-date=February 19, 2013 |archive-date=February 19, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130219144802/http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/photos-details-emerge-newtown-mass-shooter-adam-lanza-124951161.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="eJn02">{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Health/video/adam-lanza-diagnosed-sensory-integration-disorder-18530509 |title=Adam Lanza Diagnosed With Sensory Integration Disorder &#124; Video |publisher=ABC News |date=February 18, 2013 |access-date=February 19, 2013 |archive-date=February 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130218201116/http://abcnews.go.com/Health/video/adam-lanza-diagnosed-sensory-integration-disorder-18530509 |url-status=live}}</ref> Because of concerns that published accounts of Lanza's autism could result in a backlash against others with the condition, [[Autism rights movement|autism advocates]] campaigned to clarify that autism is a [[Neurodevelopmental disorder|brain-related developmental]] disorder rather than a [[mental illness]].<ref name="Autism backlash">{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/19/health/shooting-autism/index.html|work=Time|title=Troubling legacy of Sandy Hook may be backlash against kids with autism|last=Rochman|first=Bonnie|date=December 19, 2012|access-date=December 20, 2012|archive-date=December 20, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121220150640/http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/19/health/shooting-autism/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The violence Lanza demonstrated in the shooting is generally not seen in the autistic population<ref name="Afraid of Autism">{{cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2012/12/adam_lanza_asperger_s_can_autism_explain_the_sandy_hook_tragedy.html|work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|title=Don't Be Afraid of People With Autism: They are not cold-blooded killers|last=Lutz|first=Amy S.F.|date=December 17, 2012|access-date=December 20, 2012|archive-date=December 21, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221004440/http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2012/12/adam_lanza_asperger_s_can_autism_explain_the_sandy_hook_tragedy.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and none of the psychiatrists he saw detected troubling signs of violence in his disposition.<ref name="The Reckoning" />
 
Lanza appears to have had no contact with mental health providers after 2006. The report from the Office of the Child Advocate stated: "In the course of Lanza's entire life, minimal mental health evaluation and treatment (in relation to his apparent need) was obtained. Of the couple of providers that saw him, only one — the Yale Child Study Center — seemed to appreciate the gravity of (his) presentation, his need for extensive mental health and special education supports, and the critical need for medication to ease his obsessive-compulsive symptoms".<ref name="Child Advocate 2014, p.8" />
 
Investigators found Lanza was fascinated with mass shootings, such as the [[Columbine High School massacre]], the [[Virginia Tech shooting]] and the [[Northern Illinois University shooting|Northern Illinois University 2008 shooting]]. Among the clippings found in his room, there was a story from ''The New York Times'' about a man who shot at schoolchildren in 1891. His computer contained two videos of gunshot suicides, movies that showed school shootings and two pictures of Lanza pointing guns at his own head.<ref name="eHF5D">[https://web.archive.org/web/20131218072027/http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/25/justice/sandy-hook-shooting-report/ Sandy Hook killer took motive to his grave]</ref><ref name="ConneticutPost">{{cite news|title=Computer evidence shows Lanza's interest in pedophilia|url=http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Computer-evidence-shows-Lanza-s-interest-in-5156605.php#photo-5651099|access-date=November 19, 2017|first=Dirk|last=Perrefort|work=[[Connecticut Post]]|date=January 19, 2014|archive-date=November 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171106210812/http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Computer-evidence-shows-Lanza-s-interest-in-5156605.php#photo-5651099|url-status=live}}</ref> It was also claimed that he had edited Wikipedia articles about mass murderers.<ref name="rRySw">{{Cite web|first1=Alaine|last1=Griffin|first2=Josh|last2=Kovner|url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/newtown-sandy-hook-school-shooting/hc-adam-lanza-online-posts-20130630-story.html|title=Mass Murders Captivated Online User Believed To Be Adam Lanza|date=June 30, 2013|website=[[Hartford Courant]]|access-date=December 9, 2018|archive-date=December 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181210064740/https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/newtown-sandy-hook-school-shooting/hc-adam-lanza-online-posts-20130630-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
This only came to light after Lanza died, because he never permitted others to access his bedroom, including his mother. Lanza had also taped over the windows with black plastic garbage bags to block out sunlight.<ref name="z3HQv">{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/25/justice/sandy-hook-shooting-report/ |title=Sandy Hook killer Adam Lanza took motive to his grave |publisher=CNN |access-date=December 29, 2013 |url-status=dead |date=November 26, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131218072027/http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/25/justice/sandy-hook-shooting-report/ |archive-date=December 18, 2013}}</ref> He had cut off contact with both his father and brother in the two years before the shooting and at one point communicated with his mother, who lived in the same house, only by email. A document titled "Selfish", about the inherent selfishness of women, was found on Lanza's computer after his death.<ref name="The Reckoning" /><ref name="DuLQa">{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/sandy-hook-report-inside-gunman-adam-lanzas-bedroom/story?id=21009111 |title=Sandy Hook Report: Inside Gunman Adam Lanza's Bedroom |publisher=ABC News |date=November 25, 2013 |access-date=December 29, 2013 |archive-date=December 31, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231003215/http://abcnews.go.com/US/sandy-hook-report-inside-gunman-adam-lanzas-bedroom/story?id=21009111 |url-status=live}}</ref>
 
===Final months===
According to a report by the Office of the Child Advocate in Connecticut in November 2014, Lanza may have suffered from [[anorexia nervosa]]. The authors wrote that "Anorexia can produce cognitive impairment and it is likely that anorexia combined with an autism spectrum disorder and OCD compounded Lanza's risk for suicide".<ref name="QMm2z">[http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf Report of the Office of Child Advocate] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141126233253/http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf |date=November 26, 2014}}, p.102.</ref> They also noted that at the time of his death, Lanza "was anorexic (he was six feet tall (183 cm) and weighed 112 pounds (51 kg)), to the point of malnutrition and resultant brain damage."<ref name="JsqDg">{{Cite report |date=November 21, 2014 |title=Shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School |url=http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf |page=102 |access-date=November 28, 2014 |archive-date=November 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141126233253/http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>
 
He was also living in almost total isolation in his room, spending most of his time on the internet playing ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' and other video games. The report stated that he "descended" into a world where his only communication with the outside world was with members of a cyber-community, "a small community of individuals that shared his dark and obsessive interest in mass murder".<ref name="rjWCu">[http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf Report of the Office of Child Advocate] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141126233253/http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf |date=November 26, 2014}}, p.100.</ref>
 
In the weeks before the killings, Lanza's mother was considering moving him to another town.<ref name="UkqXL">{{cite news|url=http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nancy-lanza-had-considered-moving-with-her-son-to-washington-state-friend-says/|title=Nancy Lanza had considered moving with her son to Washington state|newspaper=[[The Seattle Times]]|date=November 18, 2012|access-date=August 24, 2017|archive-date=August 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824053834/http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nancy-lanza-had-considered-moving-with-her-son-to-washington-state-friend-says/|url-status=live}}</ref> She planned to purchase a [[recreational vehicle]] for him to stay in so that potential purchasers could see the house without disturbing him.<ref name="6hLtG">[http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf Report of the Office of Child Advocate] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141126233253/http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf |date=November 26, 2014}}, p.103</ref> The Report of the Child Advocate stated that:
 
{{quote|In the wake of Mrs Lanza's stated plan to move out of Sandy Hook in 2012, and perhaps stimulated by fears of leaving the "comfort zone" of his home, Adam planned and executed the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012.<ref name="rVsW0">[http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf Report of the Office of Child Advocate] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141126233253/http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf |date=November 26, 2014}}, p.8</ref> His severe and deteriorating internalized mental health problems were combined with an atypical preoccupation with violence. Combined with access to deadly weapons, this proved a recipe for mass murder".<ref name="L7cpF">[http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf Report of the Office of Child Advocate] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141126233253/http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf |date=November 26, 2014}}, p.9.</ref>}}
 
James Knoll, a [[forensic psychiatry|forensic psychiatrist]] at [[SUNY Upstate Medical University]], was consulted about what motivated Lanza to kill. Knoll states that Lanza's final act conveyed a distinct message: "I carry profound hurt — I'll go ballistic and transfer it onto you."<ref name="The Reckoning" />
 
==Responses==
<!-- Please do not add every reaction here. See talk page if you have questions or need clarification. -->
{{Main|Reactions to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting}}
[[File:President Obama Makes a Statement on the Shooting in Newtown.ogv|thumb|right|200px|Obama's address in reaction to the shooting]]
President [[Barack Obama]] gave a televised address on the day of the shootings: "We're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics."<ref name="Statement by the President on the School Shooting in Newtown, CT">{{cite press release |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/photos-and-video/video/2012/12/14/president-obama-makes-statement-shooting-newtown-connecticut |title=Statement by the President on the School Shooting in Newtown, CT |publisher=White House Press Office |date=December 14, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170716072113/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/photos-and-video/video/2012/12/14/president-obama-makes-statement-shooting-newtown-connecticut |archive-date=July 16, 2017}}</ref> Obama expressed "enormous sympathy for families that are affected".<ref name="WashingtonPost">{{cite news |title=Official with knowledge of Conn. school shooting: 27 dead, including 18 children |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/state-police-respond-to-report-of-school-shooting-in-newtown-conn-lockdown-in-place/2012/12/14/df59a9aa-4602-11e2-8c8f-fbebf7ccab4e_story.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121214184915/http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/state-police-respond-to-report-of-school-shooting-in-newtown-conn-lockdown-in-place/2012/12/14/df59a9aa-4602-11e2-8c8f-fbebf7ccab4e_story.html |archive-date= December 14, 2012 |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=December 14, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Obama on Connecticut Shooting: We Need 'Meaningful Action'">{{cite web |first1=Sabrina |last1=Siddiqui |first2=Elise |last2=Foley |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/14/obama-connecticut-shooting_n_2303017.html |title=Obama on Connecticut Shooting: We Need 'Meaningful Action' |website=[[Huffington Post]] |date=December 14, 2012 |access-date=December 14, 2012 |archive-date=December 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215041833/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/14/obama-connecticut-shooting_n_2303017.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="An emotional Obama: 'They had their entire lives ahead of them'">{{cite web |first=Michael |last=O'Brien |url=http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/14/15911507-an-emotional-obama-they-had-their-entire-lives-ahead-of-them?lite |title=An emotional Obama: 'They had their entire lives ahead of them' |publisher=[[NBC News]] |date=December 14, 2012 |access-date=December 14, 2012 |archive-date=December 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215023115/http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/14/15911507-an-emotional-obama-they-had-their-entire-lives-ahead-of-them?lite |url-status=live}}</ref> He also ordered flags to be flown at half-staff at the [[White House]] and other U.S. federal government facilities worldwide in respect of the victims.<ref name="Whitehouse">{{cite press release |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2012/12/14/presidential-proclamation-honoring-victims-shooting-newtown-connecticut |publisher=White House Press Office |title=Presidential Proclamation&nbsp;– Honoring the Victims of the Shooting in Newtown, Connecticut |date=December 14, 2012 |access-date=December 17, 2012 |archive-date=January 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170121214236/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2012/12/14/presidential-proclamation-honoring-victims-shooting-newtown-connecticut |url-status=live}}</ref> On December 16, Obama traveled to Newtown where he met with victims' families and spoke at an [[Interfaith worship spaces|interfaith]] vigil.<ref name="President Obama To Visit Newtown Sunday">{{cite web|title=President Obama To Visit Newtown Sunday|url=http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-obama-newtown-shooting-20121215,0,611830.story|work=[[Hartford Courant]]|date=December 15, 2012|access-date=December 16, 2012|archive-date=December 16, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121216070857/http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-obama-newtown-shooting-20121215,0,611830.story|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
[[Dannel Malloy]], the [[List of Governors of Connecticut|Governor of Connecticut]], addressed the media the evening of the shootings near a local church holding a vigil for the victims, urging the people of Connecticut to come together and help each other. Malloy said, "Evil visited this community today, and it is too early to speak of recovery, but each parent, each sibling, each member of the family has to understand that Connecticut, we are all in this together, we will do whatever we can to overcome this event, we will get through it."<ref name="Police: 20 children among 27 victims of Connecticut school shooting" /><ref name="Conn. Governor: 'evil visited this community'">{{cite news |url=http://on.aol.com/video/conn--governor--evil-visited-this-community-517599663 |title=Conn. Governor: 'evil visited this community' |publisher=[[AOL]] |agency=Associated Press |date=December 14, 2012 |access-date=December 15, 2012 |archive-date=December 19, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121219011643/http://on.aol.com/video/conn--governor--evil-visited-this-community-517599663 |url-status=live}}</ref> Hundreds of mourners, including Malloy, attended vigils in various churches in Newtown.<ref name="Hundreds pack Conn. church for vigil after rampage">{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57559366/hundreds-pack-conn-church-for-vigil-after-rampage/|title=Hundreds pack Conn. church for vigil after rampage|publisher=[[CBS News]]|agency=Associated Press|date=December 14, 2012|access-date=December 14, 2012|archive-date=December 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215022633/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57559366/hundreds-pack-conn-church-for-vigil-after-rampage/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Hundreds pack Conn. churches after rampage">{{cite news|last=Moore|first=Martha|title=Hundreds pack Conn. churches after rampage|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/14/connecticut-school-shooting-vigil/1770811/|work=USA Today|access-date=December 15, 2012|date=December 14, 2012|archive-date=December 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215024732/http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/14/connecticut-school-shooting-vigil/1770811/|url-status=live}}</ref> On December 17, Malloy called for a statewide [[moment of silence]] and church bells to be tolled 26 times at 9:30&nbsp;a.m. on December 21, exactly one week after the school shooting.<ref name="Newtown shooting: funerals to be held for victims">{{cite news|title=Newtown shooting: funerals to be held for victims|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/us-news-blog/2012/dec/17/newtown-shootings-funerals-victims-live|work=The Guardian|access-date=December 17, 2012|location=London|first=Tom|last=McCarthy|date=December 17, 2012|archive-date=September 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130904101609/http://www.theguardian.com/world/us-news-blog/2012/dec/17/newtown-shootings-funerals-victims-live|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
[[File:Sandy Hook Memorial 12-26.jpg|right|thumb|A makeshift memorial on Berkshire Road in Sandy Hook]]
[[U.S. Secretary of Education]] [[Arne Duncan]] said: "our thanks go out to every teacher, staff member, and first responder who cared for, comforted, and protected children from harm, often at risk to themselves. We will do everything in our power to assist and support the healing and recovery of Newtown."<ref name="Turner">{{cite news|title=Children and adults gunned down in Connecticut school massacre|url=http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/14/shooting-reported-at-connecticut-elementary-school/|date=December 14, 2012|website=[[CNN]]|access-date=December 14, 2012|archive-date=December 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215114233/http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/14/shooting-reported-at-connecticut-elementary-school/|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
The day after the shootings, Lanza's father released a statement:
 
{{quote|Our hearts go out to the families and friends who lost loved ones and to all those who were injured. Our family is grieving along with all those who have been affected by this enormous tragedy. No words can truly express how heartbroken we are. We are in a state of disbelief and trying to find whatever answers we can. We too are asking why. We have cooperated fully with law enforcement and will continue to do so. Like so many of you, we are saddened, but struggling to make sense of what has transpired.<ref name="Peter Lanza Statement: Father Of Adam Lanza Says, 'We Too Are Asking Why'">{{cite news|title=Peter Lanza Statement: Father Of Adam Lanza Says, 'We Too Are Asking Why'|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/15/peter-lanza-statement-adam-lanza_n_2308744.html|access-date=December 16, 2012|website=[[Huffington Post]]|date=December 15, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121216044247/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/15/peter-lanza-statement-adam-lanza_n_2308744.html|archive-date=December 16, 2012}}</ref>}}
 
Leaders from other countries and organizations throughout the world also offered their condolences through the weekend after the shooting.<ref name="World leaders">{{cite news|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gJ4Isu1EHajyiWXnsRl5W2OlBrbg?docId=CNG.523dbeea9e619eecf426809221d998af.131 |title=World leaders express shock over Connecticut shooting |agency=Agence France-Presse |date=December 15, 2012 |access-date=December 15, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130131034047/https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gJ4Isu1EHajyiWXnsRl5W2OlBrbg?docId=CNG.523dbeea9e619eecf426809221d998af.131 |archive-date=January 31, 2013}}</ref>
 
President Obama posthumously honored the six adults with the 2012 [[Presidential Citizens Medal]] on February 15, 2013.<ref name="60PLS">{{cite news|title=Obama to honor 6 dead Sandy Hook teachers, administrators with Presidential Citizens Medal|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/02/05/obama-to-honor-6-dead-sandy-hook-teachers-administrators-with-presidential-citizens-medal/?wprss=rss_social-politics-rss&Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost|work=The Washington Post|access-date=February 6, 2013|archive-date=July 30, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730174300/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/02/05/obama-to-honor-6-dead-sandy-hook-teachers-administrators-with-presidential-citizens-medal/?wprss=rss_social-politics-rss&Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost|url-status=live}}</ref>  President Obama said "And then when Dawn Hochsprung, and Mary Sherlach, Vicki Soto, Lauren Rousseau, Rachel D'Avino, Anne Marie Murphy—when they showed up for work at Sandy Hook Elementary on December 14th of last year, they expected a day like any other—doing what was right for their kids; spent a chilly morning readying classrooms and welcoming young students—they had no idea that evil was about to strike.  And when it did, they could have taken shelter by themselves.  They could have focused on their own safety, on their own wellbeing.  But they didn't.  They gave their lives to protect the precious children in their care.  They gave all they had for the most innocent and helpless among us. And that's what we honor today—the courageous heart, the selfless spirit, the inspiring actions of extraordinary Americans, extraordinary citizens."<ref name="sxZ8c">{{cite web|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/02/15/remarks-president-presentation-2012-presidential-citizens-medals|title=Remarks by the President at Presentation of 2012 Presidential Citizens Medals|date=February 15, 2013|access-date=June 9, 2016|archive-date=January 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170127110814/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/02/15/remarks-president-presentation-2012-presidential-citizens-medals|via=[[NARA|National Archives]]|work=[[whitehouse.gov]]|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
<!-- STOP: Please consider discussing before expanding this language. -->[[Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting conspiracy theories|Sandy Hook conspiracy theories]] have become social phenomena, despite overwhelming contemporary coverage of the incident.<ref name="7h4xC">{{cite journal|title=Newtown Conspiracy Theories, Debunked|first=Dashiell|last=Bennett|date=December 18, 2012|journal=The Atlantic|url=http://www.thewire.com/national/2012/12/newtown-shooting-conspiracy-theories/60126/|access-date=November 12, 2014|archive-date=November 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141112042722/http://www.thewire.com/national/2012/12/newtown-shooting-conspiracy-theories/60126/|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
===Gun control===
{{main|Gun control after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting}}
The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting prompted renewed debate about [[gun control in the United States]], including proposals for making the [[National Instant Criminal Background Check System|background-check system]] universal, and for new federal and state [[Gun law in the United States|legislation]] banning the sale and manufacture of certain types of semi-automatic [[firearms]] and [[Magazine (firearms)|magazines]] with more than ten rounds of ammunition.<ref name="9NiVb">* {{cite news |title=Senator Unveils Bill to Limit Semiautomatic Arms |author=Steinhauer, Jennifer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/25/us/politics/senator-unveils-bill-to-limit-semiautomatic-arms.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 24, 2013 |access-date=January 28, 2013 |archive-date=January 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128000327/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/25/us/politics/senator-unveils-bill-to-limit-semiautomatic-arms.html |url-status=live}} * {{cite news |title=State Police: All 26 Newtown victims shot with assault rifle |author=Vigdor, Neil |url=http://www.ctpost.com/newtownshooting/article/State-Police-All-26-Newtown-victims-shot-with-4222299.php |newspaper=Connecticut Post |publisher=Hearst Media Services |date=January 24, 2013 |access-date=April 10, 2014 |archive-date=May 9, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140509152855/http://www.ctpost.com/newtownshooting/article/State-Police-All-26-Newtown-victims-shot-with-4222299.php |url-status=live}}</ref>
 
Within hours of the shooting, a [[We the People (petitioning system)|We the People]] petition was started asking the [[White House]] to "immediately address the issue of gun control through the introduction of legislation in Congress,"<ref name="Bruce121214">{{cite news |last=Bruce |first=Mary |date=December 14, 2012 |title=Petition Calls on White House to Address Gun Control |url=https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/12/petition-calls-for-white-house-to-address-gun-control/ |type=blog |publisher=ABC News |access-date=June 28, 2020 |archive-date=August 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807014722/https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/12/petition-calls-for-white-house-to-address-gun-control/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Wing121217">{{cite news |last=Wing |first=Nick |date=December 17, 2012 |title=White House Gun Control Petition Becomes Site's Most Popular Ever |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/17/white-house-gun-control_n_2317189.html |work=Huffington Post |access-date=April 13, 2014 |archive-date=April 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140414081551/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/17/white-house-gun-control_n_2317189.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and the gun control advocacy group the [[Brady Campaign|Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence]] reported that an avalanche of donations in the hours after the shooting caused its website to crash.<ref name="ghTzT">{{cite news |last=New |first=Catherine |date=December 14, 2012 |title=Anti-Gun Donations Surge After Connecticut Shooting |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/14/anti-gun-donations-surge-connecticut-shooting_n_2303632.html |work=The Huffington Post |access-date=June 16, 2014 |archive-date=July 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714170609/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/14/anti-gun-donations-surge-connecticut-shooting_n_2303632.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Five days later, President Obama announced that he would make gun control a "central issue" of his second term,<ref name="Shear121220">{{cite news |last=Shear |first=Michael D. |date=December 20, 2012 |title=Obama Vows Fast Action in New Push for Gun Control |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/20/us/politics/obama-to-give-congress-plan-on-gun-control-within-weeks.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=June 16, 2014 |archive-date=January 1, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101142327/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/20/us/politics/obama-to-give-congress-plan-on-gun-control-within-weeks.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and he created a gun violence task force, to be headed by Vice President [[Joe Biden]].<ref name="Caldwell121219">{{cite news |last=Caldwell |first=Leigh Ann |date=December 19, 2012 |title=Obama sets up gun violence task force |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57560044/obama-sets-up-gun-violence-task-force/ |publisher=CBS News |access-date=June 16, 2014 |archive-date=November 12, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112041819/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57560044/obama-sets-up-gun-violence-task-force/ |url-status=live}}</ref> On January 16, 2013, Obama signed 23 [[executive order]]s and proposed 12 congressional actions regarding gun control.<ref name="MFkuU">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=January 16, 2013 |title=Obama announces 23 executive actions, asks Congress to pass gun laws |url=http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/16/obama-to-announce-gun-control-proposals-shortly/ |publisher=CNN |access-date=June 16, 2014 |archive-date=July 19, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140719033224/http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/16/obama-to-announce-gun-control-proposals-shortly/ |url-status=live}}</ref> His proposals included universal background checks on firearms purchases, an [[Federal Assault Weapons Ban|assault weapons ban]], and a [[high-capacity magazine ban]] limiting capacity to 10 cartridges.<ref name="Obamatranscript">{{cite news |date=January 16, 2013 |title=President Obama's remarks on new gun control actions, Jan. 16, 2013 (Transcript) |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/president-obamas-remarks-on-new-gun-control-proposals-jan-16-2013-transcript/2013/01/16/528e7758-5ffc-11e2-b05a-605528f6b712_story.html |type=transcript |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=January 18, 2013 |archive-date=January 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117090212/http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/president-obamas-remarks-on-new-gun-control-proposals-jan-16-2013-transcript/2013/01/16/528e7758-5ffc-11e2-b05a-605528f6b712_story.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Olivier130116">{{cite news |last=Knox |first=Olivier |date=January 16, 2013 |title=Obama unveils sweeping plan to battle gun violence |url=https://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-unveils-sweeping-plan-battle-gun-violence-165956859--politics.html |type=blog |publisher=Yahoo News |access-date=January 15, 2017 |archive-date=March 21, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321075946/http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-unveils-sweeping-plan-battle-gun-violence-165956859--politics.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
 
On December 21, 2012, the [[National Rifle Association]]'s [[Wayne LaPierre]] said gun-free school zones attract killers and that another gun ban would not protect Americans. He called on Congress to appropriate funds to hire armed police officers for every American school and announced that the NRA would create the National School Shield Emergency Response Program to help.<ref name="Sullivan121221">{{cite news |last=Sullivan |first=Sean |date=December 21, 2012 |title=Put armed guards in every school, NRA leader Wayne LaPierre says |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/put-armed-police-officers-in-every-school-nra-head-says/2012/12/21/9ac7d4ae-4b8b-11e2-9a42-d1ce6d0ed278_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=June 16, 2014 |archive-date=December 22, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121222131334/http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/put-armed-police-officers-in-every-school-nra-head-says/2012/12/21/9ac7d4ae-4b8b-11e2-9a42-d1ce6d0ed278_story.html |url-status=live}}</ref> After LaPierre's press conference, the Brady Campaign asked for donations to support its gun control advocacy and asked NRA members "who believe like we do, that we are better than this" to join its campaign.<ref name="ConnorIsikoff">{{cite news |last1=Connor |first1=Tracy |last2=Isikoff |first2=Michael |date=December 21, 2012 |title=Disbelief in some quarters after NRA calls for armed guards at every school, blames movies |url=http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/21/16069016-disbelief-in-some-quarters-after-nra-calls-for-armed-guards-at-every-school-blames-movies |publisher=NBCNews.com |access-date=June 16, 2014 |archive-date=January 22, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122222013/http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/21/16069016-disbelief-in-some-quarters-after-nra-calls-for-armed-guards-at-every-school-blames-movies |url-status=live}}</ref> On January 8, 2013, former Congresswoman [[Gabby Giffords]], who was shot and injured in a [[2011 Tucson shooting|2011 shooting in Tucson]], launched the gun control group [[Americans for Responsible Solutions]], with a specific aim of matching or exceeding the fundraising capabilities of the NRA and similar groups.<ref name="BBC130108">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=January 8, 2013 |title=Gabrielle Giffords launches gun control campaign |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20949405#TWEET509719 |publisher=BBC |access-date=June 16, 2014 |archive-date=September 25, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130925142410/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20949405#TWEET509719 |url-status=live}}</ref>
 
On January 16, 2013, New York became the first U.S. state to act after the shooting when it enacted the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (SAFE) Act.<ref name="Seiler130116">{{cite news |last=Seiler |first=Casey |date=January 16, 2013 |title=New gun law offers reply to mass killings: State becomes the first in the nation to act after horror of Newtown, Conn. |url=http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/New-gun-law-offers-reply-to-mass-killings-4195504.php |newspaper=Times Union |location=Albany, New York |publisher=Hearst Corporation |access-date=April 16, 2014 |archive-date=April 17, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140417083902/http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/New-gun-law-offers-reply-to-mass-killings-4195504.php |url-status=live}}</ref> On April 3, 2013, [[Connecticut General Assembly]] passed a 139-page<ref name="nydailynews_toughgun_2013" /> major gun-control bill with broad bipartisan support.<ref name="nydailynews_toughgun_2013" /> Governor [[Dannel P. Malloy]] signed the bill on the same day.<ref name="courant_Lender_2013">{{cite news |title=Governor Signs Historic Gun Bill |newspaper=Hartford Courant |url=http://articles.courant.com/2013-04-04/news/hc-gun-vote-connecticut-0404-20130403_1_newtown-massacre-victims-20-first-graders-sweeping-gun-control-bill |date=April 4, 2013 |first1=Jon |last1=Lender |first2=Daniela |last2=Altimari |first3=Jenny |last3=Wilson |access-date=February 22, 2018 |archive-date=February 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180222230849/http://articles.courant.com/2013-04-04/news/hc-gun-vote-connecticut-0404-20130403_1_newtown-massacre-victims-20-first-graders-sweeping-gun-control-bill |url-status=live}}</ref> The bill requires [[universal background checks]] (background checks for all firearm purchases),<ref name="JK0VL">{{cite news |last1=Mungin |first1=Lateef |last2=Brady |first2=Brittany |date=April 4, 2013 |title=Connecticut governor signs sweeping gun measure |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/04/us/connecticut-gun-law-overhaul/ |publisher=Cable News Network |access-date=April 10, 2014 |archive-date=April 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413132257/http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/04/us/connecticut-gun-law-overhaul/ |url-status=live}}</ref> a [[high-capacity magazine ban]] banning the sale or purchase of [[magazine (firearms)|ammunition magazines]] capable of holding more than ten rounds of ammunition like those used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting,<ref name="sm70b">{{cite news |date=April 4, 2013 |title=Connecticut Governor Signs Gun Measures |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/nyregion/connecticut-lawmakers-pass-gun-limits.html |newspaper=New York Times |agency=Associated Press |access-date=April 10, 2014 |archive-date=November 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114004923/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/nyregion/connecticut-lawmakers-pass-gun-limits.html |url-status=live}}</ref> created the first registry in the United States for dangerous-weapon offenders, and added over 100 types of gun to the state's [[assault weapon]]s ban.<ref name="nydailynews_toughgun_2013">{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/connecticut-governor-signs-tough-gun-law-article-1.1307902 |title=Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy signs bill with gun-control laws among the toughest in nation |newspaper=[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]] |date=April 4, 2013 |access-date=October 27, 2013 |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029231958/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/connecticut-governor-signs-tough-gun-law-article-1.1307902 |url-status=live}}</ref> Pro-gun groups had rallied outside the Capitol to protest prior to the signing<ref name="nydailynews_toughgun_2013" /> and challenged it in court. Federal judge [[Alfred Covello]] ruled in January 2014, to uphold the law.<ref name="kkKHn">{{cite news |last=Pazniokas |first=Mark |date=January 30, 2014 |title=Federal judge upholds Sandy Hook gun law |url=http://ctmirror.org/federal-judge-upholds-sandy-hook-gun-law/ |newspaper=Connecticut Mirror |publisher=Connecticut News Project |access-date=April 10, 2014 |archive-date=April 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413140413/http://ctmirror.org/federal-judge-upholds-sandy-hook-gun-law/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
 
On April 4, 2013, Maryland also enacted new restrictions to their existing gun laws.<ref name="NYT130404">{{cite news |date=April 4, 2013 |title=Connecticut Governor Signs Gun Measures |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/nyregion/connecticut-lawmakers-pass-gun-limits.html |newspaper=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press |access-date=April 10, 2014 |archive-date=November 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114004923/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/nyregion/connecticut-lawmakers-pass-gun-limits.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Jackson130405">{{cite news |last=Jackson |first=Alex |date=April 5, 2013 |title=Maryland lawmakers send landmark gun control bill to O'Malley's desk |url=http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/government/maryland-lawmakers-send-landmark-gun-control-bill-to-o-malley/article_0b697063-acf8-508e-adf9-b07ea4fb6c8d.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407091109/http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/government/maryland-lawmakers-send-landmark-gun-control-bill-to-o-malley/article_0b697063-acf8-508e-adf9-b07ea4fb6c8d.html |archive-date=April 7, 2013 |location=Annapolis, Maryland |publisher=CapitalGazette.com |access-date=April 16, 2014}}</ref> Ten other states passed laws that relaxed gun restrictions.<ref name="Hartmann130404">{{cite journal |last=Hartmann |first=Margaret |date=April 4, 2013 |title=Post-Newtown, States Passed More Gun-Rights Laws, Not Restrictions |url=http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/04/post-newtown-states-loosen-gun-restrictions.html |journal=New York Magazine |publisher=New York Media |access-date=April 15, 2014 |archive-date=April 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140416181105/http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/04/post-newtown-states-loosen-gun-restrictions.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
 
Legislation introduced in the first session of [[113th United States Congress|113th Congress]] included the [[Assault Weapons Ban of 2013]]<ref name="CSPAN130124">{{cite AV media |people=Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Rev. Gary Hall, Rep. [[Carolyn McCarthy]] |date=January 24, 2013 |title=Assault Weapons Ban Bill |medium=video |url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?310581-1/assault-weapons-ban-bill |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=National Cable Satellite Corporation |access-date=April 13, 2014 |display-authors=etal}}</ref><ref name="Freedman130124">{{cite news |last=Freedman |first=Dan |date=January 24, 2013 |title=Feinstein offers new assault weapons ban |url=http://www.chron.com/default/article/Feinstein-offers-new-assault-weapons-ban-4221873.php |newspaper=Houston Chronicle |publisher=Hearst Newspapers |access-date=April 14, 2014 |archive-date=January 1, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101033010/http://www.chron.com/default/article/Feinstein-offers-new-assault-weapons-ban-4221873.php |url-status=live}}</ref> and the Manchin-Toomey Amendment to expand background checks on gun purchases.<ref name="OKeefe-Hamburger">{{cite news |last1=O'Keefe |first1=Ed |last2=Hamburger |first2=Tom |date=April 10, 2013 |title=Key senators reach deal on background checks for gun buyers |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/senate-aides-bipartisan-deal-reached-on-gun-background-checks/2013/04/10/fa4fe9a6-a1db-11e2-be47-b44febada3a8_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=June 16, 2014 |archive-date=July 8, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708201316/http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/senate-aides-bipartisan-deal-reached-on-gun-background-checks/2013/04/10/fa4fe9a6-a1db-11e2-be47-b44febada3a8_story.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Peterson130410">{{cite news |last=Peterson |first=Kristina |date=April 10, 2013 |title=Senate in Deal on Gun Checks |url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324695104578414691696126744 |newspaper=Wall Street Journal |access-date=June 16, 2014 |archive-date=January 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131141820/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324695104578414691696126744 |url-status=live}}</ref> Both were defeated in the Senate on April 17, 2013.<ref name="Weisman130417">{{cite news |last=Weisman |first=Jonathan |date=April 17, 2013 |title=Senate Blocks Drive for Gun Control |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/18/us/politics/senate-obama-gun-control.html?pagewanted=all |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=June 16, 2014 |archive-date=January 8, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108135714/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/18/us/politics/senate-obama-gun-control.html?pagewanted=all |url-status=live}}</ref>
 
===Video games===
A renewed debate about the effects of violent video games on young people began soon after the shooting due to news reports suggesting Lanza frequently played violent video games.<ref name="3Orju">{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/20/opinion/ferguson-adam-lanza/ |publisher=CNN |title=Video games didn't cause Newtown rampage |last=Ferguson |first=Christopher J. |date=February 20, 2013 |access-date=November 11, 2013 |archive-date=November 11, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111230733/http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/20/opinion/ferguson-adam-lanza/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="gYZk7">{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/17/sandy-hook-blame-game_n_2318334.html |work=Huffington Post |title=Sandy Hook Blame Game: Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe |last=Lohr |first=David |date=December 17, 2012 |access-date=November 11, 2013 |archive-date=December 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131205100005/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/17/sandy-hook-blame-game_n_2318334.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="yULSp">{{cite news |url=http://ideas.time.com/2012/12/20/sandy-hook-shooting-video-games-blamed-again/ |title=Sandy Hook Shooting: Video Games Blamed, Again |work=Time |last=Ferguson |first=Christopher J. |date=December 20, 2012 |access-date=November 11, 2013 |archive-date=November 11, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111231223/http://ideas.time.com/2012/12/20/sandy-hook-shooting-video-games-blamed-again/ |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Wayne LaPierre]], CEO and Executive Vice President of the [[National Rifle Association]], publicly blamed video games for the shooting, specifically targeting the free online game ''Kindergarten Killers'' created by Gary Short.<ref name="6Qy4f">{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/nra-blames-video-games-kindergarten-killer-sandy-hook-article-1.1225212 |work=Daily News |location=New York |title=NRA blames video games like 'Kindergarten Killer' for Sandy Hook slaughter |last=Beekman |first=Daniel |date=December 21, 2012 |access-date=November 11, 2013 |archive-date=November 11, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111233319/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/nra-blames-video-games-kindergarten-killer-sandy-hook-article-1.1225212 |url-status=live}}</ref>
 
Police found numerous<ref name="BZ5m7">The November 2013 final report names the following twelve video games as being part of Lanza's larger overall collection: ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'', ''[[Metal Gear Solid (1998 video game)|Metal Gear Solid]]'', ''[[Dead Rising (video game)|Dead Rising]]'', ''[[Half-Life (video game)|Half Life]]'', ''[[Battlefield (video game series)|Battlefield]]'', ''[[Call of Duty]]'', ''[[Grand Theft Auto (video game)|Grand Theft Auto]]'', ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]'', ''[[Dynasty Warriors]]'', ''[[Grand Theft Auto: Vice City|Vice City]]'', ''[[Team Fortress Classic|Team Fortress]]'', and ''[[Doom (series)|Doom]]''.</ref> video games in the basement of Adam Lanza's home, which was used as a gaming area. The final report into the shooting by the State Attorney, published in November 2013, noted that "[Lanza] played video games often, both solo at home and online. They could be described as both violent and non-violent. One person described the shooter as spending the majority of his time playing non-violent video games all day, with his favorite at one point being ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]''"
 
The report described his liking for ''[[Dance Dance Revolution]]'', which he played frequently for hours with an acquaintance at a movie theater in [[Danbury, Connecticut|Danbury]] which had a commercial version of the game, and also played the game at home.<ref name="final_report" /> ''Dance Dance Revolution'' is a non-violent exercising game where "the user is required to move their feet rhythmically in response to video cues". According to the Report by the Office of the Child Advocate, Lanza would play the game for hours on end using it as a distraction from his inner turmoil. The report said "he would whip himself into a frenzy, a behavior consistent, possibly, with a need to contain anxiety-producing impulses and thoughts. There were days when he would not do anything else but ''Dance Dance Revolution''.<ref name="Nwm7N">[http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf Report of the Child Advocate] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141126233253/http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf |date=November 26, 2014}}, p 98</ref>
 
The final report by the State Attorney did not make a link between video games and the motive for the shooting.<ref name="final_report">{{cite web|date=November 25, 2013|title=Sandy Hook Final Report. Office of the State's Attorney, Judicial District of Danbury. Stephen J. Sedensky III, State's Attorney|url=http://www.ct.gov/csao/lib/csao/Sandy_Hook_Final_Report.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131125212413/http://www.ct.gov/csao/lib/csao/Sandy_Hook_Final_Report.pdf|archive-date=November 25, 2013|access-date=November 28, 2013|work=ct.gov}}</ref><ref name="QZNw0">{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/27/opinion/ferguson-sandy-hook/|title=Adam Lanza's motive a mystery in Sandy Hook killings|publisher=CNN|date=November 27, 2013|access-date=November 28, 2013|archive-date=December 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203062700/http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/27/opinion/ferguson-sandy-hook/|url-status=live}}</ref> However, the Report of the Child Advocate said "video game and internet addiction appear to be 'highly comorbid with several other psychiatric disorders' including anxiety, depression, and obsessive compulsive challenges".<ref name="YgRlK">[http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf Report of the Office of Child Advocate] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141126233253/http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf |date=November 26, 2014}}, p.101.</ref>
 
===Effect on the community===
[[File:Newtown Shooting Roses.JPG|thumb|upright|Roses featuring images of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting]]
 
====2013====
The school was closed indefinitely following the shooting, partially because it remained a crime scene.<ref name="Sandy Hook Elementary School Closed Indefinitely">{{cite news |title=Sandy Hook Elementary School Closed Indefinitely |first=Will |last=James |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323723104578185280304627400 |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=December 17, 2012 |access-date=December 17, 2012 |archive-date=March 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150310184758/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323723104578185280304627400 |url-status=live}}</ref> Sandy Hook students returned to classes on January 3, 2013, at [[Chalk Hill Middle School]] in nearby [[Monroe, Connecticut|Monroe]] at the town's invitation. Chalk Hill at the time was an unused facility, refurbished after the shooting, with desks and equipment brought in from Sandy Hook Elementary. The Chalk Hill school was temporarily renamed "Sandy Hook".<ref name="reuters chalk hill">{{cite news | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-shooting-connecticut-school-idUSBRE8BF0B520121216 | title=Connecticut survivors to attend school in neighboring town | work=[[Reuters]] | date=December 16, 2012 | access-date=December 16, 2012 | archive-date=December 16, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121216203631/http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/16/us-usa-shooting-connecticut-school-idUSBRE8BF0B520121216 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="newstimes chalk hill">{{cite news | url=http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Sandy-Hook-students-to-move-to-Monroe-school-4122271.php | title=Sandy Hook students to move to Monroe school | work=The News-Times | date=December 16, 2012 | access-date=December 16, 2012 | archive-date=December 20, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121220151509/http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Sandy-Hook-students-to-move-to-Monroe-school-4122271.php | url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Sandy Hook to Go Back to School">{{cite news|title=Newtown shooting: Sandy Hook students back to school|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20896341|work=BBC News|access-date=January 3, 2013|date=January 3, 2013|archive-date=January 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130103021005/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20896341|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[University of Connecticut]] created a scholarship for the surviving children of the shootings.<ref name="UConn Creates a Scholarship in Honor of School-Shooting Victims — The Ticker — The Chronicle of Higher Education">{{cite web |first=Nick |last=DeSantis |url=http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/jp/uconn-creates-a-scholarship-in-honor-of-school-shooting-victims |title=UConn Creates a Scholarship in Honor of School-Shooting Victims |work=[[The Chronicle of Higher Education]] |date=December 18, 2012 |access-date=December 19, 2012 |archive-date=January 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117081902/http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/jp/uconn-creates-a-scholarship-in-honor-of-school-shooting-victims |url-status=live}}</ref>
 
On January 31, the Newtown school board voted unanimously to ask for police officer presence in all of its elementary schools; previously other schools in the district had such protection, but Sandy Hook had not been one of those.<ref name="SchoolBoard">{{cite news|first=Mark|last=Zaretsky|date=January 31, 2013|url=http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2013/01/31/news/doc510b4f1251891266411083.txt|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130216133129/http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2013/01/31/news/doc510b4f1251891266411083.txt|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 16, 2013|title=Newtown board wants more cops in schools|work=New Haven Register|location=New Haven, Connecticut|access-date=February 7, 2013}}</ref>
 
On May 10, a task force of twenty-eight appointed members voted to demolish the existing Sandy Hook Elementary school and have a new school built in its place. The $57 million proposed project was sent to the Newtown Board of Education for approval, to be followed by a public ballot.<ref name="4i8EA">{{cite news|last=Kelly|first=Devin|title=Task force: Sandy Hook Elementary should be torn down, rebuilt|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-sandy-hook-elementary-newtown-rebuilt-20130511,0,1782767.story|access-date=May 11, 2013|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=May 11, 2013|archive-date=May 12, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512042357/http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-sandy-hook-elementary-newtown-rebuilt-20130511,0,1782767.story|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="58VJa">{{cite news|last=Brumfield|first=Ben|title=Sandy Hook task force recommends demolition and rebuilding|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/11/us/connecticut-sandy-hook-demolish/index.html?hpt=hp_t2|access-date=May 12, 2013|publisher=CNN|date=May 11, 2013|archive-date=June 9, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130609001146/http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/11/us/connecticut-sandy-hook-demolish/index.html?hpt=hp_t2|url-status=live}}</ref> In October 2013, Newtown residents voted 4,504–558 in favor of the proposed demolition and reconstruction, to be funded by $50 million in state money.<ref name="tPqzP">{{cite news|first=Bill|last=Chappell|url=http://www.wbur.org/npr/229797855/the-votes-are-in-sandy-hook-elementary-will-be-torn-down|title=The Votes Are In: Sandy Hook Elementary Will Be Torn Down|publisher=WBUR|date=October 6, 2013|access-date=October 7, 2013|archive-date=October 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014165800/http://www.wbur.org/npr/229797855/the-votes-are-in-sandy-hook-elementary-will-be-torn-down|url-status=live}}</ref> Demolition began on October 25<ref name="R7lm5">{{cite news|first1=Bev|last1=Ford|first2=Corky|last2=Siemaszko|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/sandy-hook-elementary-school-destruction-begins-article-1.1496521|title=Sandy Hook Elementary School razing begins in Newtown, Conn.|work=Daily News|location=New York|date=October 25, 2013|access-date=November 25, 2013|archive-date=November 26, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131126060805/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/sandy-hook-elementary-school-destruction-begins-article-1.1496521|url-status=live}}</ref> and was completed in December 2013 at a cost of nearly US$1.4 million.<ref name="2013Demo">{{cite news|last1=Richinick|first1=Michele|title=Construction crews completely demolish former Sandy Hook Elementary School|url=http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/sandy-hook-demolished-winterized|access-date=December 20, 2014|agency=MSNBC|date=January 2, 2014|archive-date=December 21, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221174834/http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/sandy-hook-demolished-winterized|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
After the town [[Clerk (municipal official)|clerk's office]] was inundated with requests from the media,<ref name="limits" /> [[Connecticut House of Representatives]] Republican [[Dan Carter (American politician)|Dan Carter]] introduced legislation that would restrict access to public information available under the [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|Freedom of Information Act]].<ref name="limits">{{cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/02/24/connecticut-mulls-death-certificate-limits-after-newtown-massacre/ |title=Connecticut mulls death certificate limits after Newtown massacre |agency=Associated Press |publisher=Fox News Channel |date=February 24, 2013 |access-date=March 14, 2013 |archive-date=March 1, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130301032853/http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/02/24/connecticut-mulls-death-certificate-limits-after-newtown-massacre/ |url-status=live}}</ref> On June 5, both houses (Senate and House of Representatives) of the Connecticut state legislature passed a bill modifying the state's [[Freedom of Information Act]] in order to "prevent the release of crime-scene photos and video evidence from the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre and other Connecticut homicides, concerned such records would be spread on the Internet." The bill then went on to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's desk for his signature. The bill creates a new exemption to the state's Freedom of Information Act. The release of photographs, film, video, digital or other visual images depicting a homicide victim is prevented if such records "could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of the personal privacy of the victim or the victim's surviving family members."<ref name="a67QC">{{cite news|last=Haigh|first=Susan|title=Conn. lawmakers OK compromise Newtown privacy bill|url=https://news.yahoo.com/conn-lawmakers-ok-compromise-newtown-privacy-bill-125054707.html|agency=Associated Press|access-date=June 6, 2013|archive-date=June 5, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605165922/http://news.yahoo.com/conn-lawmakers-ok-compromise-newtown-privacy-bill-125054707.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
====2014====
In March 2014, the Newtown city officials announced the design for the new Sandy Hook Elementary School.<ref name="2014TimeNewSchool">{{cite news|last=Nicks|first=Denver|title=Sandy Hook Heals With New School Design After Shooting|url=http://time.com/33444/sandy-hook-shooting-newtown-connecticut-school-design/|work=Time|access-date=April 3, 2014|archive-date=April 3, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140403030850/http://time.com/33444/sandy-hook-shooting-newtown-connecticut-school-design/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="2014HouseTornDown" /> The only remnant of the original school would be its flagpole.<ref name="2014TimeNewSchool" />
 
A few days later, the [[Newtown-Sandy Hook Community Foundation]] released results of a survey with over 1,600 respondents. Among other inquiries, the survey asked residents what should be done with balance of the US$11 million in donations that had been received since the incident in 2012.<ref name="2014HouseTornDown">{{cite web|last=Collins|first=Dave|title=Newtown residents want gunman's house torn down|url=https://news.yahoo.com/newtown-residents-want-gunmans-house-torn-down-104023565.html|agency=Associated Press|publisher=Yahoo! News|access-date=April 3, 2014|archive-date=April 4, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140404095003/http://news.yahoo.com/newtown-residents-want-gunmans-house-torn-down-104023565.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The majority of responses said that money for mental health counseling and other family expenses should be the top priorities. A few responses suggested that some of the money should be used to purchase and tear down the shooter's family home in order to replace it with a park or wildlife sanctuary.<ref name="2014HouseTornDown" /> Jennifer Barahona, the foundation's executive director, was quoted as saying, "That's not something we're considering at this time. It's really outside of our scope."<ref name="2014HouseTornDown" />
 
On October 21, building site preparation work began on the new Sandy Hook Elementary School;<ref name="2014NewSchool">{{cite news|title=Site Work Begins For Construction Of New Sandy Hook School|url=http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/10/22/site-work-begins-for-construction-of-new-sandy-hook-school/|access-date=December 20, 2014|agency=CBS New York|date=October 22, 2014|archive-date=December 21, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221011628/http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/10/22/site-work-begins-for-construction-of-new-sandy-hook-school/|url-status=live}}</ref> project updates and progress were posted on a dedicated website.<ref name="2016website">{{cite web|title=The New Sandy Hook School|url=http://www.sandyhook2016.com:80/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171101011855/http://www.sandyhook2016.com/|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 1, 2017|publisher=Svigals + Partners|access-date=November 15, 2018}}</ref> Citing security and privacy reasons and out of respect for the families of victims, no [[Groundbreaking|ground breaking ceremony]] was held.<ref name="2014NewSchool" /> Construction was scheduled to begin in March 2015 with the school expected to open by December 2016.<ref name="JDdBe">{{cite news|title=Demolition Of Old Sandy Hook Elementary Will Be Kept Private Contractors Ordered To Sign Confidentiality Agreements During Process|url=http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/10/15/demolition-of-old-sandy-hook-elementary-will-be-kept-private/|access-date=December 20, 2014|agency=Associated Press|publisher=CBS New York|date=October 15, 2013|archive-date=December 21, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221003246/http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/10/15/demolition-of-old-sandy-hook-elementary-will-be-kept-private/|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
In December, it was announced that the town of Newtown will acquire the property and home of Nancy Lanza at no cost.<ref name="2014LanzaHouse">{{cite news|last1=Altimari|first1=Dave|title=Newtown Acquires Lanza House|url=http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-newtown-adam-lanza-house-20141203-story.html|access-date=December 20, 2014|work=Hartford Courant|date=December 4, 2014|archive-date=January 31, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131141839/https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-newtown-adam-lanza-house-20141203-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The property at 36 Yogananda St. was part of the Lanza estate, to which surviving son Ryan Lanza is the sole heir. Lanza's attorney, Kenneth Gruder, arranged for the transfer through a series of transactions so that probate records would not show the city acquiring the property from the Lanza family. Gruder said the notoriety of the home had made it essentially unsalable.<ref name="2014LanzaHouse" /> The home was demolished in March 2015.<ref name="2015HouseTornDown">{{cite web|last=Katersky|first=Aaron|title=School Shooter Adam Lanza's Newtown House Is Demolished|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/school-shooter-adam-lanzas-newtown-house-demolished/story?id=29877154|agency=ABC News|publisher=ABC News|date=March 24, 2015|access-date=June 6, 2019|archive-date=April 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403210739/https://abcnews.go.com/US/school-shooter-adam-lanzas-newtown-house-demolished/story?id=29877154|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
====2015====
On January 21, 2015, Newtown Legislative Council voted unanimously to demolish the house where Nancy and Adam Lanza lived, and to keep the land as open space.<ref name="xFcFN">{{cite news|first=Lindsey|last=Bever|title=Newtown votes to raze home of mass murderer Adam Lanza|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/01/22/newtown-votes-to-raze-home-of-mass-murderer-adam-lanza/|access-date=January 22, 2015|work=[[The Washington Post]]|date=January 22, 2015|archive-date=January 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122214506/http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/01/22/newtown-votes-to-raze-home-of-mass-murderer-adam-lanza/|url-status=live}}</ref> The demolition was completed on March 24, 2015.<ref name="8EsQL">{{cite news|first=Aaron|last=Katersky|title=School Shooter Adam Lanza's Newtown House is Demolished|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/school-shooter-adam-lanzas-newtown-house-demolished/story?id=29877154|access-date=March 24, 2015|work=ABC News|date=March 24, 2015|archive-date=March 25, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325033135/http://abcnews.go.com/US/school-shooter-adam-lanzas-newtown-house-demolished/story?id=29877154|url-status=live}}</ref> Also in January, the families of two of the first-graders who died in the shooting filed a lawsuit against the city of Newtown and the Newtown Board of Education alleging inadequate security at the school.<ref name="2015Lawsuit2Federal" />
 
In February 2015, the family of one of the victims, Victoria Soto, applied for [[trademark]] protection for her name. The reason for this was to help prevent others from misusing Soto's name on social media and for the benefit of the memorial fund set up in her name. The victim's sister, Jillian, stated that fake social media accounts existed using her sister's name to promote conspiracy theories about the shooting.<ref name="2015SotoTrademark">{{cite news|title=Sandy Hook victim Victoria Soto to have name trademarked to prevent abuse|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/11/sandy-hook-victim-victoria-soto-to-have-name-trademarked-to-prevent-abuse|access-date=May 12, 2015|agency=Associated Press|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=February 11, 2015|archive-date=May 7, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150507064330/http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/11/sandy-hook-victim-victoria-soto-to-have-name-trademarked-to-prevent-abuse|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
In March, it was announced that parents of children and teachers killed in the shooting had filed lawsuits against the estate of Nancy Lanza. The suits are based on a claim that she did not properly secure her firearms, which allowed her son, a person with mental health issues, to gain access to them. The attorneys representing the families said Lanza is believed to have had homeowner's insurance on her home worth more than $1 million and they are seeking compensation based on that.<ref name="2015lawsuits">{{cite news|last1=Polansky|first1=Rob|title=Nine Sandy Hook families sue Lanza estate|url=http://www.wfsb.com/story/28472592/nine-sandy-hook-families-sue-lanza-estate|access-date=March 15, 2015|agency=WFSB|publisher=Eyewitness News 3|date=March 13, 2015|archive-date=March 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150314193455/http://www.wfsb.com/story/28472592/nine-sandy-hook-families-sue-lanza-estate|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
==== 2016–present ====
In July 2016, the new Sandy Hook Elementary School was unveiled and parents were shown around the building. The new school is on the site of the building where the shooting took place, which was demolished and rebuilt with a state grant of around $50 million.<ref name="new_school">{{cite news|last=Furfaro|first=Hannah|title=For Sandy Hook, a New Start|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/for-sandy-hook-a-new-start-1469839641|access-date=July 30, 2016|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=July 29, 2016|archive-date=July 31, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160731034315/http://www.wsj.com/articles/for-sandy-hook-a-new-start-1469839641|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
On April 17, 2018, radio host and conspiracy theorist [[Alex Jones]] was sued for defamation by three parents whose children were killed in the shooting. Prior to this, Jones said that the Sandy Hook shooting was "completely fake" and a "giant hoax" perpetrated by opponents of the [[Second Amendment to the United States Constitution|Second Amendment]].<ref name="Xo5i6">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/17/business/media/alex-jones-sandy-hook.html|title=Sandy Hook Parents Sue Alex Jones for Defamation|last=Haag|first=Matthew|date=April 17, 2018|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180417235404/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/17/business/media/alex-jones-sandy-hook.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Jones claims he later believed the shooting was real.<ref name="VZiLy">{{cite web |title=The Latest: Host Alex Jones responds to Sandy Hook lawsuits |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/newswires/news/business/latest-host-alex-jones-responds-sandy-hook-lawsuits-article-1.3939927 |website=NY Daily News |publisher=NY Daily News |access-date=June 23, 2018 |archive-date=June 23, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623221938/http://www.nydailynews.com/newswires/news/business/latest-host-alex-jones-responds-sandy-hook-lawsuits-article-1.3939927 |url-status=live}}</ref> On May 23, 2018, six more families sued Jones for his claims.<ref name="2s9FJ">{{cite web |last1=Zadrozny |first1=Brandy |title=Six more families sue Alex Jones over Sandy Hook conspiracy claims |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/six-more-families-sue-alex-jones-over-sandy-hook-conspiracy-n876881 |website=NBC News |publisher=NBC |access-date=June 23, 2018 |archive-date=June 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622180853/https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/six-more-families-sue-alex-jones-over-sandy-hook-conspiracy-n876881 |url-status=live}}</ref> Jones was found to be in contempt of court by a Texas judge even before the trial started, failing to produce witnesses and materials relevant to the procedures. Consequently, Jones and [[InfoWars]] were fined a total of $126,000 in October and December 2019.<ref name="Qk9O6">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50960730|title=Alex Jones ordered to pay $100,000 in Sandy Hook defamation case|date=2019-12-31|work=BBC News|access-date=2019-12-31|archive-date=December 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231214243/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50960730|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
On October 16, 2019, a jury awarded Leonard Pozner $450,000 for defamation by [[James H. Fetzer|James Fetzer]], who had co-written the book ''Nobody Died at Sandy Hook''. The book claimed that Pozner had fabricated the death certificate of his son Noah, a six-year-old victim of the shooting. Fetzer said he would appeal the decision.<ref name="KYHy2">{{cite news |title=Sandy Hook shooting: Parent awarded $450,000 for defamation |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-50074652 |work=BBC News |date=October 16, 2019 |access-date=October 17, 2019 |archive-date=October 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016211612/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-50074652 |url-status=live}}</ref>
 
In April 2021, a memorial to the victims was approved by the residents of Newtown.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Williamson |first1=Elizabeth |title=A Search for Remembrance After the Sandy Hook Massacre |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/01/us/politics/newtown-sandy-hook-elementary.html |access-date=1 May 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=2021-05-01}}</ref>
 
===Legal action===
On December 15, 2014, nine families of the 26 victims of the shooting filed a class-action lawsuit in Connecticut against Bushmaster, [[Remington Arms]], Camfour, a distributor of firearms, and the now-closed East Windsor store, Riverview Sales, where the gunman's rifle was purchased, seeking "unspecified" damages,<ref name="bbc_lawsuit">{{cite news |date=December 15, 2014 |title=Sandy Hook victims' families file lawsuit against gun maker |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-30484531 |work=BBC News |access-date=December 17, 2014 |archive-date=December 15, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141215201000/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-30484531 |url-status=live}}</ref> claiming an exemption from the 2005 Federal [[Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act]] (PLCAA) that would normally disallow such a suit as lacking [[standing (law)|standing]].<ref name="s5Mas">{{cite web|last1=Terrill|first1=Daniel|title=Remington tries for dismissal in Sandy Hook, Bushmaster case|url=http://www.guns.com/2016/02/22/remington-lawyers-try-for-dismissal-in-sandy-hook-bushmaster-case/|website=Guns.com|access-date=February 23, 2016|archive-date=February 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160223105046/http://www.guns.com/2016/02/22/remington-lawyers-try-for-dismissal-in-sandy-hook-bushmaster-case/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="obbieatlantic" /> The plaintiffs allege that the XM15-E2S is suitable only for military and policing applications and that Bushmaster inappropriately marketed it to civilians.<ref name="obbieatlantic">{{cite news|last1=Obbie|first1=Mark|title=Will a Gun Manufacturer Be Held Liable for Sandy Hook?|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/02/bushmaster-sandy-hook-liability/463245/|access-date=February 23, 2016|work=The Atlantic|publisher=The Atlantic Monthly Group|date=February 17, 2016|archive-date=February 21, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160221135238/http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/02/bushmaster-sandy-hook-liability/463245/|url-status=live}}</ref> In January 2015 Bushmaster's attorneys petitioned to have the suit moved to federal court because, although the shooting took place in Connecticut, it is located in North Carolina.<ref name="2015Lawsuit2Federal">{{cite news|last1=Richinick|first1=Michele|title=Gun manufacturer moves Sandy Hook lawsuit to federal court|url=http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/gun-manufacturer-moves-sandy-hook-lawsuit-federal-court|access-date=May 11, 2015|publisher=MSNBC|date=January 22, 2015|archive-date=May 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518105236/http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/gun-manufacturer-moves-sandy-hook-lawsuit-federal-court|url-status=live}}</ref> In February 2015 the victims' families' attorneys made a motion to move the suit back to state court.<ref name="2015MovebacktoCT">{{cite news|last1=Stewart|first1=Doug|title=Sandy Hook families push to move Bushmaster lawsuit back to state court|url=http://foxct.com/2015/02/17/sandy-hook-families-push-to-move-bushmaster-lawsuit-back-to-state-court/|access-date=May 11, 2015|publisher=FOXCT.com|date=February 17, 2015|archive-date=May 6, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150506090343/http://foxct.com/2015/02/17/sandy-hook-families-push-to-move-bushmaster-lawsuit-back-to-state-court/|url-status=live}}</ref> On April 14, 2016, a Connecticut court denied the defendants' motion to summarily dismiss the case.<ref name="JUekg">{{cite news|last1=Gorman|first1=Michele|title=Sandy Hook Lawsuit: Judge Rules Against Gun Companies|url=http://www.newsweek.com/connecticut-judge-dismisses-gun-manufacturers-motion-dismiss-447918|access-date=April 14, 2016|work=Newsweek|date=April 14, 2016|archive-date=April 15, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415190357/http://www.newsweek.com/connecticut-judge-dismisses-gun-manufacturers-motion-dismiss-447918|url-status=live}}</ref> Lawyers for the defense filed a second motion for dismissal a month later.<ref name="CNN">{{cite news|last1=Fantz|first1=Ashley|title=Gun makers urge judge to toss Sandy Hook lawsuit|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2016/06/20/health/sandy-hook-newtown-gun-lawsuit/|work=CNN|publisher=CNN LLC|date=June 20, 2016|access-date=April 12, 2018|archive-date=June 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612165720/https://edition.cnn.com/2016/06/20/health/sandy-hook-newtown-gun-lawsuit/|url-status=live}}</ref> On October 14, 2016, the defendants' motion to dismiss the lawsuit was granted. The judge ruled the complaint was not valid per federal and Connecticut laws.<ref name="dismissalNYDailyNews">{{cite news|last1=Brennan|first1=Christopher|title=Conn. judge dismisses Sandy Hook families' lawsuit against gunmaker|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/judge-dismisses-sandy-hook-families-lawsuit-gunmaker-article-1.2831108|access-date=October 14, 2016|work=Daily News|location=New York|date=October 14, 2016|archive-date=October 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161014205049/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/judge-dismisses-sandy-hook-families-lawsuit-gunmaker-article-1.2831108|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="thrownout">{{cite news|last1=Mason|first1=Melvin|title=Sandy Hook families' lawsuit thrown out|url=http://www.stratfordstar.com/58379/sandy-hook-families-lawsuit-thrown-out/|access-date=October 14, 2016|work=FCIAC Network|publisher=Stratford Star|date=October 14, 2016|quote=In her 54-page ruling, Bellis said the allegations "do not fit within the common-law tort of negligence entrustment under well established Connecticut law, nor do they come within the PLCAA [Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act]'s definition of negligent entrustment."|archive-date=October 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018190351/http://www.stratfordstar.com/58379/sandy-hook-families-lawsuit-thrown-out/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Memorandum of Decision">{{Cite web|url=http://civilinquiry.jud.ct.gov/DocumentInquiry/DocumentInquiry.aspx?DocumentNo=11214676|title=Memorandum of Decision|date=October 14, 2016|access-date=October 17, 2016|archive-date=December 30, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230192349/http://civilinquiry.jud.ct.gov/DocumentInquiry/DocumentInquiry.aspx?DocumentNo=11214676|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="TiPO8">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2016/10/14/us/14reuters-connecticut-shooting.html|title=Connecticut Judge Dismisses Sandy Hook Families' Suit Against Gunmaker|agency=Reuters|date=October 14, 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=October 15, 2016}}</ref>
 
The families appealed to the [[Connecticut Supreme Court]]. In March 2019 the court decided in a 4–3 vote to reverse parts of the trial court's rulings and remand the case back to Bridgeport Superior Court for additional hearings. It ruled<ref name="VTtxr">{{Cite web|url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-sandy-hook-gun-case-folo-20190317-hq77kvcvrzczze2bno74ousz64-story.html|title=Supreme Court ruling in Sandy Hook case could reveal gun manufacturer's confidential marketing strategy for semiautomaic firearms|last=Altimari|first=Dave|date=March 17, 2019|website=The Hartford Courant|access-date=March 18, 2019|archive-date=September 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190926191226/https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-sandy-hook-gun-case-folo-20190317-hq77kvcvrzczze2bno74ousz64-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> that the families' appeal to the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act, demonstrating that the gun manufacturers had used advertising that presented the weapons in an "unfair, unethical, or dangerous manner", with Remington seeking to "expand the market for [its] assault weapons through advertising campaigns that encouraged consumers ... to launch offensive assaults against their perceived enemies", was not prohibited by PLCAA, and thus that the plaintiffs had sufficient standing to argue their case at trial court. It also ruled that the plaintiffs can subpoena internal documents on how gun companies have marketed the [[AR-15 style rifle|AR-15]].<ref name="slate csc reverse">{{cite web|url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/03/sandy-hook-connecticut-supreme-court-guns-nra-remington.html|title=Connecticut Supreme Court Issues Stunning Decision Allowing Sandy Hook Families to Sue Gun Manufacturer|last=Stern|first=Mark Joseph|date=March 14, 2019|work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|access-date=March 14, 2019|archive-date=March 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190315054112/https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/03/sandy-hook-connecticut-supreme-court-guns-nra-remington.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Remington asked the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] to review the state court ruling, but in November 2019 the Supreme Court denied to hear the appeal, allowing the families' suit to proceed.<ref name="DhAAP">{{cite web | url = https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/12/business/remington-sandy-hook-supreme-court/index.html | title = Supreme Court allows Sandy Hook families to sue Remington | first = Ariane | last = de Vogue | date = November 12, 2019 | access-date = November 12, 2019 | publisher = [[CNN]] | archive-date = November 12, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191112160109/https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/12/business/remington-sandy-hook-supreme-court/index.html | url-status = live}}</ref>
 
On July 26, 2021, a judge refused to dismiss the lawsuit and the case is scheduled to go to trial in September 2021. In court documents July 27, 2021, Remington offered $33 million, or $3.7 million per family. An attorney representing the families said they would "consider their next steps".<ref name="Romo">{{cite news | url = https://www.npr.org/2021/07/28/1022035192/gun-maker-offers-sandy-hook-families-33-million-heres-what-they-may-be-consideri | title = Gun-Maker Offers Sandy Hook Families $33 Million. Here's What They May Be Considering | first = Vanessa | last = Romo | date = July 28, 2021 | access-date = July 29, 2021 | publisher = [[NPR]] | url-status = live}}</ref>
 
==See also==
* [[List of attacks related to primary schools]]
* [[List of school-related attacks]]
* [[List of school shootings in the United States]]
* [[Gun violence in the United States]]
* [[List of rampage killers (school massacres)]]
 
{{Portal bar|Connecticut|Schools|United States}}
 
==Notes==
{{notelist}}


==References==
==References==
{{reflist|1=30em}}
{{reflist}}
 
==External links==
{{Commons category|Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting}}
* {{Wikiquote-inline}}
* [http://newtown.sandyhook.schooldesk.net/ Sandy Hook Elementary School Official website] ([https://www.webcitation.org/6D3aTehWd?url=http://newtown.sandyhook.schooldesk.net/ Archive])
* [http://www.shac.ct.gov/SHAC_Final_Report_3-6-2015.pdf Sandy Hook Final Report]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121216113845/http://articles.courant.com/2012-12-14/news/hc-police-responding-to-incident-in-newtown-20121214_1_lanza-home-newtown-home-labor-day-parade 28 Dead, Including 20 Children, After Shooting Rampage At Sandy Hook School In Newtown] (via Wayback Machine)
{{Newtown, Connecticut}}
{{Authority control}}


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