12/17/2012 11:32 am ET
Sandy Hook Crime Scenes: Police 'Indefinitely' Seize All Sites Connected To Shooting
By David Lohr
Lt. J. Paul Vance of the Connecticut State Police conducts a news briefing, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012 in Newtown, Conn. The massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, would have been driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
Connecticut State Police announced Monday they will be holding all crimes scenes connected to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting for the foreseeable future, while they investigate the horrific mass murder.
"[We have] seized the crime scenes under search warrant [and are] holding on to them indefinitely," Connecticut State Police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance told reporters at a midmorning news briefing.
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Vance said it could take months for investigators to complete their examination of the crime scene at the school -- where police say 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 children and adults -- and the Newtown, Conn., home -- where investigators say Lanza killed his mother, 52-year-old Nancy Lanza.
"State police crime detectives have been working 24 hours a day since this tragedy occurred ... [They are] processing the evidence. Every single round of ammo will be analyzed for evidence -- each singular round," Vance said, referring to the task as a "painstaking process."
Vance declined to detail any of the evidence investigators have recovered to date, but did say Adam Lanza's electronic devices are being examined for clues to a possible motive.
"The computer crime unit [is] working nonstop examining any evidence seized, whether it be cell phones or computers ... We will certainly dissect [them]," he said.
Police say Lanza forced his way into the school around 9:40 a.m. Friday, about 30 minutes after the school day began. Lanza fired his weapons at least 100 times. The victims -- 12 girls, eight boys and six adult women -- were shot up close multiple times, police said.
Authorities have since confirmed that two adults who suffered gunshot wounds survived and are recovering at the hospital. Their names have not yet been released.
Investigators are still determining a timeline in the case to establish when Lanza's mother was killed.
SANDY HOOK SHOOTING PHOTOS: (Story Continues Below)
Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting
Vance declined to discuss any other details of the shooting spree.
"I simply don't want to go any further with that," he said. "The faculty and staff in that school did everything they possibly could to protect those children ... The families in this situation are really our focus right now."
Vance also declined to discuss any possible psychological or medical conditions Adam Lanza may have suffered from. He did, however, say local authorities had no prior contact with Lanza and had not received any reports of concerns about Lanza on behalf of the public prior to the shooting.
A second police briefing has been scheduled for 12 p.m. Monday.
David Lohr
Senior Crime Reporter, HuffPost
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Connecticut State Police Release Sandy Hook Report
NEWTOWN, CT - UNSPECIFED DATE: In this handout crime scene evidence photo provided by the Connecticut State Police, shows the Newtown Tehcnology Team ID of Adam Lanza in the bathroom at the suspect's house on Yogananda St. following the December 14, 2012 shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School, taken on an unspecified date in Newtown, Connecticut . A report was released November 25, 2013 by Connecticut State Attorney Stephen Sedensky III summarizing the Newtown school shooting that left 20 children and six women dead inside Sandy Hook Elementary School. According to the report, a motive behind the shooting by gunman Adam Lanza is still unknown. (Photo by Connecticut State Police via Getty Images)