Tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut: School Shooting–20 Children and 8 Adults Killed–Videos
Posted on December 14, 2012. Filed under: Babies, Blogroll, Communications, Crime, Culture, Diasters, Education, Law, liberty, Life, Links, media, People, Philosophy, Politics, Psychology, Radio, Rants, Raves, Talk Radio, Video, Wisdom | Tags: Adam Lanza, Assault Weapons, Bill Clinton, Bullshit!--Gun Control, Connecticut, Crime, depression, Drugs, Elementary School, Eric Holder, Father, gun control, Gun Free Guns, Guns, I am Adam Lanza's Mother, John Lott, John Stossell, Liza Long, Mark Levin, Mass Shootings, Mental Illness, Michael Savage, Mother, Newtown, Penn & Teller, Ryan Lanza, Sandy Hook Elementary School, School Shooting |
Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting Newtown CT Tribute
ALLISON N. WYATT, 6
BENJAMIN WHEELER, 6
VICTORIA SOTO, 27, teacher
MARY SHERLACH, 56, school psychologist
LAUREN GABRIELLE ROUSSEAU, 30, teacher
AVIELLE RICHMAN, 6
JESSICA REKOS, 6
CAROLINE PREVIDI, 6
NOAH POZNER, 6
JACK PINTO, 6
EMILIE PARKER, 6
ANNE MARIE MURPHY, 52, teacher
GRACE AUDREY McDONNELL, 7
JAMES MATTIOLI, 6
ANA MARQUEZ-GREENE, 6
JESSE LEWIS, 6
NANCY LANZA, 52, gunman's mother
CHASE KOWALSKI, 7
CATHERINE HUBBARD, 6
MADELEINE HSU, 6
DYLAN HOCKLEY, 6
DAWN HOCHSPRUNG, 47, principal
JOSEPHINE GAY, 7
OLIVIA ENGEL, 6
RACHEL D'AVINO, 29
DANIEL BARDEN, 7
CHARLOTTE BACON, 6
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I am Adam Lanza's Mother
It's time to talk about mental illness
"…Friday's horrific national tragedy—the murder of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in New Town, Connecticut—has ignited a new discussion on violence in America. In kitchens and coffee shops across the country, we tearfully debate the many faces of violence in America: gun culture, media violence, lack of mental health services, overt and covert wars abroad, religion, politics and the way we raise our children. Liza Long, a writer based in Boise, says it's easy to talk about guns. But it's time to talk about mental illness.
Three days before 20 year-old Adam Lanza killed his mother, then opened fire on a classroom full of Connecticut kindergartners, my 13-year old son Michael (name changed) missed his bus because he was wearing the wrong color pants.
"I can wear these pants," he said, his tone increasingly belligerent, the black-hole pupils of his eyes swallowing the blue irises.
"They are navy blue," I told him. "Your school's dress code says black or khaki pants only."
"They told me I could wear these," he insisted. "You're a stupid bitch. I can wear whatever pants I want to. This is America. I have rights!"
"You can't wear whatever pants you want to," I said, my tone affable, reasonable. "And you definitely cannot call me a stupid bitch. You're grounded from electronics for the rest of the day. Now get in the car, and I will take you to school."
I live with a son who is mentally ill. I love my son. But he terrifies me.
A few weeks ago, Michael pulled a knife and threatened to kill me and then himself after I asked him to return his overdue library books. His 7 and 9 year old siblings knew the safety plan—they ran to the car and locked the doors before I even asked them to. I managed to get the knife from Michael, then methodically collected all the sharp objects in the house into a single Tupperware container that now travels with me. Through it all, he continued to scream insults at me and threaten to kill or hurt me.
That conflict ended with three burly police officers and a paramedic wrestling my son onto a gurney for an expensive ambulance ride to the local emergency room. The mental hospital didn't have any beds that day, and Michael calmed down nicely in the ER, so they sent us home with a prescription for Zyprexa and a follow-up visit with a local pediatric psychiatrist.
We still don't know what's wrong with Michael. Autism spectrum, ADHD, Oppositional Defiant or Intermittent Explosive Disorder have all been tossed around at various meetings with probation officers and social workers and counselors and teachers and school administrators. He's been on a slew of antipsychotic and mood altering pharmaceuticals, a Russian novel of behavioral plans. Nothing seems to work.
At the start of seventh grade, Michael was accepted to an accelerated program for highly gifted math and science students. His IQ is off the charts. When he's in a good mood, he will gladly bend your ear on subjects ranging from Greek mythology to the differences between Einsteinian and Newtonian physics to Doctor Who. He's in a good mood most of the time. But when he's not, watch out. And it's impossible to predict what will set him off.
Several weeks into his new junior high school, Michael began exhibiting increasingly odd and threatening behaviors at school. We decided to transfer him to the district's most restrictive behavioral program, a contained school environment where children who can't function in normal classrooms can access their right to free public babysitting from 7:30-1:50 Monday through Friday until they turn 18.
The morning of the pants incident, Michael continued to argue with me on the drive. He would occasionally apologize and seem remorseful. Right before we turned into his school parking lot, he said, "Look, Mom, I'm really sorry. Can I have video games back today?"
"No way," I told him. "You cannot act the way you acted this morning and think you can get your electronic privileges back that quickly."
His face turned cold, and his eyes were full of calculated rage. "Then I'm going to kill myself," he said. "I'm going to jump out of this car right now and kill myself."
That was it. After the knife incident, I told him that if he ever said those words again, I would take him straight to the mental hospital, no ifs, ands, or buts. I did not respond, except to pull the car into the opposite lane, turning left instead of right.
"Where are you taking me?" he said, suddenly worried. "Where are we going?"
"You know where we are going," I replied.
"No! You can't do that to me! You're sending me to hell! You're sending me straight to hell!"
I pulled up in front of the hospital, frantically waiving for one of the clinicians who happened to be standing outside. "Call the police," I said. "Hurry."
Michael was in a full-blown fit by then, screaming and hitting. I hugged him close so he couldn't escape from the car. He bit me several times and repeatedly jabbed his elbows into my rib cage. I'm still stronger than he is, but I won't be for much longer.
The police came quickly and carried my son screaming and kicking into the bowels of the hospital. I started to shake, and tears filled my eyes as I filled out the paperwork—"Were there any difficulties with… at what age did your child… were there any problems with.. has your child ever experienced.. does your child have…"
At least we have health insurance now. I recently accepted a position with a local college, giving up my freelance career because when you have a kid like this, you need benefits. You'll do anything for benefits. No individual insurance plan will cover this kind of thing.
For days, my son insisted that I was lying—that I made the whole thing up so that I could get rid of him. The first day, when I called to check up on him, he said, "I hate you. And I'm going to get my revenge as soon as I get out of here."
By day three, he was my calm, sweet boy again, all apologies and promises to get better. I've heard those promises for years. I don't believe them anymore.
On the intake form, under the question, "What are your expectations for treatment?" I wrote, "I need help."
And I do. This problem is too big for me to handle on my own. Sometimes there are no good options. So you just pray for grace and trust that in hindsight, it will all make sense.
I am sharing this story because I am Adam Lanza's mother. I am Dylan Klebold's and Eric Harris's mother. I am James Holmes's mother. I am Jared Loughner's mother. I am Seung-Hui Cho's mother. And these boys—and their mothers—need help. In the wake of another horrific national tragedy, it's easy to talk about guns. But it's time to talk about mental illness.
According to Mother Jones, since 1982, 61 mass murders involving firearms have occurred throughout the country. Of these, 43 of the killers were white males, and only one was a woman. Mother Jones focused on whether the killers obtained their guns legally (most did). But this highly visible sign of mental illness should lead us to consider how many people in the U.S. live in fear, like I do.
When I asked my son's social worker about my options, he said that the only thing I could do was to get Michael charged with a crime. "If he's back in the system, they'll create a paper trail," he said. "That's the only way you're ever going to get anything done. No one will pay attention to you unless you've got charges."
I don't believe my son belongs in jail. The chaotic environment exacerbates Michael's sensitivity to sensory stimuli and doesn't deal with the underlying pathology. But it seems like the United States is using prison as the solution of choice for mentally ill people. According to Human Rights Watch, the number of mentally ill inmates in U.S. prisons quadrupled from 2000 to 2006, and it continues to rise—in fact, the rate of inmate mental illness is five times greater (56 percent) than in the non-incarcerated population.
With state-run treatment centers and hospitals shuttered, prison is now the last resort for the mentally ill—Rikers Island, the LA County Jail and Cook County Jail in Illinois housed the nation's largest treatment centers in 2011.
No one wants to send a 13-year old genius who loves Harry Potter and his snuggle animal collection to jail. But our society, with its stigma on mental illness and its broken healthcare system, does not provide us with other options. Then another tortured soul shoots up a fast food restaurant. A mall. A kindergarten classroom. And we wring our hands and say, "Something must be done."
I agree that something must be done. It's time for a meaningful, nation-wide conversation about mental health. That's the only way our nation can ever truly heal.
God help me. God help Michael. God help us all.
(Originally published at The Anarchist Soccer Mom.)
Liza Long is an author, musician, and erstwhile classicist. She is also a single mother of four bright, loved children, one of whom has special needs.
http://thebluereview.org/i-am-adam-lanzas-mother/
Newtown tragedy could put mental health in spotlight
Liz Szabo
Could the nation's mental health services be improved in the wake of the Connecticut school shooting?
"…Families and doctors who treat the mentally ill say they hope that Friday's tragedy in Newtown, Conn., will refocus the nation's attention on improving mental health services.
Police have not yet released details about the motives or mental state of shooter Adam Lanza. But the perpetrators of similar mass murders — at Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois University and a Tucson gathering for Rep. Gabby Giffords, for example — all suffered from serious mental health conditions.
"We wait for things like this to happen and then everyone talks about mental health," says Priscilla Dass-Brailsford, an associate professor of psychology in the psychiatry department at Georgetown University Medical Center. "But they quickly forget."
There are hundreds of multiple-casualty shootings every year, says forensic psychologist Dewey Cornell, director of the Virginia Youth Violence Project. People have become so desensitized to the horror, however, that "It's gotten to the point where only the ones with high body counts make the news," he says. "It takes a record number, or something extraordinary, to get our attention."
Yet mental illness destroys countless lives everyday, he says, contributing to domestic violence and child abuse, drug addiction, homelessness and incarceration. Investing in mental health care and reducing its stigma could help prevent future tragedies, he says.
"Mental health has shrunk down to the level of short-term crisis management," Cornell says. "If we are going to focus on prevention, we can't think about the gunman in the parking lot and what to do with him. We have to get involved a lot earlier."
Schools and communities "have cut their mental health services to the bone," says Cornell. "We're paying a price for it as a society." …"
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/16/newtown-mental-health/1773479/
Gun prosecutions under Obama down over 40 percent
"…Despite his calls for greater gun control, including a new assault weapons ban that extends to handguns, President Obama's administration has turned away from enforcing gun laws, cutting weapons prosecutions some 40 percent since a high of about 11,000 under former President Bush.
"If you are not going to enforce the laws on the books, then don't start talking about a whole new wave of new laws," said a gun rights advocate.
In the wake of the horrific mass killing at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Democratic lawmakers have begun preparing a new collection of anti-gun laws, including renewing the assault weapons ban, banning the purchase of high-capacity clips that spring bullets into guns, and tightening rules on who can buy weapons.
Lawmakers are banking that the public will push for new gun controls. But as with other mass shootings, polls find the public split, and blaming the shooter, not the gun. Pew Research Center for the People & the Press on Monday found that public is evenly divided over whether the Newtown shootings reflect broader problems in American society, 47 percent, or are just the acts of troubled individuals, 44 percent.
Figures collected by Syracuse University's TRAC project, the authority on prosecutions from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, shows that the administration has reduced the focus on gun crimes and instead steered prosecutors and investigators to drug crimes.
Gun prosecutions peaked at 10,937 under Bush in 2004. A current TRAC report shows that the Obama administration is prosecuting about 6,000 weapons cases.
According to an October 2011 TRAC report, "There also has been a shifting emphasis towards drug-related investigations. Since ATF-referred prosecutions peaked in FY 2005, the number of weapons prosecutions actually has fallen by 32 percent, a much higher rate than for ATF prosecutions overall. Making up the difference has been the growing number of drug cases, up by 26 percent during the same period."
In 2011, the Obama gun prosecutions hit a low for the decade, but there has been a slight uptick in prosecutions this year, said another TRAC report.
Second Amendment advocates said on background that they expect Obama to press ATF to boost prosecutions and use the Sandy Hook case, and other mass shootings, to move gun control to the top of his second term agenda. "It's in his DNA to push this issue," said one gun-rights official, speaking on background. "This would be his crowning achievement, if he can ban guns," added the official.
28 Killed in Connecticut School Shooting
"…A gunman opened fire at a Connecticut elementary school where his mother worked, killing 26 people, including 20 children, law-enforcement officials said, in what could be the worst mass shooting at a U.S. elementary or high school.
The shooter was found dead inside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, located about 65 miles northeast of New York City. State police said another victim was found dead elsewhere in Newtown, putting the total toll at 28.
Law-enforcement officials identified the suspected shooter as Adam Lanza. Officials said the alleged shooter's mother was a teacher at the school, and she was believed to be among the victims. Earlier, a law-enforcement official incorrectly identified the suspect as Mr. Lanza's brother, Ryan. Authorities didn't identify a motive.
The attack at Sandy Hook, a historic village lined with colonial homes in Newtown, began at about 9:40 a.m. and was concentrated around a single classroom, a school bathroom and a hallway, an official said.
Diane Day, a therapist at the school, was sitting with the principal, other staff members and a parent in a routine meeting around 9:30 a.m. when she heard gunshots. "We were there for about five minutes chatting and we heard, 'pop pop pop,' " she said. "I went under the table."
The principal and school psychologist leaped out of their seats and ran out of the room, Ms. Day said. "They didn't think twice about confronting or seeing what was going on," she said.
Without a lock on the door, the school's lead teacher pressed her body against the door to hold it shut, Ms. Day said. That teacher was shot through the door in the leg and arm. "She was our hero," Ms. Day said.
Lt. J. Paul Vance, a spokesman for the Connecticut State Police, said that multiple law-enforcement agencies were engaged in "search-warrant activity." Lt. Vance said investigators were looking "both in and out of state" for information on the gunman but assured the public that they weren't at risk.
A federal law-enforcement official said a .223 Bushmaster rifle was found in the back of a vehicle at the scene. Two firearms were recovered near the alleged gunman's body: a Glock and a Sig Sauer, both handguns.
The scene was chaotic as initial reports of a shooting grew steadily worse. Joe Wasik, whose daughter, Alexis, is in the third grade at the school, said his wife called him a little after 10 a.m. after receiving a text from the town's automated alert system on her phone. Checking his laptop, Mr. Wasik saw the reports of a shooting and raced to the scene.
"There were cars everywhere," he said, describing a crush of parents at a nearby firehouse where parents were sent to look for their children among those evacuated from the school.
Alexis, who was standing in the crowd, crying, was "a nervous wreck," he said. Mr. Wasik said his daughter had sheltered in a closet during the shooting, and he wasn't sure if she had heard the shots.
Mr. Wasik's wife took their daughter to a cousin's house to play in an attempt to take her mind off the shooting. He remained in the firehouse to wait for a friend, who was sequestered in another room at the firehouse—an area for parents whose children were still missing.
Mr. Wasik's voice was still shaking, hours after the massacre. "Pretty much everyone has dispersed, except for parents with missing children," he said.
President Barack Obama was notified of the attack around 10:30 a.m. by his counterterrorism and homeland security adviser, John Brennan, White House press secretary Jay Carney said.
Mr. Obama spoke on the phone with Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller and Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy to receive an update on the situation and express his condolences, Mr. Carney said.
Mr. Malloy, in a news conference Friday afternoon, said "you can never be prepared for this kind of incident," adding that what happened "will leave a mark on this community and every family impacted."
Mr. Obama delivered an emotional statement from the White House Friday afternoon, tearing up several times as he spoke of the children who were killed. "They had their entire lives ahead of them—birthday, weddings, kids of their own," Mr. Obama said pausing to wipe tears from his eyes.
Saying he was reacting as a parent of two daughters, he called the shooting a "heinous crime" and vowed to press for meaningful action, regardless of the politics, to prevent more such incidents in the future. "We've endured too many of these tragedy in the last few years," he said.
The death toll at Sandy Hook Elementary, which has nearly 600 students in kindergarten through 4th grade and 42 teachers, exceeds the death at Columbine High School in 1999, which left 12 students and one teacher dead at the hands of two fellow students, who also took their own lives.
In 2007, 33 people including the gunmen were shot and killed on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va.
Schools nationwide have increased security measures since the fatal shooting at Columbine. Many installed metal detectors, developed detailed crisis plans, implemented policies to keep school doors locked and accessible only by buzzer, and put teachers and staff through training session on how to recognize and deal with threats.
Michael Dorn, executive director of Safe Havens International, a nonprofit that works with thousands of U.S. schools to develop safety plans, said there has been a dramatic improvement in school safety "but so much more" could be done.
A letter sent to Sandy Hook parents earlier this year described a new security protocol put in place at the school. The protocol requires identification for most visitors who must ring a doorbell to gain entry to the school's front entrance, which is locked after 9:30 a.m.
"If our office staff does not recognize you, you will be required to show identification with a picture ID," the letter said.
Leigh Libero's daughter, Joey, would have been in a second-grade classroom Friday morning, but she had a dentist appointment. As Ms. Libero pulled up to the school, she saw just-erected barricades and received an urgent text message from her sister, who works at a television news station in Hartford.
Children were led out the school's driveway, directly to the firehouse, where parents streamed in "en masse" to locate their children, Ms. Libero said. "This is the perfect New England town," Ms. Libero said. "You wouldn't think of this."
Ms. Libero said parents were trying to determine how the gunman entered the school. The school uses a double-secured door during the day, she said. Visitors approaching the school must press a button to be buzzed in through the outer set of school doors to enter the building.
Carrie Usher, a fourth-grade teacher at Sandy Hook, was having a team meeting with three other teachers while her class worked in the library. They heard gunfire and then the loudspeaker came on with "fighting and crying and maybe some screaming," sounds of chaos that she said were being broadcast throughout the building.
"The gunfire was just unbelievable it felt like it lasted for five minutes. It wouldn't stop," she said.
Three of the teachers jumped out the window of their meeting room, Ms. Usher said, while the fourth remained behind and hid behind bags and boxes. The door opened and someone came in but that person didn't see the hiding teacher.
Ms. Usher is still uncertain what was broadcast over the loudspeaker. "I think it was fighting," she said in a phone interview. "I think it was the principal before she was killed put that out there to warn the teachers what was happening. I believe so. We don't know." …"
http://washingtonexaminer.com/gun-prosecutions-under-obama-down-over-40-percent-percent/article/2516175#.UM-JbEbCz8B
20 Children Among 28 Dead In Newtown Elementary School Massacre
Gunman Opens Fire Inside Sandy Hook Elementary School Early Friday
"…Twenty children are among 28 people who were killed Friday morning after a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
State Police Lt. Paul Vance said 18 children and 6 adults were pronounced dead at that scene. Two other children later died at the hospital. One other person was injured, Vance said.
A 28th victim was found dead at a secondary crime scene, Lance said. He would not elaborate on the details.
Among those dead is the gunman. A source familiar with the investigation identified him as 20-year-old Adam Lanza, CBS News reported. He was found dead inside the building from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, sources told CBS 2.
Law enforcement sources had earlier told CBS News that the gunman was 24-year-old Ryan Lanza, Adam Lanza's older brother. Ryan Lanza, of Hoboken, New Jersey, is now being questioned by police.
According to an Associated Press report, the confusion over the alleged gunman's identity occurred when a law enforcement officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, "mistakenly transposed the brothers' first names."
A second official who spoke with the AP said Adam Lanza drove to the scene of the shootings in his mother's car. That official also told the wire service Lanza's girlfriend and another friend are missing in New Jersey.
The AP also reported that a former Jersey Journal staff writer said he spoke with Ryan Lanza, who told the writer his brother may have had his identification.
The shooting has become the second-deadliest school shooting in the nation's history, exceeded only by the 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech that left 33 people dead.
Lance said the shooting occurred in two different classrooms in one section of the school.
One of the adult victims is Lanza's mother, Nancy Lanza, a teacher at the school, sources told CBS 2.
A law enforcement source told CBS News two pistols, a Glock and a Sig Sauer, were found in the school and a .223-caliber rifle was found in a car.
An emotional President Barack Obama spoke about the massacre at the White House Friday. Fighting back tears, he said he reacted to the news not just as the president, but as a parent.
"The majority of those who died today are children. Beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10-years-old," he said. "They had their entire lives ahead of them. Birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own."
At times, Obama wiped away tears from the corner of his eyes, adding "Our hearts are broken."
"As a country, we have been through this too many times," he said. "These children are our children and we are going to come together to take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this regardless of the politics."
The president ordered that U.S. flags be flown at half-staff through Tuesday. Conn. Gov. Dan Malloy has also ordered all U.S. and state flags be flown at half-staff.
Malloy arrived in Newtown Friday afternoon. His office said several state agencies are working together to coordinate the state's response.
Speaking a news conference, Malloy called the shooting "a tragedy of unspeakable terms."
Gunfire erupted inside the school around 9:40 a.m. Parents said they received an automatic message that there had been a shooting incident in the district and that schools were being placed on lockdown.
An 8-year-old student said he was on his way to the school's office when he saw the gunman.
"I saw some of the bullets going down the hall and then a teacher pulled me into her classroom," the boy told CBS 2′s Lou Young.
Vance said several agencies, including local and state police, responded to the scene and immediately began a search of the building.
"The entire school was searched and a staging area was set up," he said.
tudents and staff were then evacuated from the school. As they were walking out of the building, some of the children were told to close their eyes and walk fast, WCBS 880′s Sean Adams reported.
Students were then taken to a nearby firehouse to be reunited with their parents. Schools in surrounding areas were also placed on lockdown.
Danbury Hospital spokesperson Diane Burke told CBS 2 that the hospital was also put on lockdown as a precautionary measure.
Lisa Bailey, a Newtown resident with three children in Newtown schools, told CBSNewYork.com, "Newtown is a quiet town. I'd never expect this to happen here. It's so scary. Your kids are not safe anywhere." …"
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/12/14/police-respond-to-report-of-school-shooting-in-conn/
Gunman kills 20 children, 6 adults at Connecticut elementary school
"…Twenty-seven people, including 20 children, were killed Friday when a gunman clad in black military gear opened fire inside his mother's kindergarten class at a Connecticut elementary school.
The shooter, who sources identified as Adam Lanza, 20, shot his mother in the face at their home in Newtown, Conn., then went to nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School where she taught and gunned down her entire class, according to sources. Lanza was found dead inside the school, according to officials. Eighteen of the children and six more adults were dead at the school and two more children died later, according to Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance.
Vance would not confirm the shooter's name, and earlier in the day there were conflicting reports over the gunman's identity. Law enforcement sources told FoxNews.com the shooter was Adam Lanza. His brother, Ryan Lanza, 24, was being questioned in Hoboken, N.J., but it was not sure if he faced charges.
"It is not a simplistic scene," Vance told reporters.
An official with knowledge of the situation said the shooter was armed with a .223-caliber rifle. Four weapons in total were recovered from the scene. The motive is not yet known.
Vance said during an afternoon news conference that police arrived at the scene "within minutes" of a 911 call placed shortly after 9:30 a.m.
"Every door, every crack, every crevice of that school" was checked, Vance said. "The entire school was searched." He said the shooting occurred inside two rooms in "one section of the school."
Vance did not give details about the number of victims other than to say they included students and staff, pending notification of the families. He said more information would be released, possibly later Friday.
Vance also said that a "deceased adult" was found at a "secondary crime scene," though he declined to elaborate.
A federal law enforcement official told Fox News that Lanza's mother, Nancy, was killed at her home in Connecticut. The vehicle the suspect used in the shooting was registered to his mother.
A source close to the investigation said the shooter's father, who lives in Stamford, Conn., is meeting with FBI agents.
Robert Licata said his 6-year-old son was in class when the gunman burst in and shot the teacher.
"That's when my son grabbed a bunch of his friends and ran out the door," he said. "He was very brave. He waited for his friends."
He said the shooter didn't utter a word.
Stephen Delgiadice said his 8-year-old daughter was in the school and heard two big bangs. Teachers told her to get in a corner, he said.
"It's alarming, especially in Newtown, Connecticut, which we always thought was the safest place in America," he said. His daughter was fine.
Mergim Bajraliu, 17, heard the gunshots echo from his home and ran to check on his 9-year-old sister at the school. He said his sister, who was fine, heard a scream come over the intercom at one point. He said teachers were shaking and crying as they came out of the building.
"Everyone was just traumatized," he said.
President Obama was notified of the shooting around 10:30 am ET, White House officials said.
"Our hearts are broken today," Obama said in a brief address to the nation on Friday. "We've endured too many of these tragedies in these past few years, and each time I receive the news I react not as a president, but as a parent."
"Most victims were children, between five and 10 years old…They had their entire lives ahead of them, birthdays, graduations weddings, kids of their own," he said, pausing before wiping tears from his eyes.
Sandy Hook Elementary School has close to 700 students.
Newtown is in Fairfield County, about 45 miles southwest of Hartford and 60 miles northeast of New York City. …"
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/14/police-respond-to-shooting-at-connecticut-elementary-school/#ixzz2F4TZJLRq
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/14/police-respond-to-shooting-at-connecticut-elementary-school/#ixzz2F4TPVcZt